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[Pelta88]

The confirmation bias is strong in this thread. Two people report being let go on a cancelled project, which essentially is another day in game development and we're calling that "A Wave." Really? Then they write an entire thesis, citing false numbers and stats, to reconfirm that bias?

Comedic gold if your willing to read through it.

 

[ArtHands]

Right after they released Spider-Man 2. Wow.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

According to the Linkedin posts from Daniel Bellemare, who was a Senior Level Designer on an unannounced project at PlayStation, and Matt Barney, who was a Senior Technical Recruiter at PlayStation, several employees have at Sony Interactive Entertainment have been hit by a new wave of layoffs.

No doubt I suspect Bungie signaled to swing the axe. Another casualty from Bungie overlords supervising Sony's GAAS games in development.

 

[nial]

I swear there is always a discussion about the future state of SIE everytime they publish a game.

 

[Varteras]

I swear there is always a discussion about the future state of SIE everytime they publish a game.

I suppose a PlayStation fan should be happy that, more often than not, the topic is preceded by a great success for the company. As opposed to what has frequently happened to Xbox for a decade or so now.

 

[Bkdk]

Recession will hit gaming sectors very hard. Coupled with so many recent disappointments, there will be a lot more layoffs to come. Interestingly though, from a clip I saw from alanah pearce, seems like mobile is the most resilient sector for gaming and layoffs are rather tame on that front. For the AAA gaming sector, it will be quite painful.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Is Alanah Pierce safe?

Who Is that?

 

[zedinen]

Sony is looking VERY carefully at their costs and operating margins, especially as they look at M&A opportunities. You can't keep buying companies and keep bad projects going at the same time. Yeah, never great to see people lose their jobs, but financially this makes sense. To grow they need ROI and as Totoki said himself, he's obsessed with growth.

PlayStation's ROIC is light years ahead of rest of the industry.


47.5% in FY20 / 41.9% in FY21

Yoshida and Totoki don't give a shit about PlayStation. It's a cash cow for the rest of Sony and Xbox sales are collapsing, CoD will remain on PS for 10 years ...

I swear people just make things up... Where did I say they spent 10 billion on game development. I said they spend more than 200 million every 5 years since they make more than 1 game at a time.

What I said was that 10 billion over 5-6 years isn't enough. Nintendo made that in between 2021-2022 alone.

SIE's profit margin is low because of its strategy of aggressive growth and the prevalence of cross-subsidized investments across Sony Group with the cash flows generated by PlayStation.

SIE could easily dwarf Nintendo profits:

SIE's adjusted OIBDA reached ¥337 billion in FY22

SIE's R&D spending reached ¥271 billion in FY22

SIE spends considerable sums of money each year on marketing deals and partnerships, while the hardware is sold at loss in the first few years.

SIE keeps accounting profit artificially low by investing money right back into its business. And it's working.

That's the Jim Ryan's legacy.

An incomparable legacy.

Six month left. The best is yet to come ...

 

[Elog]

This thread is a showcase for why social media is pretty dumb.

 

[ArtHands]

 

[MasterCornholio]

Did you just spoil something?

 

[Freeman76]

They are not "so awesome", just less bad than the others publishers.

Even that isnt true though, they are every bit as bad, and in some cases worse.

 

[Frwrd]

Take2 is expensive jk jk

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Right after they released Spider-Man 2. Wow.

Layoffs are not from Insomniac Games, but mostly from PlayStation’s Visual Arts group.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Who Is that?

I think you missed this thread lol: https://www.neogaf.com/threads/charalanazard-starfield-direct-did-they-lie.1662513/

 

[Pedro Motta]

This looks like blown out of proportion.

 

[midnightAI]

My guess is this was Sony Visual Arts and them working on Uncharted but not to the satisfaction of Sony and Naughty Dog.

Looks like this guy was a remote worker, working on an unannounced game in San Diego.

