PlayStation is laying off around 900 people across the world [Discussion]
- Thread starter John Elden Ring
- Start date
Facts
The layoffs are all to do with appeasing investors and nothing to do with the health of the industry
Any company paying dividends should not be allowed to perform layoffs. Any company performing stock buybacks should not be allowed to perform layoffs.
Look at EA, their dividends actually increased on a per share basis since 2020.
It is true that several big companies hired+acquired a lot from 2019 until late 2023, way more than the firings they made in late 2023/early 2024. SIE is a great example of this.
Growing a lot means more costs so lower profitability until these people release games (which in AAA means several years). It's also true that expensive money/interest rates also affects them. So partly they have to cut some fat too to reduce costs due to this.
But there are more important reasons, like some tech investors moving invesment from gaming to AI because it's growing a lot more and gaming revenue didn't grow afer covid as it did during decades. Recession and inflation limiting revenue growth because customers have less money while also making certain costs (like hardware components or shipments) more expensive than before, etc. And things seems that in the economy can go worse in the next year or so.
So even in companies like Sony have to make a special effort on control/reducing costs where possible while trying to increase their productivity/profitability to compensate these issues, be more appealing to investors and save money just in case if -as expected- the economy and the "USA vs BRICS" economic war gets even worse during the next year or two as expected.
TLDR: Several different things they can't control are limiting their revenue growth, and on top of that other ones are damaging even more their profitability. Plus some investors are moving away. They grew a lot in recent years, but now have to cut some fat.
Well, I'm not a "green cunt" but I will say that while I do favor Sony making more AA games, that's not at the expense of their AAA games. I DO think some of the excess spending on the AAA games can be culled back, and they could look into a model that compartmentalizes/segments the massive AAA games into Parts/Installments comparable to expansions like Lost Legacy or Miles Morales, or classic examples like the Shining Force III Scenarios, that way people can start playing the games sooner and each part is priced at a lower amount.
But that's not the same as me saying Sony should stop making the AAA SP games; not even close. And the "smaller" AA games I usually refer to would be stuff with budgets and production values of, say, Kena and Stray, or somewhere between those games and a Lost Legacy or Miles Morales. It's very important to remember, that part of PlayStation's legacy was always about being an open platform for smaller, more "niche" but still ambitious games. Something that's become very synonymous with platforms like Steam these days.
When I suggest Sony should consider doing more 1P AA games, it's really because IMO they should get back to doing more of what is (or was) at the roots of the brand since its inception. However, that doesn't need to come at the cost of the 1P AAA epics. When certain Xbox warriors try hiding behind similar speak they likely are trying to suggest Sony should outright replace the 1P AAA games with AA games. Or if not that, then equally stupid takes like Sony should bring their 1P AAA epics to PC Day 1 (though there are some Steam fanboys who do that these days too; some even post here
). I'm not in favor of either of those ideas.Basically what I'm saying is, why can't we have both? What is wrong with variety? And I'm saying this as a PlayStation fan, myself.
Exactly, we need both and should have both big and small games. Especially with how long AAA games take to make now.Well, I'm not a "green cunt" but I will say that while I do favor Sony making more AA games, that's not at the expense of their AAA games. I DO think some of the excess spending on the AAA games can be culled back, and they could look into a model that compartmentalizes/segments the massive AAA games into Parts/Installments comparable to expansions like Lost Legacy or Miles Morales, or classic examples like the Shining Force III Scenarios, that way people can start playing the games sooner and each part is priced at a lower amount.
But that's not the same as me saying Sony should stop making the AAA SP games; not even close. And the "smaller" AA games I usually refer to would be stuff with budgets and production values of, say, Kena and Stray, or somewhere between those games and a Lost Legacy or Miles Morales. It's very important to remember, that part of PlayStation's legacy was always about being an open platform for smaller, more "niche" but still ambitious games. Something that's become very synonymous with platforms like Steam these days.
When I suggest Sony should consider doing more 1P AA games, it's really because IMO they should get back to doing more of what is (or was) at the roots of the brand since its inception. However, that doesn't need to come at the cost of the 1P AAA epics. When certain Xbox warriors try hiding behind similar speak they likely are trying to suggest Sony should outright replace the 1P AAA games with AA games. Or if not that, then equally stupid takes like Sony should bring their 1P AAA epics to PC Day 1 (though there are some Steam fanboys who do that these days too; some even post here
Basically what I'm saying is, why can't we have both? What is wrong with variety? And I'm saying this as a PlayStation fan, myself.
HZD is one of the best written games ever, FW had some goofy moments though
I give FW a little break because it couldn't really achieve the same mystery build up before the reveal of the whole thing the first game did.
But man, does it make some bad choices with writing. The whole Ted bunker thing...made me laugh out loud when you get to that reveal at the end. The guy just peeks around the corner and is like "Yup, that's it".
Also the villains are straight out of the saturday morning cartoon. The game's great but the story leaves a lot to be desired.
Yeah the Ted crap was a HUGE blunder and a missed opportunity
and there’s another stupid thing that happens towards the end of the game that I won’t say 
but it was supposed to be a serious moment that just made me laugh. I still loved the game though
Can't remember what that might be. And now I want to replay the series again...Yeah the Ted crap was a HUGE blunder and a missed opportunity