Chris Deering via CUDOS YouTube

Former Sony executive Chris Deering, who was the President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, shared that he does not believe that recent layoffs across the various video game developers are the result of corporate greed. On top of that he suggested laid off employees find ways to make ends meet by driving for Uber or going to the beach.

Chris Deering via LBSStudentView YouTube

In an interview on the My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin podcast, Deering was asked by Parkin, “I’m sure you are aware it’s been a tough year for workers in the game industry with around 20,000 layoffs in the last year or so. I think it’s fair to say there’s a bit of frustration with video game executives at Microsoft, at Sony, wherever they are, who have been closing some smaller studios in order to funnel those resources into their larger projects. It seems that that sort of prioritizing shareholders over nourishing a creative, diverse medium.”

Parkin continued, “I think you probably have more understanding than most of us about some of the pressures that those decision makers are under, but I suppose how would you answer that accusation that some of these individuals are putting greed in front of creativity?”

Chris Deering, former boss of PlayStation, does not believe the recent, widespread layoffs in the games industry derive from corporate greed, and that affected workers should “drive an Uber” or “go to the beach for a year” until things turn around: pic.twitter.com/uXUkNTbXQ5

— Simon Parkin (@SimonParkin) September 10, 2024

Deering responded, “Well, there’s always going to be some greedy people and exploitive people, but there’s a passion in the games industry that goes beyond just business and people and it is a way of life. And I don’t think that the console people, in particular, are that greedy. Maybe Nintendo was in some ways, but still they had a great relationship with their end users.”

“What happened is you had the pandemic, people are sequestered to their living room or bedroom and the industry took off in a huge way and it got oversaturated and its going through a deflationary period just like the consoles did when they were having those long turnaround time, minimum order quantities,” he said.

A screenshot of the character Bazz in Concord (2024), Firewalk Studios

Deering then asserted, “it’s painful. I don’t think it’s greed. I think it’s just an overexuberance that was kindled and fueled by the knock on effect of the pandemic and the supply chain restrictions that followed. I don’t think it’s fair to say that the resulting layoffs have been greed.”

He continued, “I always tried to minimize the speed with which we added staff because I always knew there would be a cycle of— and I didn’t want to end up having the same problems that Sony did with electronics. So we never really….”

A screenshot from Fairgame$ (TBA), Haven Studios

“Now, of course, there was just a recently big layoff at Sony Studios in London, but that whole studios setup has been run out of Amsterdam, now, for a few years and I don’t know—. If the money isn’t coming in from the consumers in the last game it’s going to be hard to justify spending the money for the next game,” he noted.

“I think it’s probably very painful for the managers, but I don’t think having skill in this area is going to be a lifetime of poverty or limitation,” he shared. “It’s still where the action is. It’s like the pandemic, but now you’re going to have to take a few—. Figure out how to get through it. Drive an Uber or whatever. Go off to—. Find a cheap place to live and go to the beach for a year.”

A screenshot from Horizon Zero Dawn (2017), Guerilla Games

“But keep up with your news and keep up and keep up with it because once you get off the train, it’s much harder,” Deering advised. “But I’m optimistic about the future for even people that have just recently been laid off, and these things do recover sometimes a lot faster than you might think when all is very precarious. I presume people were paid some kind of a decent severance package, and by the time that runs out, well, you know, that’s life.”

“I’d be more worried about the cheap programming hours or AI-assisted programming hours from poorer countries, which have every right to compete, you know, India, for example, that are doing a lot of the coding for ERPS software, not just game software. So, you know, the industry, that I always say, what’s really excited about the industry is you never get a chance to be depressed. What you have to do is things jump out in front of you and you deal with them just like in a game. So get over it. Really, that’s the excitement of the industry that s**t like this happens. And it’s very sad, but it’s not going to be forever and, you know, come on, guys, wake up. This is not the first time,” he concluded.

A screenshot from God of War Ragnarök (2024), Santa Monica Studio

Sony shut down its PlayStation Studios’ London Studio and announced reductions at Firesprite as well as other organizations across its Sony Interactive Entertainment network across the United Kingdom in February.

Then Sony Interactive Entertainment President & CEO Jim Ryan explained, “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.”

Ryan did confirm that “affected employees will receive support including, severance benefits.”

Miles Morales and Spider-Man in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (2023), Insomniac Games

As for why the layoffs occurred Ryan explained, “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.

He added, “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.”

A screenshot from Ghost of Tsushima DIRECTOR’S CUT (2024), Sucker Punch Productions

What do you make of Deering’s comments regarding the video game industry layoffs?