Sushi_Combo
Member
Hope those affected can land a new job quickly.
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Playstation Laying Off 900 People - Multiple Studios Effected (Insomniac/Guerilla/Firesprite) - London Studio Shuts Down
- Thread starter adamsapple
- Start date
hemo memo
You can't die before your death
Interesting how the narrative seems to be shifting when it comes to company layoffs. Now some are twisting it to be not only the industry but tech and business in general.
Thick Thighs Save Lives
NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
I'm not, that's why I called you out on it. You're one of the worst frequent posters around here and most of the stuff you're posting is utter shite.
Your user tag is 100% spot on, btw: Represent(ative) of bad opinions
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Del_X
Member
Since it's probably too late to cancel a PS5 Pro since the hardware is finalized and the contracts with AMD are signed I agree.
However I also think selling a $599 console with no disc drive is also going to be a hard sell outside of a very small crowd.
ProtoByte
Weeb Underling
The game industry is "what have you done for me lately". I understand why ND hasn't put anything new out, but right now, that's the fact.
And lately they've come out with ports, Remakes and a cancelled live service that they should've known from the jump would've consumed the studio.
BTW, you can be assured that the lion's share of the ND layoffs will be focused on people who were on the live service farce. It's not that serious.
Go ahead and be worried, but I don't think this is a referendum on AAA single player games. This is a correction that needs to happen. You'll notice, as
SlicedBread3
has, that all the studios namely affected were working on live service projects. Hulst even says in that post:"Delivering the immersive, narrative-driven stories that PlayStation Studios is known for, at the quality bar that we aspire to, requires a re-evaluation of how we operate."
You can take it as lip service, which I'm sure it is to a degree, but he says this independent of the online stuff he talks about (also where the PC and mobile stuff comes up, coincidentally) in the next paragraph, and also says this later:
"Sometimes, great ideas don’t become great games. Sometimes, a project is started with the best intentions before shifts within the market or industry result in a change of plan."
That reads less like the "lol screw SP" talk EA was spouting in 2011, and more like "So this live service shit is saturated, unpredictable, and isn't actually easier to produce like we thought it would be".
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thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
I hope not. VR in terms of what it can do for gaming is much more interesting on a 1P front than more (or more quickly accelerated) ports of games to PC.
Vick
Gold Member
Sushi_Combo
Member
Different situations. Microsoft acquired a publisher and mentioned no layoffs would be made before the deal closed, layoffs were made thereafter.
twilo99
Member
Rent in London is crazy tho
tmlDan
Member
the pro consoles are for a smaller market, like the PS4 pro was. But to end the gen when you sold 54MM consoles is wildly stupid. That's what the person i quoted described.
SlimySnake
Flashless at the Golden Globes
Nope. Hollywood has unions for the the crew and they move from movie to movie. If there is downtime then the studio loses money which is why the studios continue to invest in movies to ensure they have something lined up for the crew after they are done shooting a movie.
Games industry is poorly managed. After they ship a game, they have nothing to do until Neil turns in a script and the lead designers map out a game. That stuff should happen in the pre-produciton stage BEFORE they ship their current game so the production team can immediately move to the next game but games industry has no idea how to run their own business.
Represent.
Banned
So block me
If you wanna dance, hold hands and agree on everything then I have no interest in interacting with you at all. Baby skin soft. "stop voicing your opinions on an opinion forum - Like all games " Give me a fucking break.
Some terrible news comes out im not gonna sing happy songs about it
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ShaiKhulud1989
Gold Member
Most of the layoffs are actually tied more to expensive locations with high local taxes than to games. Nobody is laying off people in PD, Sucker Punch or MM for some reason, you know.
IFireflyl
Gold Member
I did. Well, the narrator did.
