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SCE but not SOE included in Sony job cuts
News broke yesterday that Sony is looking to decrease their workforce by about 5 percent, or 8000 jobs, over the next year and a half. These jobs are projected to come primarily from manufacturing plants, with specific targets of the downsizing to include Sony's mobile phone and LCD divisions. We are also hearing that Sony Computer Entertainment will be cutting jobs as well. While Sony is expected to review the PlayStation division of their business, Ten Ton Hammer has confirmed that Sony Online Entertainment will not be involved in the audit for downsizing.Based on this, we have no reason to believe that any of the current titles or planned releases will be effected by the job cuts. However, we do anticipate more announcements from SOE regarding additional means of generating revenue.
The Digital Continuum: Beware the MMO mutants
I had such high hopes for Auto Assault, but unfortunately a lot went wrong with that game. The general concept remains a fun idea and definitely has lots of legs for further attempts at the genre -- just not on PCs. I've talked about the why the current style of MMOs don't work well on consoles, but that doesn't mean a newer type of mutated MMO wouldn't work. The recent rumors about a Call of Duty 4 or Grand Theft Auto (re: APB?) MMO are just the kind of mutation I'm talking about. I say mutation, because I don't see these as the next step in massively games -- we're still going to have our WoWs, AoCs and WARs coming out in the foreseeable future. However a new breed all to itself is a definite possibility in the next year or so. This concept -- which has been brewing in the back of my mind for a while -- has only been encouraged by the recent SOE and SCEI shuffle.
SOE moved under SCEI to strengthen PlayStation 3
Sony Online Entertainment (the group behind EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies, and other landmark MMO titles, for the types of readers who need answers to questions like "Vhat eez zees ... 'video game' theeng?") is relocating within the Sony empire. Starting April 1, SOE will operate under the Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. banner.That means that SOE prez John Smedley will be reporting directly to Kazuo Hirai, who is President and CEO of SCEI, and one of the masterminds behind the success of the PlayStation brand. According to the press release, they're making this move so that Sony can use the talent and resources at SOE to push its online gaming agenda on the PlayStation 3 console. Currently, SOE reports to Sony Pictures Digital.SOE has already been working on PS3 projects for a while now, including the spy-themed shooter MMO The Agency, and Free Realms, a family-friendly, microtransaction-fueled endeavor. Even though the press release didn't come with new game announcements, it's big news. There's been a lot of debate about whether the XBox 360 or the PS3 is the best online gaming platform, but this new structure could give Sony a new edge.
