Sony is set to shut its London studio as part of cutting around 900 jobs in its PlayStation sector.
Sony is set to shut its London studio as part of cutting around 900 jobs in its PlayStation sector.
Sony said today it will let go about 900 people, or 8% of is global PlayStation headcount, the latest layoffs to hit the gaming industry.
Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Sony‘s PlayStation has joined the long list of video game companies hit by layoffs in 2024. Approximately 900 Sony Interactive Entertainment employees, or 8% of PlayStation’s global workforce, will be impacted by the cuts, per outgoing-CEO Jim Ryan. Employees across the Americas, EMEA, Japan, and APAC regions will be affected and several studios, including PlayStation’s London studio, will shutter.
Sony Group Corporation and Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) today announced that SIE President and CEO Jim Ryan has made the decision to retire in March 2024 after almost 30 years with the PlayStation business.
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, is retiring next year after almost three decades with the company’s PlayStation business. Ryan will step down from the post in March 2024. Sony Group president, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki will assume the role of chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment effective October 2023.
Sony has confirmed that it won’t share any PS6 details with Activision Blizzard if Microsoft successfully purchases the company.Speaking to the US Federal Trade Commission (via Eurogamer) PlayStation boss Jim Ryan confirmed that it would not take the risk of sharing console details with its competitor.“[Sony] simply could not run the risk of a company that was owned by a direct competitor having access to that information,” he explained.His comments were received by the FTC in April after he was quizzed about statements submitted by Sony that explain the company’s position on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.In an FTC v MS/ABK deposition, PlayStation chief Jim Ryan said that, if deal closes, Sony couldn't tell Activision about its next consoleIs then asked about Sony working with Mojang (Minecraft) after MS bought them.
deposition transcript for the FTC vs Microsoft and Activision Blizzard King case, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s CEO Jim Ryan explained why the company wouldn’t be able to share key info about its upcoming PlayStation console with Activision were Activision to be bought by Microsoft (via Stephen Totilo).“We simply could not run the risk of a company that was owned by a direct competitor having access to that information,” Ryan said, alluding to the possibility that if Sony shared info with Activision to help it craft console-exclusive features for hypothetical PlayStation 6 launch titles, Activision’s (would-be) parent company, Microsoft, would examine the details of the still-in-development PlayStation 6 and have unfair knowledge of what its rival was cooking up. This knowledge would possibly enable Microsoft to integrate its competitor’s console’s benefits into its own next-generation hardware.Ryan also said he believed Activision under Microsoft would not be incentivized to take advantage of unique PlayStation features, as Activision would be focused first and foremost on making its game experiences great on Microsoft’s systems (Xbox and PC).
Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer PlayStation has struck a deal to acquire game developer Firewalk Studios from ProbablyMonsters Inc, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced Thursday. Firewalk, which is currently developing an untitled AAA multiplayer game for Playstation 5 and PC, will collaborate alongside PlayStation brands including Bungie and Haven Interactive Studios to create constantly updated “live service” games for PlayStation consumers. Firewalk marks the 20th studio to join PlayStation Studios. The Bellevue, Washington-based company’s day-to-day operations for its 150-person team will continue to be run by Firewalk’s management, in collaboration with PlayStation Studios External Development team.
A student at the University of Virginia has been arrested after allegedly shooting five people — three of whom died — in a horrific incident on the school’s Charlottesville campus late Sunday night.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson has shared that Call Of Duty becoming an Xbox-exclusive series would be a “tremendous opportunity” for EA’s Battlefield series.As Microsoft‘s acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues, the purchase has come under scrutiny over the possibility of Microsoft potentially making Call Of Duty an Xbox-exclusive. While Microsoft says it will continue to launch Call Of Duty on PlayStation, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has slammed Microsoft’s three-year offer as “inadequate on many levels.” Speaking at last week’s Communacopia + Technology conference (via Gamespot), Wilson addressed the speculation surrounding Call Of Duty‘s future.“In a world where there may be questions over the future of Call Of Duty and what platforms that might be on or might not be on, being platform agnostic and completely cross-platform with Battlefield, I think is a tremendous opportunity,” reflected Wilson.However, Wilson also acknowledged that EA’s latest Battlefield releases haven’t lived up to players’ expectations. “I don’t think we delivered in the last two iterations of that in the way that we should have,” said Wilson.
The mountains are as gorgeous as ever, the deal climate not so much as boutique investment bank Allen & Co. prepares to host its annual Sun Valley retreat. After guests arrive on Tuesday, official activities get under way Wednesday.
Jordan Moreau More Sony video games are getting the TV treatment, as president Jim Ryan revealed in an investor briefing on Thursday that popular PlayStation titles “Horizon Zero Dawn” and “Gran Turismo” are the latest games going Hollywood.The “Horizon Zero Dawn” series, based on the popular video games where robotic dinosaurs roam a post-apocalyptic America, is in development at Netflix, while “Gran Turismo,” a racing series, hasn’t landed a distributor yet.In addition to the new projects, Sony confirmed that the “God of War” series, which was first announced in March as being shopped around to Amazon, has landed at the Prime Video streamer.Sony and PlayStation Productions are ramping up their projects based on their popular video games, which was first kicked off with the “Uncharted” movie starring Tom Holland earlier this year. The next highly anticipated title is the “Last of Us” series coming to HBO, which stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as the zombie apocalypse survivors Joel and Ellie.