Sales-Age - Sony Q3 FY3/2024 Financial Results (Oct- Dec 2023): PS5 HW 8.2M, LTD 54.8M new forecast + SM2 at 10M
Credit: Lelouch0612 https://www.installbaseforum.com/forums/threads/sony-q3-fy3-2024-financial-results-oct-dec-2023-gn-s-sales-up-by-16-yoy-oi-down-by-26-ps5-hw-at-8-2m-sw-at-89-7m-new-forecast-sm2-at-10m.2418/ Q3 sales Hardware - 8.2M (+15% YoY) Software - 89.7M (+4% YoY) Q1-Q3...www.neogaf.com
Again, you did what? "We tried to tell you," means nothing.
ByWatterson
Member
Every tech sector for sure, and other industries are experiencing layoffs, but meager population growth (or in some cases population decline) in industrialized countries means that unemployment should stay very low for a very long time. This coming recession keeps being predicted, but all we've seen stateside is legit 4% growth, low unemployment, and wages now rising faster than inflation.
The global market is still recovering from inflation driven by supply line difficulties and over-printing, but the overall situation in the United States is...pretty good.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
The game industry is "what have you done for me lately". I understand why ND hasn't put anything new out, but right now, that's the fact.
And lately they've come out with ports, Remakes and a cancelled live service that they should've known from the jump would've consumed the studio.
BTW, you can be assured that the lion's share of the ND layoffs will be focused on people who were on the live service farce. It's not that serious.
Go ahead and be worried, but I don't think this is a referendum on AAA single player games. This is a correction that needs to happen. You'll notice, as
"Delivering the immersive, narrative-driven stories that PlayStation Studios is known for, at the quality bar that we aspire to, requires a re-evaluation of how we operate."
You can take it as lip service, which I'm sure it is to a degree, but he says this independent of the online stuff he's talking about (also where the PC and mobile stuff comes up, coincidentally), and also says this:
"Sometimes, great ideas don’t become great games. Sometimes, a project is started with the best intentions before shifts within the market or industry result in a change of plan."
That reads less like the "lol screw SP" talk EA was spouting in 2011, and more like "So this live service shit is saturated, unpredictable, and isn't actually easier to produce like we thought it would be".
You might be right. I'm gonna go and read the full statement and see what can be discerned from it.
Because I'm sure there are lots of hot takes from folks not bothering to read the whole thing or discern what it means.
Elysium44
Banned
I was basing the question off of articles I've seen recently like these.
‘To leave is heartbreaking’: the film and TV makers forced into other jobs
A slowdown in the sector is causing many to take work outside the sector, leading to crises of confidence
www.theguardian.com
TV jobs crisis: from feast to famine
Many are hoping that 2024 will see an upturn in the fortunes of freelancers seeking work in TV, reports Simon Bucks
I seem to remember reading stories decades ago in the UK where household name TV actors would go on the dole or do blue collar jobs in-between roles, to pay the bills.
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twilo99
Member
That’s actually a fraction of what’s needed.. still grossly overweight so I expect another round by the end of the fiscal year.
FoxMcChief
Gold Member
Layoffs were inevitable. That’s what most of us figured would happen. I’m not some smarty dude bro. Writing was just on the wall when Sony set ridiculous goals and didn’t meet them. They needed to meet those lofty goals because of the short sided heavy deals they made.
Thick Thighs Save Lives
NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
I don't like to block people, lol. I actually enjoy seeing all types of takes, even the outlandish ones.So block me
If you wanna dance, hold hands and agree on everything then I have no interest in interacting with you at all. Baby skin soft.
But if you're leaving this hobby because of the direction the industry at large is going then you'll not be missed, and tbh it's your loss.
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
Legit can't tell if this is a genuine question or just "woke-obsessed" snark.
FoxMcChief
Gold Member
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IFireflyl
Gold Member
I guess my point is the "we tried to tell you" seemed very console warrior-esque. The framing of that statement was akin to, "We tried to warn this rabid community of Sony fanboys, but nobody listened to us about Sony going to have layoffs."
