I have baby brain this morning, Insomniac is having layoffs or had layoffs?
I guess the only news some of these sites will report on is a press release from sony.
2 Likes
the layoffs planned for the future, as well as another sony studio closing.
1 Like
Yeah he was quite vocal about the need to lower the costs of their 1st party games.
If a game that is a technical showcase (and running on a proprietary engine at that) like Alan Wake 2 that is also 20-25hrs long can cost ~70m I believe that there is a better way to manage costs in the AAA space. It’s insane to me that a game with so much re-used content like Spiderman 2 costs 350m+…and it doesn’t even have a multiplayer component. Crazy stuff.
15 Likes
he did?
Yet at PlayStation, Layden was instrumental in the video game industry’s Sisyphean quest for increasingly larger worlds and more beautiful graphics, a role he now downplays. “I think I contributed a part into showing the world what amazing gameplay can look like,” he said when I asked about his own responsibility for the sustainability problem.
doesnt sound like it
1 Like
Was not aware of this article, just some of his tweets on X (formerly Twitter) lol. Yeah, seems like mixed messaging to say the least.
This is what Sony does tbf. They attempt to monopolise entre genre’s (JRPG’S, Marvel etc) and make them synonymous with their console. If you want to play Final Fantasy buy a Playstation. If you want to play the gaming equivalent of the MCU (minus Blade now thankfully) buy a Playstation.
7 Likes
That’s a great point because should we as consumers be worried about Sony protecting our information? I like the Kotaku article posted in this thread because the average person wouldn’t be able to make the analysis that author did, but that journalist did their job to break it down for the public. Say what you want about Koatku, but that article did a great job to paint the picture of Sony’s current model being unsustainable
edit: Also the Giddey point is a great point to make because that story could’ve got swept under the rug like Karl Malone, but journalist did their job that even forced ESPN’s hand to cover it on national tv.
5 Likes
interesting to see that sm2 and its 6M sold (kotaku articles) is a smashing success, whereas starfield at 11M is a total failure
8 Likes
Game pass doesnt count!
2 Likes
Yeah yeah yeah, didn’t you know “PS5 sold three times as many as Xbox” is more important to these ghouls. Literally just saw the headline about PS5 on Engadget and it was necessary to put the 3:1 bit in the sub headline… but yeah there’s no bias and these people don’t actively encourage console wars, and the subsequent toxicity they’re at least partly responsible for fomenting.
17 Likes
I’m just happy all of their games will be coming to PC, that’s great news. I feel for the devs and studio having to deal with the leaks. Sony should be spending some of those hardware sale profits toward protecting their staff and studios.
8 Likes
It’s crazy to think that if Sony allowed them to put the game on PC day one, it probably would have sold enough to not need layoffs……
Instead sony handicaps them to sell more consoles, but insomniac gets even less money on its books if it sells a console bundle….
17 Likes
Exactly this. They are not pro consumer or pro worker. I don’t wish Sony to collapse, but evolve to better for the industry, not just their executives.
6 Likes
To me it’s just shocking that these outlets can choose not to report on real news and people are saying it’s a good thing.
My own wife’s information was leaked because her health insurance company got hacked. It was reported all over the news like it should have been. The company had to go through a security audit because of the outrage. I was happy it was reported because these companies need to be held accountable for leaking her personal info. Can you imagine a news reporter saying they would not report on that news because there was personal info in the hack and it may hurt the reputation of the health insurance company?
17 Likes
Thanks for mentioning this. I scrolled past that article because, you know, Kotaku, but that was a really good read. 
8 Likes
Kotaku made a good article???
2024 is going to be too wild.
10 Likes
No one wants to talk about it but a lot of these high efficiency studios are in Northern/Eastern Europe where salaries are lower versus the US where tech salaries, especially in California and Washington, are absolutely insane.
You take Allan Wake 2 or The Witcher 3 and make it in California at a prestige American game studio and it’ll cost way more even if the final product is identical.
The industry commoditized games down to a dollars/hour of entertainment argument but never seemed to be willing to address that they are trying to produce a budget conscious form of entertainment in some of the most expensive places on the planet to do so.
17 Likes
Someone on reddit who read the leaks found this:
- Marvel games have to be released on Playstation AND PC. Sony has the choice if they would like to release it on XBox, Switch, etc
The following shall constitute the “Authorized Device(s)”: “Console(s),” which means the following game devices and services[image]i) PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, all versions of the foregoing devices,and all Sony-branded successors thereto announced by Sony as asuccessor to such earlier-released device (“PlayStation Console(s)”);(ii) Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and all successors thereto;(iii) Wii, Wii U, Switch, and all successors thereto; and (iv) othercurrent or yet unannounced HD game consoles (for example, a futureAmazon, Apple, or Google HD game console and certain consumerelectronic devices and game distribution applications (e.g., GoogleStadia and its successors)), including cloud streaming platforms, SmartTVs, and set-top boxes (e.g., Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV); butexplicitly excluding all smartphones, tablets, and other similar mobiledevices, and explicitly excluding all wearables (e.g., smartwatches, ARglasses). “PC(s),” which means desktop or laptop computer systems (includingany analogous computer systems (e.g., servers or server clusters))utilizing Windows, Macintosh, or Linux operating systems and allsuccessor operating systems to such operating systems, but explicitlyexcluding all smartphones, tablets, and other similar mobile devices,and explicitly excluding all wearables (e.g., smartwatches, ARglasses).
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Agreement, including anyobligation to exercise rights or actively exercise a license, Licensee shall notbe obligated to create, market, or pursue sales of the Required Titles on anyAuthorized Devices except for PlayStation Consoles and PCs, and anyAdditional Titles or Additional Content on any Authorized Devices except forPlayStation Consoles.
Funny how everyone thought it was SONY the one who lead the conversations between them and Disney but actually it is the later who was in charge.
14 Likes
Everything about Sony’s platform feels… unsustainable
22 Likes