Former Sony Lead Gave Recommendation to Laid-Off Devs

Former President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Chris Deering shared his opinion on massive layoffs in the gaming industry in the latest episode of My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin podcast. He discussed the reasons for the job cuttings and advised laid-off devs to "go to the beach for a year."

Former Sony Lead said that the reason for cutting job positions is not greed and shared that he used to add the workforce slowly to avoid large layoffs. "It's painful. I don't think it's greed. I think it's just an over-exuberance that was kindled and fueled by the knock-on effect of the pandemic and the supply chain restrictions that followed," Deering said. "I think it's probably very painful for the managers. But I don't think having skills in this area will be a lifetime of poverty or limitation," he continued.

Deering then offered those who have been let go of their work to "drive an Uber, find a cheap place to live, and go to the beach for a year, but keep up with the news" because without this, returning to the industry may become even more complex.

The Internet users exploded with disagreement, calling Sony's ex-lead "unreasonable" and saying that he was "out of touch." "He's seriously suggesting people, potentially with families to support, should "go live at the beach" or drive Ubers?" reads one of the comments to the podcast episode on Twitter.

According to the statistics, 10,500 people were let go of their work in the gaming industry in 2023, and this year, the number already reached 11,540. The list of the companies who parted with their employees is endless. For instance, in Rocksteady, the QA department has lost over half its staff members in the past month, and one employee was let go during his paternity leave. Bungie cut 220 positions, which is about 17% of its workforce. In January, Microsoft fired 1,900 developers from Activision Blizzard and Xbox.

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