Despite being hard at work on an unannounced new title, PlayStation’s UK-based game developers Media Molecule have plans to lay off 15% of staff, according to GLHF. The studio is best known for its work on the LittleBigPlanet games.
The news comes as a shock to many, as Media Molecule was generally regarded as a studio that put innovation and people ahead of profits. Sony acquired the studio in 2010, and while many believed that this would keep Media Molecule safe from the layoffs plaguing the industry, an internal meeting revealed the decision to lay off 20 employees.
Despite the studio's image of stability, it's clear that the games industry is in a real period of crisis. Developers like Harebrained Schemes and Frontier Interactive also announced layoffs this month, while games like Spider-Man 2 have enjoyed massive success.
Media Molecule is the second huge PlayStation studio to face layoffs. Uncharted and The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog recently laid off all of its contractors after relying on them for years.
It's a real shame to see Media Molecule hit like this - their commitment to letting players express their creativity was a cornerstone of the LittleBigPlanet games, and while it wasn't as popular, Dreams expanded on this with an impressive collection of game making tools.
It's possible that the limited success achieved by Dreams was a contributing factor. The game never made its way to PC, and while the idea of making games is exciting, the reality of having to do it all with a controller put many off - why learn Dreams when you can use Unity (or after recent news, Godot?)
Many have attributed the industry's layoffs to unsustainable hiring practices over COVID. Wary games industry workers have also speculated that some companies are now trying 'soft layoffs' by forcing employees to return to office work after remote work exploded in popularity, with the expectation that many will simply quit.
If those 20 employees do lose their jobs, we've got our fingers crossed that they can find new jobs and continue creating the games we love ASAP. Some have seen the recent industry turmoil as an opportunity for laid-off staff to create new studios and shake things up, and we certainly hope that ends up being the case.