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Sony Online Entertainment has suffered layoffs at its Austin and San Diego offices, with up to 200 employees reportedly affected.
A post on the company’s forums by community relations director Linda Carlson first revealed the redundancies, describing them as a reduction in our workforce” at Sony Online.
As a company, our goal is to focus on our core expertise of MMO games and as part of these efforts,” Carlson wrote.
We had to make the difficult decision to eliminate positions to help reduce costs, streamline our employee base and strategically align resources towards our current portfolio of games and upcoming slate of MMOs, including EverQuest Next Landmark and EverQuest Next.”
We deeply value our employees and are grateful for all they’ve contributed to our company and games. They will be missed by colleagues and friends, and we wish them well in the future.”
A source close to the matter later confirmed to Gamasutra that both Austin and San Diego offices were affected by the layoffs – though Austin studio head Lorin W. Jameson said players shouldn’t expect any interruptions to service of titles such as EverQuest, DC Universe Online and Planetside 2.
Quite simply we intend to fully deliver on all of the plans we have announced and have many new and exciting things we are planning that we have yet to discuss. In short expect no changes in the quality or quantity of releases for DCUO. In fact we are constantly striving to increase both measures.”
A PC Gamer source also stated that as many as 200 staff were let go, though Sony has declined to comment on the official headcount.
