Sony has become the latest tech company in 2024 to reveal plans to cut jobs in its business. Specifically, it revealed today it will eliminate 900 positions in its Sony Interactive Entertainment division, better known as its PlayStation business. This will affect about 8 percent of the total workforce at SIE.
In a press release, current SIE President and CEO Jim Ryan announced that these layoffs were because the company felt that changes were needed "to continue to grow the business and develop the company."
The layoffs will be worldwide across all of its PlayStation business, and Ryan added that will include cuts at several first-party PlayStation Studios development teams. The press release mentioned that in the UK, Sony"s London studio will completely shut down, and there will be cuts in its Firesprite team. There"s no word yet on how badly the layoffs will affect PlayStation"s US operations.
This notice comes at a particularly low point in Sony"s PlayStation business. The company warned in its latest quarterly financial report that sales of the PS5 console may begin to decline "partially due to its entering the latter half of the console cycle." It also said it does not plan to release any major first-party PS5 games in its next fiscal year.
On top of this, PlayStation"s head Ryan announced months ago he would be retiring in just a few weeks, in March 2024. Sony Group Corporation President Hiroki Totoki is scheduled to take over as Interim CEO and will help in finding a permanent leader of the division.
Again, this is just the latest news of major layoffs at tech companies in general, and video game businesses specifically, during the first two months of 2024. Sony"s rival Microsoft announced in late January that it would cut 1,900 people, or about 9 percent of its workforce, from its various gaming divisions.