It sounds like all is not well at Sony studio Firesprite, which the platform holder acquired in 2021. Despite moving into expensive new digs in its home city of Liverpool, a Eurogamer report paints an extremely grim picture of the outfit, which is allegedly bleeding staff and lost its managing director Graeme Ankers suddenly last May.
The UK-based team, which worked on Horizon Call of the Mountain for PSVR2, was hit by a round of layoffs earlier this week, and it’s been alleged that its in-development Twisted Metal reboot was cancelled as a result. But while it’s supposedly working on a tentpole PlayStation franchise, rumoured to be an Until Dawn sequel, staff say it’s suffering from “death by a thousand cuts”.
The Eurogamer report claims an “alarming” number of employees have left the studio in recent months, following a bonus payout from Sony last year which was designed to retain staff after the organisation’s acquisition. With many of the previous managers gone, the Japanese giant has apparently pulled in staff from XDev to lead the team, which has been criticised as “nepotism”.
It’s alleged that these new leaders were caught up in an internal investigation recently, accused of ageism and sexual discrimination. Sources claim Sony dismissed these allegations as a misunderstanding, although some apparently sought external legal guidance to explore the matter further, and allegedly received payouts in return.
The biggest problem, according to those speaking to Eurogamer, appears to be a gradual erosion of the studio’s culture. “Sony has committed the worst possible mistake in buying a studio and meddling to the point where it may end up in a death spiral and unable to complete any of the projects it is working on,” a source supposedly said.
The platform holder’s yet to comment on these claims, and it’s worth noting that not everyone quoted is as critical, with one claiming there’s a “strong push for inclusivity” with “people from a wider range of backgrounds, ethnicities, and gender identities being valued and working together”. As such, it’s hard to determine the true severity of the situation.
Sony has, historically, been ruthless with its UK-based developers, however. Earlier this week it shuttered its long-running London Studio, and this is just the latest in a graveyard of British teams, which includes Evolution Studios, Guerrilla Cambridge, BigBig Studios, Liverpool Studio, and more. Let’s hope Firesprite can get back on track before it’s too late.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 55
I hope they can turn this around (assuming it's true, of course). Sony is a great publisher and platform holder, but it's absolutely decimated the UK games industry.
To buy up another promising UK studio only for it to end up allegedly on the chocking block would be brutal.
Another toxic environment to work in. I recently parted ways with the company I worked at for 16 years because the environment they started to promote actually brought the toxicity in whilst trying to promote the inclusiveness and equality they apparently held close to their core values. Where I work now have it nailed and its a much,much happier place to work and my mental health has improved 100%. Inclusiveness brings its own issues if its not fully understood and implemented in the correct way. I hope those affected at firesprite find employment soon and Sony sort this out.
We are safe now, and in the mid term, but imagine being a talented developer / artist looking at a possible job in the future. Why on earth would you choose the game industry?
Weren't these guys the remnants of liverpool studio that then got re-bought by Sony only for sony to lay them off again now? Harsh life.
I was hoping for a new wipeout from them.
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What exactly has Hermen Hulst been doing (besides licking Kojima's balls, of course)? Wouldn't it be his job to supervise all PlayStation Studio projects, giving deadlines, goals and objectives to which studio from time to time? Or does he really let each studio run wild without any sort of control while he travels and surfs around?
@ED_209 I didn't need that mental image about Hulst and Kojima lol
@Petrecis24 perhaps because which industry isn't struggling? And if it isn't struggling now, perhaps with AI it will in a couple of years? So at least do what you like/love, earn some/a lot of money and save enough if you get laid off/fired until you get another job. It sounds terrible only if you look at it in isolation. If you look at the bigger picture, most people are unhappy with their jobs for one reason or another.
@Retron hello, dead jim. I'm dad.
More proof that Sony never needed to go on this buying spree. None of these studios were worth what Japan Studios was. The UK generally has a really bad work culture/toxic work culture so I don't understand why they fell back into it.
Now it makes more sense why Totoki himself entrenched himself in the Playstation business right now.
@Retron Definitely not something you want to hear from a gaming company.
I didn’t know the Uk workplace was as toxic as the USA workplace.
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@Jay767 it's not. It's just the impression some people want you to have.
