PlayStation London Studio is coming to an end. While there are layoffs in several Sony studios, the entire company is on the verge of collapse. The first employees are speaking out on social networks.
Sony announced yesterday Layoff of 900 employees known. Several studios in the PlayStation division are affected, including Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, Firesprite Studios and Guerrilla Games.
Advertisement
Another studio is closing its doors completely after around 20 years. SIE London Studio, based in the eponymous British metropolis, no longer exists this year.
Employees comment on the layoffs
After the studio closure and the associated layoffs were announced yesterday, Tuesday, the first affected employees spoke out on social media.
This applies to the Art manager Ciarán Dalywho is saying goodbye to PlayStation after many years.
“After a decade, my time at PlayStation and London Studio seems to be coming to an end. I am grateful for the opportunities, the experiences and the growth. “I’m grateful for all the amazing, talented people I’ve worked with,” said Daly, who stressed that a dream come true is coming to an end and he is heartbroken.
Advertisement
Also the Senior Narrative Designer Callum Langstroth is affected by the layoffs and writes on Twitter/X: “I just want to make games that people love. And it's so frustrating that things outside of my control get in the way of that. That’s why I’m currently looking for work in narrative design and game design.”
He added: “I spent just under 10 years at London Studio, a place where I was able to grow and find my niche in the games industry. It’s a shame it ends this way.”
The senior Technical Designer Ataberk Ateş joins the job applications. Because he too was surprised by the layoffs: “I am looking for technical design jobs that can support my visa in the UK.”
He is grateful for any help, but also confident that his passionate and talented friends will find their way in the London studio.
Another request to speak comes from Louise Chamberlain, Senior Technical Producer at the closed studio: “Unfortunately I have to say that I am affected by the closure of London Studio. It was by far my favorite job and I had two really lovely and happy years.” She will look for new tasks in technical production.
The last game was a few years ago
SIE London Studio was founded in 2001 and made a name for itself in its early years with games like “EyeToy: Play” and “SingStar”. In the years that followed, several parts of both series followed.
The studio later developed a virtual reality rendering technology called LSDK, which is used on PS4 and PC. “PlayStation VR Worlds”, one of the studio’s VR projects, is based on this.
In 2019, after another “Singstar” part, “Blood & Truth”, a second game for PlayStation VR followed. A few months later, “Erica” was released with one Metascore of only 69. After that it became rather quiet around the SIE London Studio.
The developers began work on a cooperative multiplayer game set in a fantasy London, described by studio head Tara Saunders as the company's “most ambitious project to date.”
A game for PS VR2 it shouldn't be, so the closure of the studio is not an indication that support for the current virtual reality headset is ending. Corresponding speculations have been circulating since yesterday.
MORE ON THE SUBJECT:
There have been a number of further layoffs and studio closures in the industry in recent months. The biggest chunk The wave of layoffs at Xbox affected 1,900 employees represents.
Further news about PlayStation London Studio.
Discuss this news in the PlayStation Forum
Links to Amazon, Media Markt, Saturn and some other retailers are usually affiliate links. When you make a purchase, we receive a small commission with which we can finance the free-to-use site. You have no disadvantages.