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[Rogue_Ledr]

nooooo! i wonder what was cancelled??

Yeah, that aint good!

Sony needs more games, not less!

 

[Anticitizen One]

Sony doom threads are the worst. Because they are always based on nothing but conjecture ("The game I knew nothing about was awesome") and then we get people say the opposite of things that are true ("Sony doesn't care about new IP") and then the lynch mob comes out ("Yoshida sucks at his job") and after, people start making wild suggestions ("They should shut everyone down while their at it" and even more inane drivel).

Here's what happened. A game got cancelled. Probably because it wasn't coming together. The now redundant staff had nothing to work on and was then let go.

The problem is that A)Sony hasn't shown much in the way of new IPs for the PS4 and B)They shouldn't have been teasing new IPs from Sony Santa Monica if they are just gonna cancel them. There was that sci-fi game tease in God of War Ascension and at PS4 launch Yoshida was like "Sony Santa Monica is working on a new project that you'll hear about soon...something scary!" Why have build up if your not going to deliver? It's a huge let down.

 

[Friction]

He worked at Irrational.

Thanks for the info. I've been retrenched once. The cynicism is justified. You pour your heart and soul in to a company only to be told to pack up your bags. Easy feel like whole world is ****ed up.

 

[SparkTR]

The games industry isn't in trouble. It's just going through some changes...

Well yeah the games industry as a whole isn't in trouble, the grass is really green on the mobile side right now.

 

[Shikamaru Ninja]

That sucks. I'm still sour about Incog, Zipper, and SCE Liverpool Studio. We need SCE WW Studios stronger!

 

[Mifune]

Fucking Yoshida. I said that before, he must go.

Why do you say this when we don't know any details about what went on at SSM?

 

[B-Ri]

this is odd, considering their moving next door to us and are expanding

http://variety.com/2014/biz/news/so...side-home-for-santa-monica-studio-1201074462/

 

[Ooccoo]

They were probably working on a God of War game.

 

[boredandlazy]

Are the people calling for Yoshida's head just Nintendo fans who are tired of calling for Iwata's?

 

[Mr. PlayStation]

I am shocked, they had a bunch of intern openings just 3 weeks back. Here's hoping all those who were affected, land on their feet immediately!

 

[Carl]

Fucking Yoshida. I said that before, he must go.


Yeah Sony will kill one of their biggest franchises.

You realise that whoever was head of WWS would can games, right?

 

[vpance]

I think people need to look at SSM output 2 AAA games since PS2 and 1 of them did not sell like planned

Good point. 2 titles in 7 years, and counting.

 

[Mifune]

They shouldn't have been teasing new IPs from Sony Santa Monica if they are just gonna cancel them. There was that sci-fi game tease in God of War Ascension and at PS4 launch Yoshida was like "Sony Santa Monica is working on a new project that you'll hear about soon...something scary!" Why have build up if your not going to deliver? It's a huge let down.

We don't know the status of the new IP. If Stig's game was canceled you'd better believe it would be a whole lot more than 50 people let go.

 

[Demi_God]

I really wouldn't worry to much about this. It's not like this is rare or even uncommon. In teh gaming industry there are layoffs and there are many bouncers in development as well as after projects being done or cancelled, developers have to find more work. This is pretty common. I assume the 50 layoffs wouldn't have been bad but I'm sure this was a long time coming.

 

[Slair]

The problem is that A)Sony hasn't shown much in the way of new IPs for the PS4 and B)They shouldn't have been teasing new IPs from Sony Santa Monica if they are just gonna cancel them. There was that sci-fi game tease in God of War Ascension and at PS4 launch Yoshida was like "Sony Santa Monica is working on a new project that you'll hear about soon...something scary!" Why have build up if your not going to deliver? It's a huge let down.

Every new IP that SSM was working on has been cancelled? Source?!

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

Seems like the industry might be starting to go through a bit of a revamp. Publishers and developers starting to realize that they can't support gigantic teams without any real guarantee of the game being successful enough to be majorly profitable.

Hope they all find work.

 

[MyLifeIsALie]

hmm 50 people... thats not a big almost complete game that got canceled then, thats good. Not too worried about it. sucks to lose your job, but shit happens and if they werent doing their jobs well then they should be doing something else.

 

[EmptySpace]

The problem is that A)Sony hasn't shown much in the way of new IPs for the PS4 and B)They shouldn't have been teasing new IPs from Sony Santa Monica if they are just gonna cancel them. There was that sci-fi game tease in God of War Ascension and at PS4 launch Yoshida was like "Sony Santa Monica is working on a new project that you'll hear about soon...something scary!" Why have build up if your not going to deliver? It's a huge let down.

problem? hindsight is 20/20.

do you actually think sony was knowingly hyping up a project they were going to cancel?

also, the reveal of games is handled by pr/marketing. just because they haven't shown all the projects they are working on doesn't mean cancelling a project is going to make all the others disappear or sony suddenly has no games. it sucks, i know.

