Tokyo:
Sony PlayStation said on Tuesday it would lay off 8% of its global workforce as the tech industry continues to suffer a wave of layoffs.
PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan called it “sad news” and said the layoffs would affect 900 people around the world, including at the video game production studio.
The company said the layoffs will completely close the company’s PlayStation London studio, which was founded in 2002 and specializes in virtual reality game projects.
Another statement said US studios Insomniac Games and Naughty Dog were also hit.
PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst said that as the company focuses on mobile and PC games, it needs more resources.
“We looked at our studios and portfolio, evaluated projects in various stages of development, and decided that some of them would not move forward,” he said.
“Our philosophy has always been to allow for creative experimentation. Sometimes, great ideas don’t make great games,” Helst added.
Sony warned this month that sales of the PlayStation 5, now in its fourth year on the market, would not meet initial targets.
Sony’s video game division found success with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which launched on PS5 last October and became the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game within 24 hours of release.
But after Microsoft acquired Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard, the PlayStation 5 is facing stiff competition from the Nintendo Switch and could become even more competitive with Microsoft’s Xbox.
Microsoft said in January that it would lay off 1,900 people, or 8% of its workforce, from its gaming division as it integrated its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The tech industry lost a total of 260,000 jobs last year, according to layoffs.fyi, a California-based website that tracks the industry.
The website shows that 171 companies have cut 43,957 jobs so far this year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
