PlayStation is laying off around 900 people across the world [Discussion]

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

2025 and 2026 better be mind blowing from Sony internal studios but at this point I doubt it very much.

If by 2027 all the PS5 has to show for are an underwhelming gen with games releasing on PC they are setting PS6 for failure.

Sony is there releasing games improved with NVidia tech as if NVidia wasn't shitting on consoles trying to convert people to PC when the PS5 was announced.

The PC strat is also something that needs significant overhaul. Shortening the window for ports of all 1P AAA games to 1-2 years also meant that concurrent console/PC dev was inevitable, which has led to the games taking longer to release altogether.

So console owners have been getting less 1P games as a result and, ironically, that simultaneous development also increases overall development costs. Not to mention the obvious: devaluing the appeal of the console to hardcore & core enthusiasts (or at least a good number of them), which can affect future adoption rates of hardware, revenue, and profits.

The sweet spot for PC versions of the 1P AAA non-GaaS games, if they do get ported, should be 4-6 years. At least then FOMO has better effect and give the console its value in terms of exclusives. Plus it means in a roundabout way, the games can come out faster (they'd have to do additional restructuring changes for that to be significantly sped up, but I can touch on those later).

 

[KnittedKnight]

"Downsizing" is not what really worries me going forward for the PlayStation business. The long term problem is growth in hardware adoption and keeping PC Windows gaming in check. The "vision" of what the "future" looks like and should be, if you can even call their strategy a "vision", is what's worrying. That leadership core leaves a lot to be desired and I wouldn't bet on them at face value. Sad to say. Like mice walking into a trap.

Obviously the hardcore fanboys can't get past the console war with Xbox at all so discussions around most parts is completely idiotic and myopic. The perfect distraction.

 

[Zzero]

Well, they are going multiplatform so it isn't like it mattered in the end lol

Mattered to who, because I'd argue that Kotick was a much better picker of winners and losers than whoever they have now.

 

[Yobo]

Honestly not shocked London Studios is done. This output over a decade isn't acceptable and I assume they are a couple hundred employees



Firesprite I am not even sure why they were acquired. A massive team of 265 with their own subsidiary and again what is their output?



I didn't understand their acquisition back then and I don't now. No proven successes and seemingly angled themselves as VR devs (very low ROI). And if they are VR devs where is the output? Just the one game from 265 strong studio. Also seem to contractually tied up in Star Citizen work which Sony won't see a return on

 

[AshHunter216]

Honestly not shocked London Studios is done. This output over a decade isn't acceptable and I assume they are a couple hundred employees

View attachment 4377

Firesprite I am not even sure why they were acquired. A massive team of 265 with their own subsidiary and again what is their output?

View attachment 4379

I didn't understand their acquisition back then and I don't now. No proven successes and seemingly angled themselves as VR devs (very low ROI). And if they are VR devs where is the output? Just the one game from 265 strong studio. Also seem to contractually tied up in Star Citizen work which Sony won't see a return on

Firesprite is rumored to be working on a AAA survival horror game, a genre I've really wanted to see Sony tackle again since the PS2 era. Also, Sony just recently got Firesprite so it's way too early to say that they haven't done anything to pull their weight.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Uncharted may be cancelled and Sunset overdrive to ps5?

That Twitter account is just throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks. Anyone following the pattern over the past few months would deduce it's the GaaS titles that have gotten a serious culling. Why would they cancel Sly Cooper, if it has a film/show coming and a game with that IP would be relatively cheap to produce?

Plus if anything, Sony need more 1P AA games, not less.

 

[Yobo]

Firesprite is working on a AAA survival horror game, a genre I've really wanted to see Sony tackle again since the PS2 era. Also, Sony just recently got Firesprite so it's way too early to say that they haven't done anything to pull their weight.

