PlayStation CEO on layoffs: 'We have to run a sustainable business'

PlayStation Studios CEO Hermen Hulst discusses why Sony laid off hundreds of workers earlier this year, reiterating that it was a business decision.

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Over the last few years, we've seen a difference in how CEOs talk about gaming. The Microsoft-Activision merger brought much closer scrutiny to Xbox's financials, leading to clear messaging from executives like Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond, both of which highlighted the realities of running a games business. Former PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan also testified, in length, about numbers and trends in the industry during the FTC v Microsoft federal trial in 2023.

With this spell broken, CEOs are now being more open about business dynamics, merging the internal email-speak we've seen in mass layoff announcements with the mentat-like calculations of executive leadership. The results are light--but still quite eye-opening--explanations of what's going on in gaming.

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In a recent interview with Variety, current PlayStation Studios CEO Hermen Hulst reminds consumers, readers, and fans that although PlayStation may be a $29 billion dollar business, it's still a business, and the numbers just have to line up.

If the budget exceeds spending, than the numbers have to be stabilized. Hulst says that Sony aggressively hired during COVID-19, and hints the current weight of the division isn't entirely sustainable.

"It's our duty to look at our our resource planning, and make sure that we run a sustainable business. That's part of being CEO. We never take that lightly, because we know these people personally, and it's very close to our hearts and the teams and good working atmospheres.

"But yes, we've had some layoffs.

"But it's also important to realize that on the content side, PlayStation Studios is now a much bigger organization than when it started. It's grown tremendously. And that is organic growth that our existing teams, I think, hired quite aggressively, as well as through M&A. So the organization, the employment is much greater now than it was, let's say, for example, five years ago."

Sony has purchased a number of studios over the past few years, including Firewalk, who was just shut down and their game Concord permanently cancelled, and Bungie, who Sony purchased for $3.7 billion.