PS1 and PSP games have been found on PlayStation Network (PSN) servers, providing an early look at some of the retro titles that may launch with Sony‘s revamped PlayStation Plus service.As datamined by Reddit user The_Andshrew (via VGC), artwork for five older PlayStation games have appeared on PSN’s backend servers.The games include Ridge Racers 2 for the PSP, and four other PS1 games – Mr Driller, Tekken 2, Worms Armageddon, and Worms World Party.While nothing’s been confirmed just yet, the datamine seems to provide an early look at some of the games that will launch as part of PlayStation Plus’ upcoming reshuffle. Earlier in the month, four Syphon Filter games received ratings for a PS4 and PS5 launch – though it’s unclear if these titles will appear as part of PlayStation Plus, or if something else is in the works.Back in March, Sony announced that the subscription-based service will undergo a significant rebrand.
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan has discussed the new PlayStation Plus tiers and further studio acquisitions.This comes from his guest spot on the latest Official PlayStation Podcast. After the recent announcement of an overhaul to PlayStation Plus subscriptions, Ryan spoke about recent and future acquisitions.“We’re in a really good place with PlayStation Studios and have been for the past few years.
PlayStation‘s online service offering, CEO Jim Ryan has explained why new console exclusives aren’t likely to come to the service on day one.Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Ryan explained that putting PlayStation’s own titles into services like these at launch is “not a road that we’ve gone down in the past. And it’s not a road that we’re going to go down with this new service.”Ryan explained: “We feel like we are in a good virtuous cycle with the studios, where the investment delivers success, which enables yet more investment, which delivers yet more success.
Sony released an earnings report that included details of its recent acquisition of Bungie that revealed employee retention plans.Sony revealed plans to purchase Destiny 2 creator Bungie for £2.6 billion earlier this week, and now an earning report says that a third of the money will be used for “deferred payments to employee shareholders, conditional upon their continued employment, and other retention incentives” (via TweakTown).The deferred payments are planned across multiple years once the acquisition is complete and aim to keep Bungie’s current staff at the company. Sony is prepared to use £582 million in deferred payments in the first two years after the deal completes.The acquisition was announced in a press release which revealed that Bungie would be an independent subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment and run by its Board of Directors, chaired by Pete Parsons and Bungie’s current management team.“We’ve had a strong partnership with Bungie since the inception of the Destiny franchise, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to officially welcome the studio to the PlayStation family,” said Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment.“This is an important step in our strategy to expand the reach of PlayStation to a much wider audience.” Ryan continued, “We understand how vital Bungie’s community is to the studio and look forward to supporting them as they remain independent and continue to grow.
Sony Interactive Entertainment‘s president and CEO Jim Ryan has stated that Bungie won’t be the only studio buyout.Following the announcement that Sony is buying the Destiny 2 developer for £2.6billion GBP, Jim Ryan spoke on the future of studio buyouts, saying that fans can expect more.Speaking in an interview with GamesIndustry, Ryan said, “These conversations have been a number of months in gestation, and certainly pre-date the activity that we have seen this year. From our perspective, this is really doing what feels right for PlayStation, and what we feel is the right thing to do to drive PlayStation to places we’ve never been before.”Meanwhile, Pete Parsons – the CEO of Bungie – added: “This had nothing to do with industry consolidation.
Destiny 2 players on non-PlayStation formats may have panicked today when Sony announced its acquisition of developer Bungie. Fear not though – the sci-fi shooter won’t be turning into a PlayStation exclusive any time soon.Following Sony’s shock purchase of Destiny 2 developer Bungie for £2.6billion today, questions immediately arose over the future exclusivity of the studio’s work.
Continuing the ongoing crush of gaming M&A, Sony Interactive Entertainment said it’s agreed to buy Bungie, an independent videogame developer and longtime Sony partner behind the Halo and Destiny franchises, for $3.6 billion.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced that it will be buying Bungie Inc for £2.6 billion.The acquisition was announced today in a press release (as reported by GamesIndustry.biz). Bungie will be an independent subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment and run by its Board of Directors, chaired by Pete Parsons and Bungie’s current management team.“We’ve had a strong partnership with Bungie since the inception of the Destiny franchise, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to officially welcome the studio to the PlayStation family,” said Jim Ryan, President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment.“This is an important step in our strategy to expand the reach of PlayStation to a much wider audience.
Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSony Interactive Entertainment announced a deal to acquire Bungie, the developer behind game franchises including “Halo” and “Destiny,” for $3.6 billion.SIE said the deal will give it access to Bungie’s “world-class approach to live game services and technology expertise. Bungie will continue to operate independently, Sony said.Based, which has more than 900 employees, is focused on the long-term development of “Destiny 2,” expanding the Destiny universe, and creating new worlds in future intellectual property.