Not necessarily about them pulling their weight but I don't see why they were acquired to start with. They don't feel like a good fit and don't have a prestigious product to their name

Like they've been around 10 years in total and their list of games is pretty dire..I don't know how they survived this long

 

[flaccidsnake]

The PC strat is also something that needs significant overhaul. Shortening the window for ports of all 1P AAA games to 1-2 years also meant that concurrent console/PC dev was inevitable, which has led to the games taking longer to release altogether.

So console owners have been getting less 1P games as a result and, ironically, that simultaneous development also increases overall development costs. Not to mention the obvious: devaluing the appeal of the console to hardcore & core enthusiasts (or at least a good number of them), which can affect future adoption rates of hardware, revenue, and profits.

The sweet spot for PC versions of the 1P AAA non-GaaS games, if they do get ported, should be 4-6 years. At least then FOMO has better effect and give the console its value in terms of exclusives. Plus it means in a roundabout way, the games can come out faster (they'd have to do additional restructuring changes for that to be significantly sped up, but I can touch on those later).

compare this take with the analysis of the CEO of Sony:

Hikori Totoki (2/14/2024):

In the past we wanted to popularize consoles. And our first party title's main purpose was to make the hardware/console popular. But there is a synergy to it. So if we have strong first party content, not only with our console but also with other platforms, like computers. And the first party can be grown with multiplatforms. And that can help operating profit to improve. So that is another one we want to proactively work on. I personally believe there are opportunities out there for improvement of margin. So I would like to go aggressively to improve our margin.

Totoki wants to "proactively work on" achieving profitability through getting first party content on computers. The poster thinks Playstation will have more success if they double the current lag time between releases on Playstation vs PC.

The poster is concerned with "devaluing the appeal of the console to hardcore". Totoki refers to popularizing the console as an issue "in the past".

So the poster is not only strategically misguided, they're actually at odds, in direct conflict with Sony's efforts to address issues with their business.

 

[Yobo]

I love how Jim on his way out had to put his name to this. Totoki is a pussy who can't even front up to his own moves

 

[Satoru]

Horizon online is not developed by ncsoft?

There's two horizon online projects, one of them by guerrilla.

 

[Plextorage]

• Live service bet failed and backfired, with people being laid-off and studios closing

So, Helldivers 2 launched and...what happened? So, which other GAAS games failed? GT7? So, did Marathon and Fairgame$ launched and failed??

Missed PS5 sales projections by 4M at a time their main competitor is selling less than last gen

How about to wait end of fiscal year then we will judge. 21 million sold console in 1 year and expensive one is huge success

PC ports that sold peanuts and only served to have people move out of Sony's own ecosystem into a competing platform (competing platform by his own words)

Which games sold peanuts on PC? GOW 2018, Spiderman didn't sold peanuts on PC

2024 with ZERO first party single player games (yeah, they are publishing some, but that's it). The worst year for their single party studios in well over a decade!

MLB, though? Game fully funded, owned and published by Sony is a 1st party game - Helldivers 2 and Stellar Blade are 1st party games.

Nothing so far to show for 2025 other than Death Stranding (which is their IP but also a third-party studio)

2025 is sooo far away

Let their relationships with japanese studios degrade to a point where Xbox is actually getting perks that PS doesn't get (looking at Sega here)

I only see less Japanese support for Xbox, not bigger. How about Capcom, Square? Sega isn't the only one. Mind you that Sega and Atlus looked for multiplatform long before MS made some deals with them. Persona and Yakuza 0 launched on Steam? Remember that?

He was clearly following what Phil Spencer was doing with Xbox. Would be just a matter of time until PlayStation exclusives would be released on Xbox under his management.

PS is going 3rd party??

 

[Nhomnhom]

compare this take with the analysis of the CEO of Sony:

Hikori Totoki (2/14/2024):



Totoki wants to "proactively work on" achieving profitability through getting first party content on computers. The poster thinks Playstation will have more success if they double the current lag time between releases on Playstation vs PC.

The poster is concerned with "devaluing the appeal of the console to hardcore". Totoki refers to popularizing the console as an issue "in the past".

