Two days ago, Sony announced the closure of two PlayStation Studios: Firewalk, maker of Concord (reported to have cost over $200 million and shut down mere days after its launch), and Neon Koi, which would have attempted to bring some of Sony’s prized IPs to mobile.
Now, the CWA (Communications Workers of America) has released a rather scathing statement accusing Sony of furthering its gaming monopoly with the layoffs. They also plan to share their concerns with antitrust regulators. Here’s the relevant excerpt from the statement:
This devastating news comes on the heels of record layoffs across the video game industry. These decisions by highly insulated video game CEOs are creating perilous working conditions for video game workers by eliminating their job stability. Last month, former Sony Computer Entertainment Europe President Chris Deering suggested that laid-off game workers should “go to the beach for a year,” further demonstrating the lack of respect executives have for their workforce amid layoffs.
Alongside these layoffs, Sony’s decision to dissolve studios outside their walled garden of PlayStation-exclusive content rather than making games that have to compete in the highly diverse and competitive mobile game market should be a cautionary warning sign of Sony’s interest in furthering its monopoly position in the video game industry. CWA plans to raise the anti-competitive impacts of Sony’s increasing monopoly and monopsony power with the appropriate antitrust regulators, policymakers, and stakeholders.
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