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The Finance Base
layoffs

Sony Plans to Cut About 900 PlayStation Jobs; London Studio Closure Proposed

Sony planned to cut about 900 jobs across PlayStation, while describing London Studio’s closure and some UK reductions as proposals subject to consultation.

By TheFinanceBase Team 2 min read
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Sony Interactive Entertainment announced on February 27, 2024, that it planned to reduce its global workforce by about 8%, or about 900 people. The announcement also proposed closing PlayStation’s London Studio, but Sony said the proposal was subject to consultation and was not a final closure decision that day.

What Sony announced

SIE President and CEO Jim Ryan said the company planned to cut about 900 roles across its global workforce. The figure was an approximate company-wide target—not a count of named employees confirmed as dismissed on February 27. Sony said the changes would affect employees across the Americas, EMEA, Japan and APAC, including people at studios.

The Associated Press also reported the planned reduction as about 900 jobs, or about 8% of PlayStation’s global workforce. Neither the global target nor the reporting identifies a studio-by-studio headcount.

Was London Studio closing?

Sony described the London Studio closure as a proposal. It said collective consultation would take place before final decisions, so the February 27 announcement alone does not establish that the closure was formally confirmed or when it would take effect. The available announcements do not verify the consultation’s outcome or the studio’s eventual closure date.

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Sony also proposed reductions at Firesprite and in UK functions. Those proposals should not be treated as completed job cuts on announcement day.

Which PlayStation teams did Sony name?

In a separate PlayStation Studios update on February 27, Studio Business Group CEO Hermen Hulst identified affected teams and proposals:

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  • United Kingdom and Europe: proposed reductions at Guerrilla and Firesprite, as well as the proposed London Studio closure.
  • Elsewhere: smaller reductions in other parts of PlayStation Studios.

Sony did not provide individual studio totals, so the approximately 900-person global target cannot be allocated among these teams from the announcement.

Why did Sony say it was making the cuts?

Sony attributed the restructuring to changes in the games industry, evolving economic conditions, and shifts in how games are developed, distributed and launched. Ryan said the company needed “to future ready ourselves to set the business up for what lies ahead.” That is Sony’s explanation for its decision, not an independently established account of what caused each proposed reduction.

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Hulst said PlayStation 5 was in its fourth year and that the company needed to reassess what the business required. He also described different approaches and resources for narrative games, social and online experiences, and releases on PC and mobile, saying, “But growth itself is not an ambition.” Sony said it had reviewed projects at different development stages and that some would not move forward, without naming them.

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How would the process work?

Sony said timing and procedures would differ by location because of local laws and regulations. In the United States, affected employees were to be notified on February 27; in other locations, Sony said conversations would begin with people potentially at risk or otherwise affected. The company said it would provide support, including severance benefits for employees leaving. These location-specific processes are why the global announcement should not be read as 900 simultaneous, completed dismissals.

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