What I take from this is that Sony tried to meddle in order to hire more people of varied backgrounds, leading to accusations of hires not being made purely on merit, and the existing culture being destroyed as a result. I wouldn’t be surprised if a company of Sony’s size had some type of quota requirements.
Of course Eurogamer would never frame it as such.
The problem these days is people claim toxicity over the slightest thing, people have very thin skin these days.
Gen Z can barely work a 40hr week without having a breakdown and creating a tiktok about it
@Nem Yes, formed from the ashes of Studio Liverpool/Psygnosis after Sony shuttered them.
Weird thing is, since then, they've produced nothing of any importance apart from a Horizon tech demo for PSVR2 andd that was half done by Guerilla.
We hoped for Wipeout or even Motorstorm reboots but they don't seem to be capable or given a break to actually release anything? I wonder if the people with talent have left?
@sanderson72 I think it's still too early to judge them, assuming they still have a future. The acquisition wasn't that long ago and before then, they were probably too small for larger projects.
I thought they were off to a decent start as a Playstation studio with Call of the Mountain, but this doesn't sound great. Time will tell what Sony's plan for the studio is, but I hope this isn't a sign that it's all downhill from here.
This report is all over the place. Some people are unhappy, some are complimentary. Some believe change was needed because of the disorganised nature of the studio, some don't like that change because it's affected the culture. One former employee witnessed nothing but professionalism, whilst another thinks Sony just put their mates in charge.
Overall, it does sound like Sony put a ton of pressure on them to make sure Horizon was their primary focus, and for some, this might have been a project they had no interest in developing. More people were probably brought it to oversee and ensure it was ready for the VR2 launch and that contributed to some of the discontent.
To be honest, I'm confused as to why Sony bought them in the first place, Firesprite's portfolio since its creation 12 years ago isn't particularly impressive. Also, why would former devs of studios previously shut down by Sony want to get back in to bed with them.
The one thing I will say, if there is any truth to reports of individuals within that studio creating a genuinely toxic environment, those are redundancies I can get behind.
I just dont know anymore with this toxic stuff.
People these days are quick to call anything toxic
I mean I cant take anything serious. With how many wet fish are out there.
I mean the story going around that rockstar wants to bring their employees back into the office. Now every crying like a baby and even talking about how eockstar doesn't care about their health and well being. They are even calling that toxic.
Spoke to a person who works 13 hour shifts for a hospital and her husband is at home crying because his work want them to do 50 50 home and office.
Literally because he won't be able to go to the gym on certain days,
Our culture since covid has some how made people think they are entitled to do what they want and work anywhere.
No one batted an eye lid before covid. But since everyone got separated in those times.
Anything and everything can now be called toxic.
And now this is where we are getting conflicted reports because some just get it and others don't.
Toxic environment, such a vague nothing term
What was it exactly
Did Sony come in and put an end to the bull and make people work more professionally in line with their top studios? Would I consider that toxic if I was used to the old way of just chilling
@Anthony_Daniels @Bez87 I was thinking something similar.
Last year I needed a guy to do his job but he was throwing a tantrum because he didn't like what he had to do that week.
I had previously trained him on the task so I knew he could do it. I told him it needed to be done, and that we can't always do the stuff that we're creatively drawn to. (The usual guy was out and this guy was the backup, which he already knew.)
By the next day he was telling people on the team I was toxic and I was trying to get him fired, so I informed my boss then called the guy back to make sure there were no misunderstandings.
He had some spiel prepared about me bullying him, so I told him I'd see about transferring him under another manager in the project as he clearly no longer had trust in me.
Then he panicked and fell over himself trying to back peddle.
Turns out he was just happy with his cushy role and didn't want his remote routine interfered with. The task I was asking him to do was time based, and meant he couldn't get to his local feckin shop before the lunchtime rush.
Because of that, he was willing to paint a picture for the junior members of the team of me being a toxic bully. In their view of the world, that's what I was that week. Just because a guy doesn't like change.
I'm convinced he really believed I was bullying him too, just because I didn't say "sure okay" when he said he'd prefer to not do the task he was the backup for
🤷
Great to see some of you being dismissive about the "toxicity" part of the article, despite the fact that it clearly states those on the receiving end sought external legal guidance, and their claims were seemingly serious enough to receive payouts.
Allegedly of course.
