Sony Group Corporation reported that it will lay off 900 workers from its video game division, which is equivalent to 8% of its workforce. The technology company is the latest to be affected by the serious crisis. Companies in the sector such as Google, Cisco and eBay have made similar announcements recently.
"We have made the extremely hard decision to announce our plan to commence a reduction of our overall headcount globally by about 8% or about 900 people, subject to local law and consultation processes," said Sony Interactive Entertainment Chairman and CEO Jim Ryan in a statement. "Employees across the globe, including our studios, are impacted."
The layoffs will affect several subsidiaries of Sony Group Corporation, such as Insomniac, Naughty Dog and Guerrilla Games. All of them are video game development companies. The company hinted that this cut will allow them to invest in creating video games with new technologies that improve user experiences:
The industry has changed immensely, and we need to future-ready ourselves to set the business up for what lies ahead. We need to deliver on expectations from developers and gamers and continue to propel future technology in gaming, so we took a step back to ensure we are set up to continue bringing the best gaming experiences to the community.
Affected employees will be notified by email. Aside from the layoffs, Sony Group Corporation is taking other measures such as closing PlayStation London, a studio that developed one of the company's most successful video game sagas, SingStar.
