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

Yurinka

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Why would what's going on in the gaming world make you "unusually tense"? Unless of course you work in the industry and it's directly affecting you. It's a hobby, I disagree with ppl in here sometimes but I don't take it personal unless it's a personal attack but I could care less if someone disagrees with me. Some ppl just need to accept others do not think like they do and it's OK for ppl to think differently and have different opinions. Sony isn't paying my rent nor is any other Corp so I give two shits what ppl say about them
I think it's normal that people may have different points of views, tastes or opinions because we're human, so everyone is different. So it's normal to see people debating or arguing about stuff.

But people in gaming forums typically aren't the average player who barely plays and doesn't care about people makes the game etc, often are people who really care about gaming and specially about some games, companies or consoles. We love to get informed about the news, talk about them etc. and tend to be tribalistic (normal in human beings either if it's a country, political party, religion, sports team, music genre and many things more) in this case about gaming topics.

So when we see stuff from their favorite company (or rival competitor) like almost one or two thosand people fired, games tanking, games cancelled, games breaking records, studios shut down, exclusives going multiplatform etc. the debate gets heated, more intense during a handful days.

But things should be debated as decent human beings, without insults, personal attacks, etc.

I was at the office today with barely any internet so I missed all the conversation but besides the shocking "900 layoffs" headline it doesn't seem like gamers lost anything worthwhile?

People were mocking that London game since it was announced, nobody wanted it. We never saw anything of Twisted Metal, it might as well not exist. The Insomniac MP was already cancelled months ago. We were not getting it anyway.

It's almost like Jim and Hermen were reading the forum and just did what people were asking lol
Or Totoki seeing that nobody liked the London Studio game and thinking that they had to spend like $100M more on it even if they knew it was going to tank, while with that money they could make 50 PC ports with a x50 ROI, turning $100M into $5B instead of throwing them to the garbage bin.
 
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anonpuffs

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After reflecting on the news, besides the kneejerk "sony doomed" reaction that naturally occurs after bad news like this, I think this is a sign that the management at Sony made the right call here, and while Jim may not have been pushed out he probably saw the signs and decided to quit when his vision was no longer going to bear fruit long term.

-stagnating worldwide economy; inflation and wealth consolidation/destruction of middle class reducing the addressable market; covid bump set unrealistic expectations
-a long series of high profile live service flops
-even bungie having trouble maintaining their revenue despite being one of the top dogs; decline in call of duty and epic struggling with profitability despite fortnite success
-relative inexperience of internal teams with supporting live service leading to unappealing products meaning likely product failure especially after a big marketing partner in Suicide Squad shit the bed; the reaction to last year's Suicide Squad state of play must have sounded alarm bells
-long line of partners making fortnite-aesthetic games like destruction allstars, foamstars; even popular IPs like Marvel's avengers failing hard. Very negative reception to announcement trailers of concord and fairgame$

I think this was a necessary correction but I'm surprised that they closed studios instead of trying to reboot and reuse assets in single player games. I feel like that's a very shortsighted and shareholder-led decision.
 

Puff

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Blabub blabub Spider-man is Unsustainable. PlayStation needs to make smaller, AA games blabub

Why is the community suddenly obsessed with gaming budgets?

I'll tell you why. Green cunts want PlayStation to stop making AAA games like spider-man & God of War. Nobody buys a 500$ PlayStation for small games. People buy one for GOTY banger experiences. AAA-games is where it's at, it's what PlayStation Fans want.

Remember what Heisenberg said back then
It's actually very simple. Microsoft cannot produce AAA games: Redfall, Halo Infinite, Forza Motorsport, Starfield, Crackdown 3, etc.

Microsoft can make very good AA games: Grounded, Ori 1, Ori 2, Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, Pentiment, etc.

But it is the blockbuster AAA games that set PlayStation apart from Xbox, e.g., GOW, GoT, TLOU, HFW, SM2, etc.. The paid shills and media want Sony to stop making as many AAA games and waste their resources on making AA games.

If it happens, PlayStation will lose its competitive advantage against Xbox, and Xbox will have more of a level-playing field to compete.

PlayStation fans need to be aware of their tactics and not pressure Sony into doing something stupid. They did the same thing with "PlayStation needs a Game Pass; Sony needs to launch games on PS+ day one; PS needs to stop making TLOU" etc.
 

anonpuffs

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that's a console market issue.
possibly, but pc games also run into publishing issues. Also, while I love mid size AA and indie games, it would be a loss if we lost more AAA developers as fewer and fewer companies can afford to take those kinds of risks. Part of the best moments in gaming rely on being blown away by a new game's ambition.
 
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Old Gamer

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possibly, but pc games also run into publishing issues. Also, while I love mid size AA and indie games, it would be a loss if we lost more AAA developers as fewer and fewer companies can afford to take those kinds of risks. Part of the best moments in gaming rely on being blown away by a new game's ambition.
AA is meant to complement AAA and offer variety, while both allowing software which is more accessible to costumers, and less financial risk to the publisher/platform holder.

It needs to be said, Sony was already misguided by expecting all output to be AAA long before the GaaS push.
 
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Why is the community suddenly obsessed with gaming budgets?

I'll tell you why. Green cunts want PlayStation to stop making AAA games like spider-man & God of War. Nobody buys a 500$ PlayStation for small games. People buy one for GOTY banger experiences. AAA-games is where it's at, it's what PlayStation Fans want.

Remember what Heisenberg said back then
Yeah I've noticed all the shills trying to convince everyone playstations games aren't sustainable when they've been crying about how anyone that says gamepass isn't sustainable is lying 🤣 ... They just want playstations games to turn into gamepass tier slop
 

FatKaz

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Jim visiting london studio before it got shutdown is sure something.

My guess jim was in an awkward place.

It's his final farewell, if he doesn't show up it's gonna look like a slight against them.
 
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AshHunter216

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I'm seeing a few people on twitter panicking who I used to think were more level-headed than that. It almost makes me want to make an account just to talk them down off the ledge, but I doubt it's worth it.
 

FatKaz

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Consoles. I reckon the industry will splinter; old school/hardcore gamers move to PC. Casuals to mobile/handheld.

Microsoft and Sony left holding the bag because they chased a fad crowd.
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