The Tech Truth Behind PlayStation’s Smiles, a Silent Shutdown is Coming for You
Photo by Nadine Shaabana on Unsplash
The gaming industry is a bellwether for the entire tech industry. I’m going to tell you the news right now — times are hard. More than that the way devs and employees of tech companies are treated is disgusting.
Let’s dive into a recent drama featuring none other than PlayStation’s CEO, Jim Ryan, and the unfortunate saga of London Studios and why it matters to all software developers.
What Happened
Imagine the scene. Smiles, handshakes, and well-wishes as your departing CEO comes down to the office. It shows their dedication to the team and belies a promising future, right?
WRONG
Just days after Jim Ryans's visit to London Studios, part of Sony’s glittering PlayStation empire, the announcement came. The studio is to be shuttered leaving employees post-employment.
The letter
At least Jim wrote a nice letter about the business update.
Subject: Important Update Regarding Organizational Restructuring
Team,
It is important to provide you with updates about the business as often as possible. Today, I am writing with sad news. Through discussions over the past few months about the evolving economic landscape, changes in the way we develop, distribute, and launch products, and ensuring our organization is future ready in this rapidly changing industry, we have concluded that tough decisions have become inevitable. The leadership team and I made the incredibly difficult decision to restructure operations, which regrettably includes a reduction in our workforce impacting very talented individuals who have contributed to our success.
After careful consideration and many leadership discussions over several months, it has become clear changes need to be made to continue to grow the business and develop the company. We had to step back, look at our business holistically, and move forward focusing on the long-term sustainability of the company and delivering the best experiences possible for our community. The goal is to streamline our resources to ensure our continued success and ability to deliver experiences gamers and creators have come to expect from us.
I want to be as transparent as possible with you, our partners, and our community about what this means:
We envision reducing our headcount by about 900 people, or about 8% of our current workforce
There will be impact for employees across all SIE regions — Americas, EMEA, Japan, and APAC
Several PlayStation Studios are affected
I know that receiving this news will be hard and unsettling and you are wondering what this means for you. Timelines and procedures for how we approach this will vary based on your location due to local laws and regulations.
For those of you in the US, all impacted employees will be notified today.
In the UK, it is proposed:
That PlayStation Studios’ London Studio will close in its entirety;
That there will be reductions in Firesprite studio;
And that there will be reductions in various functions across SIE in the UK.
The proposed changes mean that we will enter a period of collective consultation before any final decisions are taken. All employees who are part of the collective consultation will be made aware of the next steps today.
In Japan, we will implement a next career support program. Details will be communicated separately.
In other countries, we will begin conversations with those who are potentially at risk or impacted as a result of this proposed course of action.
For those who will be leaving SIE: You are leaving this company with our deepest respect and appreciation for all your efforts during your tenure.
For those who will be staying at SIE: We will be saying goodbye to friends and colleagues that we cherish during this process, and this will be painful. Your resilience, sensitivity, and adaptiveness will be critical in the weeks and months to come.
This will not be easy, and I am aware of the impact it will have on wellbeing. Affected employees will receive support, including severance benefits. While these are challenging times, it is not indicative of a lack of strength of our company, our brand, or our industry. Our goal is to remain agile and adaptable and to continue to focus on delivering the best gaming experiences possible now and in the future.
Thank you for your understanding during this difficult period. Please be kind to yourselves and to each other.
Jim
Isn’t that nice from Jim?
The Business Conundrum
Let’s get real for a moment. Working in video games is probably the worst corner of software development you might choose.
Crunch
To ship a product for an artificial deadline you’ll be expected to work long hours to ship the product.
It’s called crunch in the industry. It exists. I know, because years ago I had an interview at a local game studio as QA and they asked me if I’d be prepared to sleep at the office.
The answer was no.
Passion
Software firms exploit the passion programmers have for their work. This is even worse in the games industry where people love games and appreciate the opportunity to work on them.
Remember when I applied to be a QA at a game dev? You can bet that I would never be a tester at anything other than a game company. The firms exploit that and get as much as they can out of any given situation.
Layoffs
Many companies don’t care about their staff. Games companies can see that their business model is not fit for the future and they need to cut headcount.
This is a wider reflection of the industry, Google is not interested in its staff, it’s all about the bottom line. One can’t help but wonder about the human cost of such ‘strategic pivots’.
The Secret Developer’s Take
Here’s what is happening. The recruitment drive following COVID-19 is over, and software development is a hard environment to work in. We saw the unsettling juxtaposition of corporate smiles followed swiftly by the cold, hard guillotine of budget cuts and layoffs at Sony but it could be your firm next.
As a developer, you can only be certain about one thing. In the high-stakes poker game of game development, the house always wins.
So, next time you boot up your console, spare a thought for the unseen developers behind your digital escapades. Their world is as precarious as the cliffhanger endings they craft. Be assured that the next job those corporate suits are coming for is yours.