If they want to be a normal publicly traded business that needs profit to increase exponentially forever it will happen eventually.  Both Sony and Microsoft have record profits but that isn't enough for the stock holders.

As for the specifics of the layoffs :

NEW: As part of today's mass layoff, Sony has canceled a Twisted Metal live-service game that was in development at UK-based studio Firesprite, Bloomberg has learned.

Firesprite will also lay off an unspecified number of people. https://t.co/pvCDsS7yxe

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) February 27, 2024

Insomniac Games, Guerrilla and Naughty Dog are also affected by these.

And despite the recent success of HellDivers II, it doesn't seem like Sony is immediately on board with financing that many GAAS at once. 

MM survives for now, I can still see them closing it this or next year. I doubt this will be the only layoff round this year for either Microsoft or Playstation.

Not sure if Xbox or PlayStation is absolutely necessary, but you can't skip that constant 130 million monthly active Steam userbase.

Absolutely.  PC is a legit platform and should get day 1 support.  Helldivers 2 is a massive success.

Yeah, it's not like the PC playerbase has to regrow with a new generation lol. You'll always have the entire PC community to appeal to. 

Yep.  And when it isn't day 1, speaking for myself, I won't pay full price.  I want Last Part 1 on PC, but won't pay more than $30.  Had it been day 1 I would have paid full price.  

That's all people are for big companies, profit margins, numbers.
And some people think they need to defend every bad decision their favorite one takes because they are their best friend.

Once again: Fuck you, Sony.

What the fucking fuck has happened to this industry? Why is everyone getting laid off? This needs to stop being the norm as it's so frequent now people have either turned a blind eye or given generic "sad hope they find work soon" and then move on and forget. The industry is in real trouble and few want to acknowledge it. If no one feels their job is safe then this is not a sustainable industry.

Another brutal round of layoffs.

Its getting depressing to hear about every other week.