Jim Ryan Retires, Connie Booth leaving after 34 years, Layoffs at Sony, Multiplayer games Cancelled

[AllianceOfficer]

@Kals_Els

But weren’t their financials mostly good?

No, they have decent revenue, average forecast and horrible profits. They forecast their profits to get worse too

[halo4able]

@howlingmosquito

has a first party problem money can’t fix

[Andodalf]

@AllianceOfficer

No, they have decent revenue, average forecast and horrible profits. They forecast their profits to get worse too

Turns out you business being based around selling boxes at a loss isn’t a good idea!

[KakkaKarrotKake]

Record revenue and hardware sales don’t mean much if you’re not actually making money, who’d have thunk it

[Knottian (Daniel)]

@SpiderLink

…re. I’m not a stock market guy at all but I imagine that one of the more important things you can project as a company is stability, so shareholders feel confident about their investment. The head of their most profitable segment (I think?) leaving without a successor, having someone step in on a temporary basis publicly proclaiming they’re not sticking around… that seems like something you do out of necessity - when you don’t have any other options. I’m not a fan of Ryan, but I hope he isn’t stepping down due to personal circumstances. Edit: worth pointing out that I want a healthy PlayStation. I know there’s a lot of potential schadenfreude here but this could have a very bad effect on their employees. That and I believe that MS wouldn’t have made such efforts if they weren’t so hungry.

I love this post - especially the points about the employees’ well-being and overall competition. First and foremost, none of us should wish for the outright demise of a competitor because it’s never the execs that feel the most pain, it’s all the hard-working good-meaning souls who develop games to survive that’s affected the most. Nobody should wish for the hardship of another simply because they work for a different company.

Furthermore, as many of us have stated ad nauseam, competition is a good thing. Competition is what made Xbox into the company it is today, and the thing I’ve constantly drummed about in regards to the media’s handling of Sony is this: if the media was half as critical and boisterous about Sony’s failings as they are Xbox’s perceived ones, Sony and its players likely wouldn’t be in this position…

[AllianceOfficer]

@Andodalf

Turns out you business being based around selling boxes at a loss isn’t a good idea!

And games that cost 250 million to develop and the user plays once and abandons. It doesnt help that Playstation has massive costs for trying to enter get the VR market off the ground either.

I imagine they could cut VR and it would help substantially.

[Swanlee]

@Terrin

… This entire thing feels like a house of cards with all the information coming out last 5-10 days (I know this is late been on vacation so travelling a bit). It was working great since the ps4 era of buying 3rd party exclusives and pumping what we know is 100 million+ per exclusive title but as development is taking longer and longer. As well as each title getting more expensive the switch to gaas seemed like the best direction by leadership. we are seeing that effects, it’s scary to think that Sony may not have much exclusives (outside maybe some more 3rd party timed or not exclusives) for the gen. And with what we know the next gen starts in 2028 if some more delays or he’ll project cancellations happened the pivot to next gen may happen to even act as a soft reboot internally for the ps6

Yep with 4-5 years left in the gen we may not see much of anything from Sony first party that isn’t already in major development and since we know most of their 1st party is tied to GAAS its going to be a long gen for Sony only players wanting more Sad dad walking sims.

[Swanlee]

@SpiderLink

There you have it, though I don’t really appreciate what that means in relative terms.

I think that they’re relatively well positioned to coast for a good bit. Their brand name is strong and their install base is high. Gamers can be fickle and harsh though, so I hope they find their footing soon.

If Sony did not have millions of brain washed cultists that would buy anything with a Sony name on it they would be up shit creek.

Eventually that Name Brand will run out and they better hope they have their 1st party in order by then.

[Swanlee]

@KakkaKarrotKake

Record revenue and hardware sales don’t mean much if you’re not actually making money, who’d have thunk it

BUT THE SALES!!!

One day Sony fans will understand all the metrics they have used in the past to troll others and prance around the internet like they own the place is pretty worthless in todays game industry.

[peter42O]

@cinste

That’s not what they have done.

In the VGC article it’s pretty clear that they have just delayed 6 of the original planned 12 as the quality wasn’t good enough and that GaaS is still a major focus for the company.

“That’s the total number of live service and multiplayers titles [and] mid-to-long-term we want to [push] this kind of service and that’s the unchanged policy of the company.”

So basically, Bungie said 6 games were MID!!! lmao

@KakkaKarrotKake

but major companies without GaaS and mobile are going to be in trouble in the years ahead

You can add PC day one to that group.

@Charga

It’s so weird on one hand I see a bunch of them want Killzone and a bunch of shooters back from the PS3 era, then the next minute they bitch about GaaS and dont want anything to do with it, even though those shooters they say they want back will only be successful if they come back as GaaS titles.

In all honesty, I only want Resistance to come back.

@Mort

To be fair, I have no interest in a GaaStation either. The only reason i have my PS5 is for the good exclusives.

The only live service game im interested in is the Horizon monster hunter type game but only if I can play solo like I can in Division or Outriders.

@Sparda3g

It’s weirder how they still took it on Xbox about how quality dips and only PS can make it work. Based on what exactly? Their mind makes my brain shrink by 50%.

I do believe that Sony will hit on at least 2 of the 12 live service games excluding MLB. I do think Factions will be great and the Horizon monster hunter type game. Rest I don’t see doing anything unless they’re something unique.

@SpiderLink

Yeah, this doesn’t paint a very pretty picture. I’m not a stock market guy at all but I imagine that one of the more important things you can project as a company is stability, so shareholders feel confident about their investment.

The head of their most profitable segment (I think?) leaving without a successor, having someone step in on a temporary basis publicly proclaiming they’re not sticking around… that seems like something you do out of necessity - when you don’t have any other options.

