Ex-Sony boss Chris Deering has suggested that those laid off from their jobs in the gaming industry should "drive an Uber" or "go to the beach for a year".
Appearing on writer Simon Parkin's podcast My Perfect Console, Deering says he doesn't think it's "fair" to say the widespread industry layoffs, which have seen companies like Sony, Microsoft, and Take-Two affected, are the result of "greed".
He goes on to say that "if the money isn't coming in" from gamers on the games Sony - or any company - is making, then it's "hard to justify spending the money for the next game".
Deering says it's "probably very painful for the managers" when employees are laid off. Rather tellingly, he doesn't acknowledge that it's also probably pretty painful for the employees themselves.
He then says having skills in game development won't result in a "lifetime of poverty or limitation", and that employees who are laid off should "take a few, figure out how to get through it, drive an Uber or whatever, go off to find a cheap place to live and go to the beach for a year".
Following these comments, Deering says he assumes those who were laid off from Sony "were paid some kind of a decent severance package", and when that package runs out, "well, you know, that's life".
I don't think you need me to tell you why these comments are raising eyebrows right now. At best, Deering comes across as out of touch, and at worst, he comes across as actively callous and unfeeling in the face of thousands upon thousands of job losses.
Deering's comments come after several months of brutal job cuts across the industry. At last count, industry layoffs had already surpassed those across the entirety of 2023, and that was in June; there have been more since.
Both major companies and indie studios have been affected. Several smaller studios have closed down entirely, and so have bigger studios like Saints Row developer Volition and Gothic developer Piranha Bytes (reportedly, at least).
As you might imagine, this doesn't really feel like the right time for Deering to make the comments he made on Parkin's podcast, but hey - perhaps he'll have a Scrooge-like epiphany sometime soon. We can but hope!
