According to online reports, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is looking to downsize its internal staff by nearly 10 percent, a move it says is necessary for maintaining its "leading position" in an "increasingly networked and converged entertainment."
Speaking to website GameDaily, SCEE Director of Corporate Communications Nick Sharples
said that while no one had as yet been terminated, it is indeed an avenue the company is considering as it moves forward.
"SCEE has successfully faced a number of challenges throughout its history to become a leader of the videogame industry, our industry is in the middle of a period of transition where some of the fundamentals of our business are changing," Sharples said.
"Chief amongst these is that we are entering a future of increasingly networked and converged entertainment," he continued. "In order to maintain our leading position in the market we sometimes have to make difficult business decisions. The management of the company has concluded that we need to change our structure, streamline and strengthen our business operations – and that our cost base needs to be significantly reduced."
An email purported to be from SCEE president and CEO David Reeves sent anonymously to game blog Destructoid
echoed the same opinion -- at times verbatim -- and outlined the plans the company would be undertaking over the coming week.
"We have been looking in the greatest detail at all areas of the business in order to reduce this cost base," the email reads, "and we must now also look at the possibility of making compulsory redundancies in the UK offices, in WWS studios in Europe and in our territory offices."
"In order to achieve the necessary cost reductions it is possible that there will be up to 160 redundancies in total across SCEE offices in the UK, WWS in Europe and in the Territories. There are currently around 1,900 employees across the SCEE group including WWS in Europe," it continues.
The email instructs employees to appoint representatives in meeting with upper management by midday on April 20th, implying that changes to studio structure and size will be coming sooner than later.
According to Sharples, the company "will not be providing any additional information on this process or making further announcements at the conclusion of the process."