So the poster is not only strategically misguided, they're actually at odds, in direct conflict with Sony's efforts to address issues with their business.

The path to sucess for PlayStation is to put their single player games on PC where they get cracked day one and people can play them for free, with DLSS, better graphics, higher framerates, etc.

 

[Danja1187]

Not necessarily about them pulling their weight but I don't see why they were acquired to start with. They don't feel like a good fit and don't have a prestigious product to their name

Like they've been around 10 years in total and their list of games is pretty dire..I don't know how they survived this long

Jim wanted to rebuild a powerhouse studio in London. It just didn't work out.

 

[AshHunter216]

Not necessarily about them pulling their weight but I don't see why they were acquired to start with. They don't feel like a good fit and don't have a prestigious product to their name

Like they've been around 10 years in total and their list of games is pretty dire..I don't know how they survived this long

Most of the people at Firesprite are former Sony Liverpool people. You can't get better fit than a studio full of people who used to work at Sony. You may be getting them mixed up with Firewalk, which is former Bungie and cod people.

 

[Danja1187]

compare this take with the analysis of the CEO of Sony:

Hikori Totoki (2/14/2024):



Totoki wants to "proactively work on" achieving profitability through getting first party content on computers. The poster thinks Playstation will have more success if they double the current lag time between releases on Playstation vs PC.

The poster is concerned with "devaluing the appeal of the console to hardcore". Totoki refers to popularizing the console as an issue "in the past".

So the poster is not only strategically misguided, they're actually at odds, in direct conflict with Sony's efforts to address issues with their business.

PlayStation was more profitable when they kept their games to themselves. Their games were selling best then, had better sales legs, never saw anyone saying they will just wait until a PS4 exclusive comes to PC. They were able to release games with better quality control. It's a fact PC is negatively affecting them on all fronts.

 

[Vertigo]

Difference is I don't obsess about PSVR2. Y'all on this site is literally obsessed with Xbox? You're not obligated to interact with my opinions on VR which is normally pretty one off unless y'all make it into a discussion.

A good amount of the time half the front page is literally about Xbox or the nonstop circle jerk in threads even when it's not about Xbox related topics... Totally not the same

PSVR2 still ain't selling well either

PSVR is their biggest blunder of the gen. It’s waste of resources but being proactive with working with new interface technologies is commendable. As a product tho? It’s a fail and consumers have not cared and that doesn’t seem like it’ll change. Apple’s latest headset tho has made notable waves. Fun gimmick but investment in future vr only titles should be scaled back big time. Probably is… not like they talk about it ever…

 

[flaccidsnake]

PlayStation was more profitable when they kept their games to themselves. Their games were selling best then, had better sales legs, never saw anyone saying they will just wait until a PS4 exclusive comes to PC. They were able to release games with better quality control. It's a fact PC is negatively affecting them on all fronts.

Of course I disagree with everything you're saying and also your points are poorly supported. But it's glaring that the people whose livelihood is wrapped up in knowing the facts are doing the opposite of what you think.

 

[Danja1187]

I blame Shawn Layden for all this PC nonsense. Which I'm sure he got the idea from one of his many chats with his Best friend Phil Spencer ... Who also almost convinced him Exclusive deals were suddenly bad.

 

[Say1nMan]

PlayStation was never going to be immune to the massive layoff that's going on in the industry right now. Multiple factors like recession and over hiring as a result of the pandemic to name a few are coming back and biting the industry in the ass. Layoffs in the industry ain't new and will always happen every gen.

 

[Eternal_Wings]

Someone please check on the clowns @nongkris and @KnittedKnight
Remember when they were preaching constantly that AAA Holywood blockbusters, GaaS and the westernisation of PlayStation are Sony’s future?
One famous quote by them:
“The least Sony needs is Japanese or Asian games. They need to go all-in GaaS. This were the future lies. Japanese games are for retarded weebs”
Both of you Jim Ryan cheerleaders must be crying bitter tears right now. Really grant it to you Japanese hating bozos.