News broke out last week that there was layoffs occurring at the Sony Santa Monica Studios.
The Sony developers are best known for their work in the God of War series, and came out with a statement that helped us better understand their situations in the staff reduction.
Scott Rhode, the PlayStation brand’s head of internal software development gave a statement on the matter:
“We’re always evaluating the business, and we’re always thinking about what’s going to be the best thing, but I think you know that PlayStation and Worldwide Studios has a pretty unique structure that really encourages creativity and exploration. And, of course, within that framework, not every title can be a success.”
Not every business is safe on this planet, even though God of War is a popular series, just making the game is not enough. Businesses need to stay positive, and Rhode explains how it was only reasonable that this would happen:
“There’s not a single business on the planet where every single project that is started is a success. And that’s just what happened here. So sometimes, high profile projects or studios need a reboot, and that’s what’s happening here.
“Santa Monica will always be a hugely important part of our global family of studios. It’s still a huge studio that’s right up there around 200 people, even after the recent layoffs,
“So they’re still a hugely important part of what we do. That hasn’t changed. It’s not going to change any time soon. You guys are just going to have to be patient and wait for us to announce what’s coming next from Santa Monica.”
He explains how projects weren’t cancelled, they were restarted:
“We’re not talking specifically about what projects were going. What I will say is what I said earlier. It’s that, sometimes, a project needs a reboot. So that’s what we’re doing overall with the titles we’re working on there, and the studio itself. And I believe it’s a very good thing for the health of that studio.”
He also confirms that they will be working on a huge AAA game that should be arriving sometime in our future. Rhodes says:
“I have no problem saying that there is a huge internal development team,”
“So, of course, that’s something Santa Monica will always be working on… There will always be an XDEV element, and there will always be an internal development element at Santa Monica.”
No matter what happens, we hope the games come out perfect, and the employees who were laid off can bounce back up on their feet.
Do you have any ideas for the next God of War? Comment below.