Infamous Dev Sucker Punch Suffers Layoffs


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Infamous Dev Sucker Punch Suffers Layoffs
 
"SCEA can confirm a reduction in workforce has taken place at Sucker Punch Productions."
 

By Colin MoriartyToday, Sucker Punch -- the Sony-owned, PlayStation-exclusive developer best known for its Sly Cooper and Infamous franchises -- suffered layoffs.

 

Sony confirmed the news to IGN in the following comment:

 

SCEA can confirm a reduction in workforce has taken place at Sucker Punch Productions. Sucker Punch is appreciative of the tremendous work team members contributed to the inFAMOUS and Sly Cooper series, and wishes them the best in their next endeavors.

 

It's unclear how many people were let go, though Sony's official comment seems to indicate that the cuts could have been as deep as affecting those who were with the team way back when they were still developing Sly Cooper. The last Sly Cooper game Sucker Punch created -- Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves -- launched on PlayStation 2 way back in 2005. The studio then pivoted to the Infamous franchise, releasing the first game in that series on PlayStation 3 in 2009.

 

Continues

 

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For those keeping count on Sony game division lay offs.

 

1) Uncharted' writer and director Amy Hennig leaves Naughty Dog, reportedly forced out

2) Brian Karis leaves Naughty dog

3) Infamous: Second Son lead designer leaves Sony

4) PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale lead game designer leaves Sony Santa Monica

5) God of War Dev Stig Asmussen Leaves Sony Santa Monica

6) Sony America CEO Jack Tretton Steps Down

7) Superbot layoff

8) Sony Santa Monica layoff

9) Layoffs at Evolution Studios

10) Layoffs at Guerrilla Games

11) Layoffs at SCE London

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Sucks about Uncharted, it's been a great / fun series. 

Jack stepping down is not necessarily layoff, more of a change of management.  

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This is happening across most companies in the world. MS have laid people off, as have Sony.

Newsworthy? Not really. We are in an economic downturn still remember.

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This is happening across most companies in the world. MS have laid people off, as have Sony.

Newsworthy? Not really. We are in an economic downturn still remember.

In context it is noteworthy. We know Sony's not doing great on the whole and people are waiting for them to turn it around. I assume when you say MS laid people off you're talking about the fallout from 25000 personnel acquisition, which is very different than Sony's situation as they've been continuing to lay people off, sell portions of their company, sell some of their assets, and attempt to stem the money hemorrhage they've been suffering. I don't think anyone wants to see them go under, but sticking your head in the sand and pretending their situation is the same as many other companies and directly comparing MS isn't going to help them.

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I guess we can conclude that not matter how successful a company it's, they will have layouts across the company. There is not a single company that does not have mass layouts in their history.

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How exactly is it not helping them?

Sony won't go under, anybody thinking they will is slightly deluded. Yes they have money issues but nothing that restructure can't fix. They are not the first company to do this and won't be the last. Besides, gaming division is making them money due to sales of ps4 and that in turn will keep the company from shutting down their first party houses and gaming division.

Bet MS are praying for them to go bump though.

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How exactly is it not helping them?

Sony won't go under, anybody thinking they will is slightly deluded. Yes they have money issues but nothing that restructure can't fix. They are not the first company to do this and won't be the last. Besides, gaming division is making them money due to sales of ps4 and that in turn will keep the company from shutting down their first party houses and gaming division.

Bet MS are praying for them to go bump though.

If you think a gaming division can float a company, you don't know much about this industry.

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And you do, right? Didn't know you were the CEO of Sony. Sorry.

As I said, if you think Sony are gonna go bump then you are a deluded.

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And you do, right? Didn't know you were the CEO of Sony. Sorry.

As I said, if you think Sony are gonna go bump then you are a deluded.

 

The gaming division isn't going to keep Sony afloat. If you cut out their massive insurance from life insurance policy sales, they would have gone bankrupt a long time ago. Gaming isn't doing it for them.

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And you do, right? Didn't know you were the CEO of Sony. Sorry.

As I said, if you think Sony are gonna go bump then you are a deluded.

You don't need to be the CEO to know that. It's pretty common knowledge. And I don't think they will, I never said that and I wouldn't want to see them fail. You're the only one here deluded into thinking they're doing fine or that what they're going through is no worse than other related companies :rolleyes:

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How exactly is it not helping them?

Sony won't go under, anybody thinking they will is slightly deluded. Yes they have money issues but nothing that restructure can't fix. They are not the first company to do this and won't be the last. Besides, gaming division is making them money due to sales of ps4 and that in turn will keep the company from shutting down their first party houses and gaming division.

Bet MS are praying for them to go bump though.

Sony has a very real possibility of going under, so don't automatically assume they can't or won't.  I hope they don't, but these layoffs and cuts are unfortunately a part of their effort to save the entire company.

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Don't confuse Revenue with Profits - PS4's cost money to build and cost a lot of money to develop. Selling 10-20 million doesn't put them in the black for the PS4. The cash cow phase comes later when they've sold 50 million and up and devs are cranking out software. They need to get to that phase first. Their display and consumer hardware division is all but gone. Samsung ate their lunch on displays and TVs. All the major Japanese brands are facing hurdles. That being said, I am sort of shocked they would trim resources from one of the bright spots inside Sony. Doesn't build goodwill.

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And you do, right? Didn't know you were the CEO of Sony. Sorry.

As I said, if you think Sony are gonna go bump then you are a deluded.

 

This new's isn't a jab at Sony or about Sony going under, no one here wishes that. We all enjoy there consoles and games. Just about good devs being let go because of Sony tightening the belt. Hopefully they are picked up by other studios because they are all extremely talented. 

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One of the things that sucks about big projects/crunch time is devs being taken on the get everything done and out of the door. Once the game is out downsizing can happen a lot till the next project starts.

Ruthless industry.

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