Sony on God of War Dev Layoffs: ‘Sometimes A Project Needs A Reboot’
"There’s not a single business on the planet where every single project that is started is a success."
Last week, we revealed that there were layoffs at Sony Santa Monica, the PlayStation-exclusive studio that’s best known for its God of War franchise. Sony corroborated what our sources told us, confirming the reduction in staff.
The PlayStation brand’s head of internal software development, Scott Rohde, spoke with IGN about the layoffs, trying to bring some clarity to the situation.
“We’re always evaluating the business, and we’re always thinking about what’s going to be the best thing,” Rohde said. “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.”
Rohde later noted that “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 sometimes, high profile projects or studios need a reboot, and that’s what’s happening here.
“So they’re still a hugely important part of what we do,” Rohde continued. “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.”
You guys are just going to have to be patient and wait for us to announce what’s coming next from Santa Monica.
After pressing Rohde about which project – if any – was cancelled, and where that leaves Sony Santa Monica’s current slate of unannounced games, he said that “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.”
Rohde confirmed that big, retail-style triple-A games will still be emerging from Sony Santa Monica in the future in addition to their rather prolific external development and second party incubation programs. “I have no problem saying that there is a huge internal development team,” Rohde said. “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.”
To learn more about Sony Santa Monica, read our complete history of the studio.