I’m not a fan of Ryan, but I hope he isn’t stepping down due to personal circumstances.

Edit: worth pointing out that I want a healthy PlayStation. I know there’s a lot of potential schadenfreude here but this could have a very bad effect on their employees. That and I believe that MS wouldn’t have made such efforts if they weren’t so hungry.

This…

@Knottian

I love this post - especially the points about the employees’ well-being and overall competition. First and foremost, none of us should wish for the outright demise of a competitor because it’s never the execs that feel the most pain, it’s all the hard-working good-meaning souls who develop games to survive that’s affected the most. Nobody should wish for the hardship of another simply because they work for a different company.

Furthermore, as many of us have stated ad nauseam, competition is a good thing. Competition is what made Xbox into the company it is today, and the thing I’ve constantly drummed about in regards to the media’s handling of Sony is this: if the media was half as critical and boisterous about Sony’s failings as they are Xbox’s perceived ones, Sony and its players likely wouldn’t be in this position…

And this.

I’m a PlayStation fan and don’t want them to go bankrupt or anything like that as I do like and enjoy their first party games for the most part. But at the same time, Sony definitely needs to adapt. The next five years will be very interesting to watch play out.

[Knottian (Daniel)]

@peter42O

In all honesty, I only want Resistance to come back.

I absolutely loved the Resistance Trilogy (the PSP games weren’t good unfortunately), and I’d just love for a Sony willing to fund actual risks again.

[MJ_INC]

@cinste

That’s not what they have done.

In the VGC article it’s pretty clear that they have just delayed 6 of the original planned 12 as the quality wasn’t good enough and that GaaS is still a major focus for the company.

“That’s the total number of live service and multiplayers titles [and] mid-to-long-term we want to [push] this kind of service and that’s the unchanged policy of the company.”

And how many of the six that were ‘pushed’ out will still exist in a few years? In a lot of cases a skeleton amount of people will be working on them while the vast majority of devs will be moved to other projects.

[MJ_INC]

I’m certainly not doom and glooming about playstation, they will just need to make some changes. The 12 GaaS titles was a ridiculous attempt to find something successful in the market. I expect that they will want to reign in costs and look at ways to increase profits. We’ve already seen it with the job cuts in the gaming division at studios that aren’t performing.

I could see them lowering their traditional advertising budget which can be very expensive for any company and look for more complimentary ways of doing it like more movie and TV shows based on the IP they’re using.

[cinste (Pete)]

@MJ_INC

And how many of the six that were ‘pushed’ out will still exist in a few years? In a lot of cases a skeleton amount of people will be working on them while the vast majority of devs will be moved to other projects.

My comment was just clarifying the facts that were stated in an earnings call where telling the truth is kinda important. You keep stating your opinion as fact which is misleading for those that don’t click through and read it themselves.

There is a big difference between what has been stated by Sony and your opinion of what is happening.

You thinking that some or all of those 6 projects will be cancelled and you thinking staff on them will be reduced to minimal levels is not the same as the facts stated which say there is no reduction in focus on GaaS directly contradicting what you state as absolutes.

[peter42O]

@Knottian

I absolutely loved the Resistance Trilogy (the PSP games weren’t good unfortunately), and I’d just love for a Sony willing to fund actual risks again.

Agreed. Forgot one other franchise - Jak & Daxter. Never played any of these games or Resistance so would love to see them get the Ratchet 2016 treatment but sadly, I just don’t see Sony taking any risks outside of their live service games. They’ll play it safe for the most part.

[Terrin]

@MJ_INC

I’m certainly not doom and glooming about playstation, they will just need to make some changes. The 12 GaaS titles was a ridiculous attempt to find something successful in the market. I expect that they will want to reign in costs and look at ways to increase profits. We’ve already seen it with the job cuts in the gaming division at studios that aren’t performing.

I could see them lowering their traditional advertising budget which can be very expensive for any company and look for more complimentary ways of doing it like more movie and TV shows based on the IP they’re using.

Oh same I think PlayStation will be around , I just think they are going to have a few painful years at the end of this generation.

And yeah my guess is the marketing teams are gonna have a bunch of layoffs due to cost cutting measures

[strawman]

@MJ_INC

I’m certainly not doom and glooming about playstation, they will just need to make some changes. The 12 GaaS titles was a ridiculous attempt to find something successful in the market. I expect that they will want to reign in costs and look at ways to increase profits. We’ve already seen it with the job cuts in the gaming division at studios that aren’t performing.

The 12 games are still being developed, only half of them are expected to ship by April 2026 tho. The biggest worry that I’d have is that every upcoming GAAS from Sony appears to be a shooter (Concord, Marathon, Fairgames, Helldivers 2) - a very saturated market were pulling players from established titles is rather difficult (tho The Finals playtest had like 7M players, but let’s see about the stickiness…).

I do think the completion of the ABK acquisition and the recent FTC leak detailing Microsoft’s long term plans have forced Sony to re-evaluate how they’re positioned to compete going forward. Hence the change of the CEO and the round of lay-offs to make the entire division more agile. Certainly no panick signs yet.

[Sparda3g]

Another layoff at Naughty Dog. I have questions…

[Swanlee]

@Sparda3g

Another layoff at Naughty Dog. I have questions…

Head of tech left. Yea no big deal /s

If you were on other era youd never know it happened. If a temp intern leaves Xbox its front page news.

[Sparda3g]

@Swanlee

Head of tech left. Yea no big deal /s

If you were on other era youd never know it happened. If a temp intern leaves Xbox its front page news.

It could be a kid who came to visit Xbox Game Studios for school trip and the moment the kid leaves, the writing on front page is on.