[TedSeattle]

 http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/25/layoffs-hit-god-of-war-studio-sony-santa-monica

Quote:
SCEA can confirm that we have completed a reduction in workforce at Santa Monica Studio. This is a result of a cycle of resource re-alignment against priority growth areas within SCE WWS. We do not take these decisions lightly. However, sometimes it is necessary to make changes to better serve the future projects of the studio. We have offered outplacement services and severance packages to ease transition for those impacted.

I've heard that fifty people were laid off.

 

[TyrantII]

Rumor is a project was also canceled.


Hopefully GOW4 and Kratos miraculous return from the dead (for a 3rd time)

 

[Epyon415]

Just read the title was a new IP in a sci-fi genre.


As much as I love Kratos, I'd be fine if GOW took a break. Not sure what more of his story can be told. Maybe a new God could be talked about...actually a game focused on Zeus, Hades and Poseidon, their encounters with Kronos and the found of Olympus might be cool.

 

[freemeat]

Ouch, that is a lot of people. I wonder what happened. What do they make besides the God of War games? I rented the last GOW and never bothered to finish it. I'd much rather something other than a GOW game from them, something without QTE's please!

 

[TyrantII]



Quote:
Originally Posted by freemeat  /t/1519913/layoffs-at-sony-santa-monica#post_24412766


Ouch, that is a lot of people. I wonder what happened. What do they make besides the God of War games? I rented the last GOW and never bothered to finish it. I'd much rather something other than a GOW game from them, something without QTE's please!

GoW was their big in house game, but they do a lot of co-development and QA testing for 1st and 2nd partys. For instance they were basically half of getting Twisted Metal PS3 into a working state.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCE_Santa_Monica_Studio


I believe they also had multiple teams (3?)

 

[freemeat]

Interesting, I didn't know that. I would have liked to see the new project. They clearly have a lot of talent, I was just GOW'd out personally.

 

[TyrantII]

Apparently it was Stig Asmussen new project (GOW3 was his last, but he wasn't director then)


They added 100 jobs between GOW3 and now, so not everyone was cut. Sound like a project just didn't pan out, and instead of kabuking the whole studio (like Ken Levin did to Irrational) they're cutting their losses and moving on.

 

[tsaville]

Sony closed down 20 retail stores as well, with 1000 layoffs.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/26/sony-closing-20-retail-stores-laying-off-1000-workers

 

[freemeat]

I see the Stanford Mall (Menlo Park)store on the list. There prices are always quite a bit more than Fry's which is close by. While they had a nice setup, I can't imagine they did a lot of business.

 

[tsaville]

Looks like I had one here in Dallas that I never knew about.

 

[TyrantII]

They closed the Boston store a while ago. The Wrentham Village outlet store to the south was still rocking, but it was a refurb store.


Not really surprising, as the only reason they were around were to demo the higher end gadgets and specifically LCD's. Some are predicting they'll be out of the TV business in 5 years.

 

[tsaville]



Quote:
Originally Posted by TyrantII  /t/1519913/layoffs-at-sony-santa-monica#post_24413232


They closed the Boston store a while ago. The Wrentham Village outlet store to the south was still rocking, but it was a refurb store.


Not really surprising, as the only reason they were around were to demo the higher end gadgets and specifically LCD's. Some are predicting they'll be out of the TV business in 5 years.

Didn't they already state that they will be focusing only on high end TVs now? That's the first step towards leaving the business.

 

[TyrantII]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tsaville  /t/1519913/layoffs-at-sony-santa-monica#post_24413264


Didn't they already state that they will be focusing only on high end TVs now? That's the first step towards leaving the business.

Not sure, really haven't been keeping track. I do know they stopped their joint venture in OLED with Panasonic.


Moving back to quality is going to be hard, and it's not going to work if they're going to keep their production in china; where their tech is just stolen and resold under cheaper Chinese brands. They're actually going to have to offer a reason for a premium again, and their products are going to have to dial into a niche market willing to pay.


That might be a tall order after where they've brought their brands.

 

[tsaville]

"As Sony made bold plans to reform its PC business on Thursday, it announced plans to restructure its TV brand, a move that will include a greater focus on higher-end televisions. The restructuring of the TV brand into a subsidiary business is expected to be completed by July."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/02/06/reviewed-sony-tv-restructuring/5258623/

 

[rolltide1017]

I have to re-program my brain for the Sony side of the fence; since I've been an Xbox guy for so long I always think Gears when I see GOW. Caught myself reading it as Gears of War in this thread.

 

[TedSeattle]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tsaville  /t/1519913/layoffs-at-sony-santa-monica#post_24413160


Sony closed down 20 retail stores as well, with 1000 layoffs.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/26/sony-closing-20-retail-stores-laying-off-1000-workers

I'm sorry to see that the Seattle store is closing. I was planning on going there when I bought my PS4.

 

[americangunner]

Looks like MS scooped up some of the devs that lost their jobs.

 

[1ceTr0n]



Quote:
Originally Posted by TedSeattle  /t/1519913/layoffs-at-sony-santa-monica#post_24414292


I'm sorry to see that the Seattle store is closing. I was planning on going there when I bought my PS4.

Being new to Seattle, I had no clue Sony stores existed until I went wandering around after work from UW. I'm amazed they had business with the prices Sony charges at retail

 

[TyrantII]

 http://www.rocketchainsaw.com.au/exclusive-sony-santa-monicas-layoffs-new-ip-00912/

Quote:
We’ve also been told that after Destiny was formally revealed parts of Santa Monica’s sci-fi project underwent rather significant changes, the original vision apparently quite similar to what Bungie is cooking up, changes applied to distance the two. Based on information supplied, we’re lead to believe the choice to divert Santa Monica’s project away from Destiny comparisons lead to somewhat troubled development, the studio unable to fully get the project back on course, ultimately culminating in its cancellation.