Sony studio Firesprite has been shedding talent amidst accusations of toxic culture, staff say

[AshHunter216]

We'll just have to wait and see how everything goes. Eurogamer loves writing dire articles about PlayStation though, and glassdoor reviews aren't the most reliable thing in the world.

 

[Dabaus]

Some Sony head when showing a fiscal report a year ago that they were going to pause their acquisitions efforts for the short term due to several reasons (bad external market conditions, economy, Sony to get a big amount of cash around fall 2025 selling most of their banks business) and that were going to resume them in the mid (normally means around 3 years) to long term.

Meaning, unless there's some specific great opportunity or urgent stuff they shouldn't make any meaningful acquisition until around a couple years from now aprox.

Theyd better hope MS doesnt start to focus on SE, who isnt doing great ATM.

 

[Yurinka]

What was the point of buying this massive studio? Their output already sucks as much as the other studios

The point of buying a game development studio is to get games developed by them.

Firesprite got acquired in 2021, they released their first game as Sony in 2023 which was last year and is one of the most important and best looking VR games. I don't know what you are talking about regarding low output.

Theyd better hope MS doesnt start to focus on SE, who isnt doing great ATM.

MS already did, and were told to fuck off.

 

[Danja]

Guess the rumors of this few months back was true they were struggling internally. What a mess.

All Hermen's Fault. If only he actually visited studios instead of boozing and on his endless vacations.

This studio will def be shuttered

 

[Neversummer]

Another studio will bite the dust by sony

Crazy part is there’s a lot of people from Psygnosis at Firesprite which Sony shut down/folded back in the day

 

[Gamernyc78]

Crazy part is there’s a lot of people from Psygnosis at Firesprite which Sony shut down/folded back in the day

Thts true.

 

[Neversummer]

All sony had to do this generation was acquire small studios they worked with that actually have something to show for and like invest in SE and Capcom. Instead they wasted billions on bungie and are having trouble managing their no name, no IP, garage band start ups.

Id say a perfect generation would've looked like:

Acquired Bluepoint, House Marque, arrowhead, and the kena studio.

Invested in: Fromsoft, Square Enix, Capcom, and probably EA or take 2.

Also buy Arc System Work great studio that’s been making fighters for PS & PC for a long time & had great reviews by the FGC community

 

[AshHunter216]

Thts true.

IMO there's way too many emotional knee jerk reactions to things lately. IMO, the best thing to do is keep a level head and see how things play out.

 

[Danja]

Crazy part is there’s a lot of people from Psygnosis at Firesprite which Sony shut down/folded back in the day

Jim Ryan wanted to rebuild a powerhouse London studio and I think he somewhat championed for this acquisition, but it's clear internal structure wasn't strong enough to turn them into the England Insomniac

 

[Neversummer]

Al these small no name studios are worthless. Get Square, From and Arrowhead.

License your stuff to outside studios for VR.

Don’t forget Arc system work.

Can you imagine Tencent buys Kadokawa, Saudis buys Capcom & MS continues pushing full 3rd party eventually day n date on PS & Nintendo & buys Square Enix so no regulator can block MS acquisition of publisher that would be a dagger to PS heart which they wouldn’t survive PS future is looking spooky I can’t lie they’re moving like rookies. Sony is dumb for not locking these studios/publisher that been partnered for a long time instead they wasting money on these no name no ip no cadence studios.

 

[Puff]

Just the current state of Firesprite according to what you can read online. You can hear stuff like:
- Management/leadership since Sony took over is awful. The last shipped project (Horizon VR?) was a nightmare to work with.
- The Sony acquisition has negatively impacted many departments. Since the acquisition they have lost over 100 employees and had Firesprite culture dismantled piece by piece. Sony implemented a hiring pause that put pressure on several teams and caused many staff to have complete burnout.
- Founders jumped ship after they got their golden parachutes (after the Firesprite and Fabrik Games acquisition).
- People are afraid to even give input on their own work and disappear if they challenge the new studio heads.
- Understaffed projects that are often poorly managed.
- Projects in development hell.
- Chaotic production on almost every project. Resulting in wasted time and people running around like headless chickens crunching to get stuff in last minute. Lack of clear direction in many projects. Too many leads/directors (especially after the Sony acquisition). They bite off more than they can chew resulting in cancelled projects. All projects are understaffed resulting on a lot of people getting moved from project to project.
- Management and many employees have limited experience with Unreal Engine and a certain project is suffering as a result. Unlikely to ship.

Remember Pete Ellis? The former Naughty Dog dev who went to Firesprite to work as a game director for their narrative-driven horror game? He left this month.
The same goes for the lead designer who worked on Horizon Call of the Mountain. Gone.

Over 100 developers left since Sony bought them, game development is chaotic and projects are getting canceled. The Sony acquisition has had a negative impact on the culture and leadership. Before the acquisition there were pretty much only positive reviews on Glassdoor.
Doesn't sound good.

I'm losing my trust in Playstation. They still make good games, but the magic is completely gone.

 

[Loy310]

Hard times come and go. They will figure it out eventually.

 

[Shmunter]

What’s a toxic culture these days? No workie from homie?

 

[Danja]

I'm losing my trust in Playstation. They still make good games, but the magic is completely gone.

Thank You Hermen

 

[Box]

We are never getting a new Wipeout,Motorstorm or Twisted metal....

 

[ApolloHelios]

Gee I wonder why it's Eurogamer article said no one ever. Their hand wringing can be seen miles away just look at the telltale signs of SonyToo narrative spread out in the article to further wrong Sony acquisitions narrative!

 

[anonpuffs]

Firesprite struggling while Hermen out there sailing on his yacht and surfing on vacation every day

Get Hermen out, he's absolutely useless

 

[AshHunter216]

I'm losing my trust in Playstation. They still make good games, but the magic is completely gone.

You guys get in your feelings and say this every other day. This forum is a broken record and it gets old.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

I'm losing my trust in Playstation. They still make good games, but the magic is completely gone.

What was the magic of Firesprite? They made a VR game with Sony and that's it. They could disappear tomorrow and nobody would care like London Studios.

 

[Yurinka]

Jim Ryan wanted to rebuild a powerhouse London studio and I think he somewhat championed for this acquisition, but it's clear internal structure wasn't strong enough to turn them into the England Insomniac

Firesprite is in Liverpool, not in London. It's a different studio than London Studio.

And yes, Firesprite has a lot of people. I was already big when acquired and later grew even more.