As US arm exerts increased control over business.
Sony Interactive Entertainment has reportedly laid off “dozens” of European employees based in its UK office this week, as PlayStation’s North American arm continues to exert increased influence over the global business.
As reported by VGC, the mass redundancies occurred on Tuesday, the same day that PlayStation US formally announced its PlayStation 5 release plans via articles in Wired magazine – an announcement that European employees allegedly had no forewarning of, and only learned about at the time of publication.
American PlayStation executives are said to have visited Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe’s London offices on Tuesday to announce the restructuring of several divisions, including PR and marketing, whereupon affected employees were handed their notice, while others were required to re-interview for their jobs. A number of redundancies are also reported to have occurred within Sony’s US-based creative services team.
According to VGC’s sources, the last twelve months has seen PlayStation’s North American arm wield increasing influence over the global business.
PlayStation’s regional operations have traditionally been largely autonomous in order to better serve local audiences, with branches having full responsibility for their own games and marketing – a set-up which enabled PlayStation Europe to bring the likes of LittleBigPlanet, Killzone, Wipeout, SingStar, and a raft of VR titles, into the PlayStation fold.
However, since Sony’s move toward a more central, globalised structure last April, it’s reported that Europe operations have increasingly been dictated by the US. According to VGC, SIEE employees believe they will have “significantly reduced influence” as the PlayStation 5 generation gets underway next year.