Bumblebeetuna
didn't have any inside information on this, nor did you. And very few people, if anyone, were arguing that Sony was immune to layoffs.
Mortisfacio
Member
Notice the chart is missing other Sony devs like Insomniac.
dragonyeuw
Member
If the goal is to kill consumer confidence....yeah that would be the way to go about it.
BobLeeSwagger
Banned
Sadly, when it comes to cutting costs, layoffs are usually what companies gears towards.
Salaries make up ~40-50% of a company’s expenses. And that’s just salaries. Not the benefits or payroll taxes of keeping employees, which is usually ~20-30% of salaries, depending on the benefits an employee gets.
So you can imagine how much money can be saved laying off 900 employees.
Salaries make up ~40-50% of a company’s expenses. And that’s just salaries. Not the benefits or payroll taxes of keeping employees, which is usually ~20-30% of salaries, depending on the benefits an employee gets.
So you can imagine how much money can be saved laying off 900 employees.
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th4tguy
Member
Got to quickly improve those margins and get stocks back up to previous levels.
Vick
Gold Member
As far as I know it never was, I took that grab myself four months ago.
They worked as story consultant in Spider-Man 2, but evidently not enough for them to consider Insomniac clients?
There always was a single, californian, Sony studio on that list.
So saying "Sweet Baby Inc. is core of Playstation brand" when nor Sony nor PlayStation are Sweet Baby clients to begin with, especially when on the other hand the entire industry is featured on the list including the totality of the competition, is bizarre at best.. retarded at worst.
James Sawyer Ford
Member
Some of these people they want to keep are likely getting offers at neighboring studios
EDIT: Is not oficial ND.
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Unknown?
Member
SIE is headquartered in California and the economy of most countries are doing poorly despite fake data.
Everyone spent the last few years expanding like mad and floating business expenses on 2% financing. now all those financing terms are drying up, and it's either renegotiate at 7% which drastically changes what risks you can take with someone elses money or pare things back and cut expenses.
This is not a crash, it's a correction
DragonNCM
Member
Soon in next 5 or 10 years we will have 1 man studios pushing up AAA games. AI don't need to sleep, don't need to eat & dont need vacations.
Unknown?
Member
The cost is not going up, the value of the currency is being eroded quickly thanks to all of the money created during covid.
Daneel Elijah
Member
More a consequence of Sony not saying yet who will be fired. They will maybe try to ask people to retire or leave by themselves, then fire the rest to get their objective of 900 lay offs.The normal PR thing in these cases is a message of sadness for the decisions made but linked to a message of tranquility and a promising future. But what this message reflects is uncertainty.....
Perhaps a public demonstration of discontent with the appropriateness and logic of the decisions of the upper floor bosses?
Bernardougf
Member
Just keep investing in gaas and triple AAA bloated 4 years to make cinematic wokish games.. it will be fine.
Dont forget about those knitting classes...
Dont forget about those knitting classes...
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BobLeeSwagger
Banned
??????
This is something that typically happens around a company’s financial period. We usually hear about Microsoft first because they have a different FY than Sony.
Investors/Shareholders will get worried if they don’t like the results and actions will take place to alleviate.
Roxkis_ii
Banned
Mortisfacio
Member
Tech sector as a whole has been doing varying forms of layoffs. Some totally laying off, some laying off 10-15% and hiring elsewhere. Lot of restructuring due to the COVID boom. My company for example cut 10% of the staff, largely recruiters and "non-essential" staff, hired more engineers, then laid off 35% of staff.
It's been a wild time just turning my work laptop on, opening Slack, pinging some co-workers, seeing them respond, then suddenly stop typing and their account is de-activated.
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//DEVIL//
Member
I know how it works . But this year has been the worst so far for both companies.
James Sawyer Ford
Member
ND hasn’t been the best studio since PS3 era
They took like 8 years to make a Factions MP mode then didn’t even release it