 

[Deleted member 80556]

problem? hindsight is 20/20.

do you actually think sony was knowingly hyping up a project they were going to cancel?

also, the reveal of games is handled by pr/marketing. just because they haven't shown all the projects they are working on doesn't mean cancelling a project is going to make all the others disappear or sony suddenly has no games. it sucks, i know.

Yeah, I think that we'll see about the game in E3.

 

[0ptimusPayne]

Sucks. Still no confirmation if any projects were canned. This might be a trimming the unexcassary fat situation honestly, because it contradicts their "Now hiring" post from last week.

 

[Gorillaz]

So I wonder if Stig and his team will still move on to a new IP or if this leaves them unaffected?

 

[Kiant]

The problem is that A)Sony hasn't shown much in the way of new IPs for the PS4 and B)They shouldn't have been teasing new IPs from Sony Santa Monica if they are just gonna cancel them. There was that sci-fi game tease in God of War Ascension and at PS4 launch Yoshida was like "Sony Santa Monica is working on a new project that you'll hear about soon...something scary!" Why have build up if your not going to deliver? It's a huge let down.

Dude it's not like the whole bloody studio has been shut down, your acting as if, just because 50 people have been laid off, Sony think "fuck it, let's close it all down boys!". Quit with the hyperbole.

 

[NavyPharaoh]

I really think its cory's new team & it was pre-production for gow 4. Maybe the prototype wasn't different or new enough for them to green light it. Maybe the time/cost to complete said game would be insufficient. This could b a 100 things. I doubt its stigs new ip. For a studio with the background of ssm u dont continue to build a shit product for 2-3 years.

 

[BlackBuzzard]

So I wonder if Stig and his team will still move on to a new IP or if this leaves them unaffected?

We still dont know if its that IP, if Roboplato is to be believed it wasnt the project by Stig that got canceled. Maybe it was a third team that previously worked on Acension.

DemonNite did say 1 studio had 5 PS4 projects in the making that could have been SSM.

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

We don't know the status of the new IP. If Stig's game was canceled you'd better believe it would be a whole lot more than 50 people let go.

No. The vast majority of the team was working on Ascension. Stig's team is supposedly much smaller, according to some gaffers.

 

[Nightengale]

So I wonder if Stig and his team will still move on to a new IP or if this leaves them unaffected?

If Stag's project was the one cancelled, we should know soon enough because the entire studio is working on it.

There'd be a lot of redundancies unless another project was aggressively put into full production.

 

[daman824]

Sad. Hopefully everyone ends up alright. I doubt they canceled a god of war game. Those usually sell good. And if the studio is costing too much money to upkeep, you don't cancel a next gen entry in a big, established series. I legitimately wonder what was canceled though. How many things were they working on? Why were they hiring recently if sony was just going to cut 50 people?

We may never know.

 

[Nightengale]

No. The vast majority of the team was working on Ascension. Stig's team is supposedly much smaller, according to some gaffers.

Angeli said the entire Ascension team has transitioned to the new project as of July.

 

[Caronte]

Maybe the Ascension team was trying to reboot God of War and it didn't work?

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

Angeli said the entire Ascension team has transitioned to the new project as of July.

I took new project to mean something other than Stig's. I seriously doubt he was just sitting on his ass the three years Ascension was being created. Whatever he has been up to, he has been up to for quite a while.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

According to da interwebs, the TGS build was 65% complete, that doesn't sound "close to final", and according to the article I linked to that's what Yoshida ended up playing in the end. Two hours of it, and his main complaint was that he couldn't advance past the first level, which sounds to me like a totally regular DS experience. I've had enough of the Yoshida Defense Force. Not everyone is perfect, dudes.

So much this. He says a couple of funny things on twitter and suddenly he is can do no wrong. I personally think he is a lousy manager and should by laid off.

 

[Haines]

Not surprising. Its still jobs and this happens. I blame clinging to god of war too long tho. That couldn't have helped

 

[Anticitizen One]

Dude it's not like the whole bloody studio has been shut down, your acting as if, just because 50 people have been laid off, Sony think "fuck it, let's close it all down boys!". Quit with the hyperbole.

Did you all miss in the OP where it says Project cancelled? What if it was that project about the Earth stopping or that Scary game Yosp talked about (not sure if it was the same game) Sony had gotten me interested in that game and now it may have been the project that got cancelled

 

[Biker19]

Seems like the industry might be starting to go through a bit of a revamp. Publishers and developers starting to realize that they can't support gigantic teams without any real guarantee of the game being successful enough to be majorly profitable.

I agree. IMO, 1st/2nd party games, indie games, & small downloadable games (like in the forms of games like Torchlight, Double Dragon Neon, Scott Pilgrim, & Bionic Commando: Rearmed) will most likely be running the show this gen, which I don't mind since most of them are terrific (Mid-Tier gaming should be brought back as well).

