Sounds like consolidation of departments at this point, social media and community management being moved to PlayStation central. Needs more details on scope of layoffs.
www.kitguru.net
Bandwidth (lack of it) is still going to be a barrier for a lot of people. And there are still people with metered connections!
Any idea what proportion? You only need HD video levels of BW which is 25 mbps for Netflix and that's under basic broadband these days. UK average is 70. Don't know what Sony is facing internationally but I'd have thought if people aren't paying for faster broadband, they aren't that interested in 4K game streaming services either.
The last I saw, a report from UNESCO last year it was on the rise. I cannot find the report now but the reason given was that 5G and satellite (Starlink) was increasingly being deployed is areas where the cost of upgrading basic infrastructure was not cost effective, and both of these are options effectively metered.
Could be, but their implementation is hardware and you'd need that in your console but Sony could be looking forward to PlayStation 6 which will at this point, be deep in development.
I don't understand this story. I don't understand Sony's involvement, what the buyout actually got them, what Bungie are doing, what Bungie's financials were like before and after the buyout, etc. If they are independent, the financial situation and need to downsize is their own? They don't want to lose their independence? then why did they sell in the first place? Financial security? then why the need to cut-back now?It's hilarious that they went from "we're barely part of Sony and operate independently" to "we are scrambling to avoid a total Sony takeover" in about a year. Good job Sony.
I think that 'virtuous' behaviour was historical. Sony's attitude to acquisitions changed around 2019 and they are now buying without as much prior relationship as former studio acquisitions had. Many of us acknowledge a new 'arms race' of content acquisitions and I think most recognising that aren't in favour, prefer independent studios. There seems to be no advantages to being owned any more - these studios are shuttered just as readily. Being independent seems safer and freer.
His point isn't that Sony is virtuous. The point is that Sony don't have the same luxury of finances and there was no reasoning back then to do huge multi billion purchases. Hence their past strategy adapted to less frequent, mostly purchasing smaller, and often not so popular studios, with which they had prior special relationships, to enhance their internal production. Their actions weren't based on virtue but on what was the most affordable and strategically most logical action given their circumstances.
It's hilarious that they went from "we're barely part of Sony and operate independently" to "we are scrambling to avoid a total Sony takeover" in about a year. Good job Sony.
In all seriousness, this is an example of what I talked about last month: Don't believe these execs statements. It's not because Jim Ryan was evil or something, but he has to spin things in the most positive light. We just can't be naive as to what Sony, MS, Nintendo are really up to, which is maximizing profits for execs and shareholders. The reason I bring this up is because there are some people around here that think some companies are more virtuous than others and it's simply not the case.
The way Bungie is structured is that Sony personnel sit on the board and get to influence the creative and commercial direction of the company, which might be to develop games that fill holes in Sony's first party portfolio and potentially to invest effort to use Sony-specific technologies, perhaps PSVR2.
