Technology

Sony cuts 900 jobs from PlayStation division in latest tech culling

The logo of Sony is seen at its showroom in Tokyo in 2022. Sony's profit slipped 29 percent from a year earlier in July-September, as damage from a strike in the movie sector offset gains from a favorable exchange rate, the Japanese electronics and entertainment company said Nov. 9, 2023.

Sony is cutting 900 jobs from its PlayStation division, the gaming company announced Tuesday, becoming the latest tech giant to lay off part of its workforce. 

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) President and CEO Jim Ryan announced the layoffs in a Tuesday email to PlayStation workers, saying they represent an 8 percent reduction across the company’s locations worldwide.   

“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,” Ryan wrote in the email. “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.” 

Ryan said the affected U.S. employees will be notified Tuesday, while PlayStation’s London Studio is closing entirely.

In the first two months of 2024, nearly 40,000 workers have been cut at technology companies amid a massive shift toward artificial intelligence. Cisco announced plans this month to lay off around 4,250 workers, PayPal said it will cut 2,500 spots, and Microsoft announced in late January it would lay off around 1,900 in its gaming unit.