They'll still be AAA games (most likely the very successful ones like Assassin's Creed, Grand Theft Auto, etc.), but it's going to be a lot less of those this gen, especially if Xbox One &/or PS4 doesn't get a large enough install base to help offset the costs of development & marketing of those type of games, in which requires them to sell more copies of their titles just for 3rd party publishers to make a profit off of.

 

[Deleted member 80556]

Fucking Yoshida. I said that before, he must go.

I bet you also think that firing Iwata will resolve Nintendo's problems, right?

 

[dragonfart28]

This is clearly just a lack of competitiveness.

I mean, the next gen sector is positively booming with confidence right now.

 

[Callibretto]

We still dont know if its that IP, if Roboplato is to be believed it wasnt the project by Stig that got canceled. Maybe it was a third team that previously worked on Acension.

DemonNite did say 1 studio had 5 PS4 projects in the making that could have been SSM.

Demonite work at santa monica isn't he? Is he okay?

 

[Dragon]

Fucking Yoshida. I said that before, he must go.


Yeah Sony will kill one of their biggest franchises.

Why should he go?

 

[Desty]

No one is safe.

Seriously, these are some of the scariest scenarios being played out. I mean Irrational and Sony Santa Monica are not mobile game peeps. They are at the highest levels of AAA. Something very wrong with this industry if these genius guys can't make it.

 

[BlackBuzzard]

Demonite work at santa monica isn't he? Is he okay?

Studio London.

 

[Dragon]

Seriously, these are some of the scariest scenarios being played out. I mean Irrational and Sony Santa Monica are not mobile game peeps. They are at the highest levels of AAA. Something very wrong with this industry if these genius guys can't make it.

Disney laid off hundreds of people after posting 8 billion in profit. Sometimes shit don't make sense.

 

[Nafai1123]

So much this. He says a couple of funny things on twitter and suddenly he is can do no wrong. I personally think he is a lousy manager and should by laid off.

Yeah, fuck that dude that put Playstation back in front this gen...


smh at some of the b.s. in this thread.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

I bet you also think that firing Iwata will resolve Nintendo's problems, right?

CEO of a company is to be blamed for company's condition.

Why should he go?

Because he is a bad manager and should be replaced.

 

[I-hate-u]

Might as well post this here, I want to see people's opinions:

Its been a disappointing 2014 so far as a PS fan. No Driveclub info, few 1886 footage that doesn't include awesome weapons or werewolves, and now, SSM game cancel and layoffs. Not to mention, VR is coming which I am afraid it might be tacked on the WWS games like 3D/move was. What a complete waste of resources and conference time those were. Outside of sales, MS has been better for sure this year.

 

[gundamkyoukai]

So much this. He says a couple of funny things on twitter and suddenly he is can do no wrong. I personally think he is a lousy manager and should by laid off.

Yoshida has made some mistakes but he also did some good one like give GG , ND second teams
Buying SP , giving RAD a chance at a console game and other things .
Still the next 2 years on PS4 is when we going to see what he really made of .

Seriously, these are some of the scariest scenarios being played out. I mean Irrational and Sony Santa Monica are not mobile game peeps. They are at the highest levels of AAA. Something very wrong with this industry if these genius guys can't make it.

The industry needs stuff like this to happen , Studios need to run more efficient .
Going forward changes have to be made and this is only part of it .

 

[Goodacre0081]

Maybe the Ascension team was trying to reboot God of War and it didn't work?

rebooting a franchise that had a game last year?

GoW needs to be missed before people start calling for a reboot. #3 should have been the last one while the studio moved on to a new IP for a few years.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

Yeah, fuck that dude that put Playstation back in front this gen...


smh at some of the b.s. in this thread.

It's not him who put Playstation on the front this gen. Its unbelievable that he's getting credit for someone else's work lol.

 

[Caronte]

Seriously, these are some of the scariest scenarios being played out. I mean Irrational and Sony Santa Monica are not mobile game peeps. They are at the highest levels of AAA. Something very wrong with this industry if these genius guys can't make it.

Irrational didn't release a single product in almost 6 years. That's not the industry's fault.

Yeah, fuck that dude that put Playstation back in front this gen...

What did he do? Greenlight Knack?

 

[Deleted member 80556]

CEO of a company is to be blamed for company's condition.

Because he is a bad manager and should be replaced.

Hope you want the guy from MS to be fired too since he passed on Rime and Guitar Hero.

Just for missing one game (and they still have the IP too), it doesn't mean he should be fired. Unless you have more reasons, which we all want to know to see your point.

EDIT: He greenlighted tons of other games. Don't forget that.

 

[David___]

It's not him who put Playstation on the front this gen. Its unbelievable that he's getting credit for someone else's work lol.

He IS the reason why the PS3 was able to catch up to the 360 though. People make mistakes, calling for the head of someone because common things like cancelled projects and layoffs is asinine.