It's August 1998 and the Royal Antwerp team bus is rolling back into the club's Bosuilstadion home, but Danny Higginbotham can't believe what he's seeing.
Sony Interactive Entertainment, including this new controller, suggest that a new style of hardware could be on the horizon for PlayStation fans.Following an interview with Jim Ryan in October, where the Sony head announced he wants PlayStation games to “be enjoyed by an almost limitless audience“, a number of patents have been discovered which hint at plans by the company.Last week (November 23) a patent was found for a new UI which allows players to switch between functions without entering
PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has criticized Activision Blizzard’s response to a new report in the Wall Street Journal, it has been claimed.According to Bloomberg, in an email obtained by the outlet, Ryan wrote “that he and his leadership were “disheartened and frankly stunned to read” that Activision “has not done enough to address a deep-seated culture of discrimination and harassment.”The email went on to say: “We outreached to Activision immediately after the article was published to express our
Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan has commented on the ongoing stock shortages of the PlayStation 5, addressing the “historic demand” that has meant many would-be customers still can’t actually buy the much-sought console.In a blog post celebrating the PS5’s first birthday, Ryan thanked “everyone in the community for your patience”, adding that “we understand the inventory constraints remain a source of frustration for many of our customers.”“Rest assured that we are
Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO, has spoken about his humble beginnings and his strategy for helping PlayStation titles reach a wider audience.In a 20 minute interview at GI Live London, Ryan spoke about his hopes for PlayStation in the future.
PlayStation boss Jim Ryan will be headlining GI Live: London, speaking about the past and future of Sony.The talk will take place on October 7, starting at 5 PM BST. While it will be pre-recorded, it will be available from then on.
PS5 appears to have gone on sale in Australia as part of Sony’s plan to tackle shortages.As spotted by Press-Start, the new model number has been spotted on an Australian PS5, meaning it is one of the first revised versions of the console to go on sale.
Sony Entertainment Interactive President and CEO Jim Ryan has confirmed that there is still “a lot of work” to do before high demand for PS5 consoles can be met.Today (July 28), Sony CEO Jim Ryan has admitted that the company will continue to struggle to meet PS5 demand due to global chip shortages, which Ryan mentions is “a challenge that we are all navigating”. Speaking to Reuters, Ryan explained:“We’ve built more PlayStations faster than we ever have before which makes me happy.
Sony Interact Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan has said that the best games are the ones that players remember the most.In an interview with TMTPOST, Ryan stated that “users will only remember the best games, and OK games might be forgotten.” For Ryan this comes down to a game being able to “arouse players’ specific emotions, for example, it makes players feel excited, feel the adrenaline rush, or feel happy or sad.”Ryan said he sees new IPs as instrumental to any Sony success in the above.
Sony Interactive Entertainment, has said that Sony wants more cross-platform multiplayer in games.Speaking to Axios, Jim Ryan said: “We support and encourage cross-play,” and when talking about the current library of cross-play enabled games, he said that the “number will continue to grow”.Cross-play currently works on a number of big titles such as Fortnite, Rocket League, Call Of Duty, and is planned for Destiny 2.In the past, Sony has been resistant to cross-play.
Sony‘s PlayStation 5 has been beset with stock shortages due to scalpers buying up and reselling stock as soon as it becomes available.In an interview with Axios, Jim Ryan acknowledged the problems consumers have in purchasing a PlayStation 5.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has revealed that there has been a massive rise in female gamers since the days of the PlayStation 1.READ MORE: Sony reportedly charges developers to use cross-playAccording to a recent investor relations day, presented by PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan, it was confirmed in a Game & Network Services Segment that 41 per cent of PS4 and PS5 console owners are female.The segment shares that there has been a “growing female interest in PlayStation gaming” indicating that
Sony Interactive Entertainment has partnered with and invested in popular online chat platform Discord.SIE president Jim Ryan shared the news on May 3, where he revealed that the two companies are working to integrate Discord’s services into the PlayStation Network by 2022.
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan has said that the company has been investing in more PlayStation exclusive games.In a new interview with Nikkei (translated by VGC) the CEO confirmed that the company has been “quietly but steadily investing in high-quality games for PlayStation” and will make sure that the PS5 generation will have more “dedicated” software than ever before.“We have repeatedly engaged in mergers and acquisitions, including Insomniac Games in the US.
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan has confirmed that more PlayStation exclusive games will release on PC.Ryan shared the news in an interview with GQ, where he talked about the new PlayStation VR console that is being developed.
What about having some fun reading the latest showbiz news & updates on Jim Ryan? Those who enter popstar.one once will stay with us forever! Stop wasting time looking for something else, because here you will get the latest news on Jim Ryan, scandals, engagements and divorces! Do not miss the opportunity to check out our breaking stories on Hollywood's hottest star Jim Ryan!