Data Leaks Show that Sony Pressured Insomniac to Lay Off Employees
Thanks to a recent data leak, Insomniac may have been Pressured by Sony to lay off staff and make major budget cuts.
News by DShelley on Dec 22, 2023
If there's one thing the game industry is known for, it's data breaches and major studio layoffs, well, maybe just in 2023. Thanks to a recent cyber attack on Insomniac, nearly-discovered data indicates that Sony had pressured the studio to make several budget cuts, including laying off several employees. Despite the developers' acclaim, they were not spared from the unfortunate trend of layoffs that have plagued the industry multiple times throughout the year.
This data was part of a significant cyberattack on Marvel's Spider-Man developer, which leaked over 1.67 TB of confidential company data online. Included in this data was a playable early build of Insomniac's upcoming Marvel's Wolverine, which is currently on the tongue of every gamer on the internet. However, with each passing day, more information is revealed about the company and its future, including some rather exciting information regarding Sony.
From what was leaked online, it would appear that Sony may have pressured Insomniac Games to make several budget cuts. This information was first revealed to us via an article written by IGN; in this article, it is revealed that the Spider-Man developer was pressured to lay off 50-75 people, who were all working on Wolverine and Marvel's Spider-Man 3, and for them to be replaced with the team who were working on Ratchet and Clank. The main reason for these layoffs seems to be because Sony was concerned about the cost of development at the studio. This was mainly due to the budget of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 costing $30 million more than its original budget.
In the leaked documents, it appears that Sony had made several budget cuts, such as cutting staff from many of its first-party studios, most notably Visual Arts Group, back in October. Luckily, the names of the laid-off employees were not revealed in the leak. Still, the number of employees laid off is somewhat concerning; for example, Media Molecule, which had around 135 workers, dropped to a staggering 115 around the same time as Visual Arts Group, which laid off several senior designers.
Undoubtedly, 2023 has been a year full of good releases such as Baldur's Gate 3, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom, and Alan Wake 2. The year has also been plagued with cyber attacks, corporate mergers, and many layoffs. Working in the game industry in 2023 is dangerously cutthroat because you never know when you and your studio will be on the chopping block, reduced to a "budget cut".
Daman Shelley (@UndeadandTired)
Editor, NoobFeed
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