That combined with recruiting getting laid off, but not necessarily heavy layoffs in recruiting. Seems fairly targeted in a way that doesn't massive impact the production of games but also recognizes a reduction in hiring across the board.

It is, most layoffs are the Visual Arts team, what are the odds that Factions is on hold because Naughty Dog need to fix the Uncharted game, much like how they had to take back the reigns for Last of Us Part 1?

 

[Woopah]

I don't think this is going to stay a 3 horse race, it already isn't a 3 horse race as Nintendo is running a different race.

I think when not if Microsoft exits, Apple, Amazon, or Tencent will enter.

They are all in the same three horse race. Selling mass market video game consoles.

why haven't we been told about any coming out?

We know multiple SP games and multiple GAAS games that Sony is publishing.

From what others have speculated, Sony's strategy seems to be focused on just what's immediately coming within six months or so and dedicate attention to it. They also seem to not want to reveal anything unless it can release within a year of the reveal.

I don't quite like this strategy. Microsoft is getting tons of flack for their strategy now but that's because they already have a flaky reputation for delivering on promises of the past. But at least Xbox gamers have a multi-year roadmap they can point to for non-GaaS titles. Will any of them actually deliver in terms of being high quality or living up to expectations is another question, especially given it's Microsoft.

Yeah I did give Sony flack for stuff like Dreams which was revealed way too early, but otherwise they delivered on the vast majority of the titles they showed off earlier. UC4, Horizon, Days Gone (after patches), GOW, GoT, and 3P exclusives like FFVII Remake, SFV (after a couple of Seasons) etc. I don't get this new strategy where they are keeping so many of the non-GaaS titles in the dark.

Outside of VR games, the last couple of years have shown Sony announcing games they are publishing wayyyy longer than 6 months in advance. I don't think that is their strategy at all.

That the market leader has made half that of Nintendo despite having far greater software sales with 3rd party royalties and MTX, goes so show there is a serious problem with Sony's operating model and this is what Jim Ryan has tried to change.

Sony probably makes more in MTX, but they don't have "far greater software sales" than Switch.

The confirmation bias is strong in this thread. Two people report being let go on a cancelled project, which essentially is another day in game development and we're calling that "A Wave." Really? Then they write an entire thesis, citing false numbers and stats, to reconfirm that bias?

Comedic gold if your willing to read through it.

Two people report being let go as part of a wave of layoffs. Do you think they were lying? I'm not seeing the comedy gold.

 

[IAmRei]

Please, Nintendeo, buy Sony.

How come ...
If sony and ninty form up like nintendo playstation (maybe in another universe) it will be over 9000 like overpowered brand ever. Honestly, they both had their own market. As owner of both console, i love them both.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Even that isnt true though, they are every bit as bad, and in some cases worse.

have you hear of....Activision

 

[Mibu no ookami]

It is, most layoffs are the Visual Arts team, what are the odds that Factions is on hold because Naughty Dog need to fix the Uncharted game, much like how they had to take back the reigns for Last of Us Part 1?

PlayStation is Building a New Studio to Work with Naughty Dog on an Unannounced Game - IGN

Sony is building a new development studio to work with Naughty Dog on an unannounced PlayStation game.

www.ign.com

It was probably a one-year review of the new studio.

 

[Labadal]

How come ...
If sony and ninty form up like nintendo playstation (maybe in another universe) it will be over 9000 like overpowered brand ever. Honestly, they both had their own market. As owner of both console, i love them both.

I, too, own both!

It was mostly a joke, though. But not 100% joke either.

 

[ArtHands]

Layoffs are not from Insomniac Games, but mostly from PlayStation’s Visual Arts group.

They're all Sony

 

[HarryKS]

What other industries are laying people off? At least in the US we’re at full employment + there are labor shortages at all skill levels.

Banking and financial sector. The cull has begun.

 

[mckmas8808]

So did we ever find out how many people got laid off from this? Where's the wave?