@Intr1n5ic I have no idea what's happening at Firesprite but I try to not be dismissive at all about claims of toxicity in any workplace unless I know 100% what is actually happening.
That Eurogamer article is very fair though.
It states that some people in the studio are of the impression that the changes were bad, while others felt that the changes were needed.
That's what raises my eyebrows.
In that scenario, based on my own experiences, I find it hard to make an assumption as to the truth one way or the other.
(Maybe both versions are true, depending on who you speak to.)
@Shepherd_Tallon That's a fair reply, but what raised my eyebrows was that some of those involved allegedly received payouts for their claims. That doesn't sound to me like it's a case of someone being thin skinned, or a simple matter of being asked to do something job related that they didn't want to.
@Intr1n5ic Yeah true. That's a fair point. It's definitely interesting in that at first it was a misunderstanding, but then it was a payout. Hard to argue with that.
The only thing I would add is that I've seen well meaning fools make blunders that caused a lot of trouble. They had the best of intentions, but a complete lack of knowledge with regards to local legislation and culture, or even company/department culture often results in a dumpster fire.
And the easiest way to put out a fire is money.
Empathy could solve a lot of these problems before they happen.
@Shepherd_Tallon Yeah, I've seen the same so I know where you're coming from.
I dunno, it just didn't read well to me. 13 people making claims against 2 separate individuals didn't feel like it played in to that, but who knows. It was investigated and addressed either way.
Sexual harassment is never cool.now its personal.anywhere in the workplace is never welcomed.word up son
@TrickyDicky99 Well, that's a way of saying gen-z are highly valuing their mental health.
@Jay767 I've worked in some shi*holes in my time, but as a rule everyone just gets on with it , and works towards the end goal of going home , oh and banter there must be banter 😁
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@Northern_munkey glad to hear u found a better place to work always nice to see something positive happen to someone 😊
@breakneck
Having worked in many countries all over the world, I assure you that toxic work environments are the norm universally. US and UK are actually some of the better places. Notice I didn’t say they are great; I said they’re relatively better. We can still do a lot to make working environments more healthy, but let’s not pretend that two of the countries on the forefront of positive change are the problem. That might be the perception because companies and individuals in those countries are actually having the conversation, so it hits the news. In many other places though, they didn’t even get to the step of acknowledging the toxicity in the first place.
@Northern_munkey Out of curiosity, what did they start doing at your old job that made you want to leave?
@Shepherd_Tallon Keeping in mind settlements (regardless of "independent investigations" or not), are often a way to get NDA's signed & no admission of actual fault/liability but it's effective to deal with making problems go away.
That said,bit confused how Sony could be "disrupting the culture" of a studio that has only shipped one game?!🤔
Ultimately, such decisions to purchase them & oversight should surely have been led by Hermen Hulst? Whilst much has been written of Mr Ryan, when you think of previous luminaries like Shuhei Yoshida,& Shawn Layden among others, Hulst has been far less in the spotlight & on the rare times he does speak,feels like he pays lip service to legacy IP's lying dormant whilst his current gen line-up is seemingly running into multiple production issues at the present time.🤔
@viktorcode Not sure how working a 40 hour week is bad for mental health.
@Drago201 thankyou
@Zenos their inability to recognise the fact that inclusiveness dosnt just include the lgbtq+ community and that it includes everybody. They just were completely driven with ticking boxes and ignoring anybody who had questions or raised issues with the direction they were going. I just couldn't be part of a company that didn't treat everybody equally.
@Robocod Agreed again. It's a confusing story.
There are elements on both sides of the argument that leave me guessing.
It all sounds like a mismanaged series of events from the beginning, no matter what way we look at it.
Maybe whatever they're working on is amazing?
@Northern_munkey It's good you found a better place to work. I would have left in your position too. Can't stand companies like that.
@Zenos 👍
@Bez87 I know what you mean. One of my friends who works for an IT company was told he need to go to the office once a week (it's an hour drive) and told them (and me) he'd quit. I don't blame him, he simply has options. I, on the other hand travel 12 hours to get to work and spend most of my salary on traveling. I have no weekends or anything (the perks of working in academia).
TL;DR Indeed, *some people throw around toxic to describe anything they don't like.
@playstation1995 Yeah but they said sexual discrimination not harassment.
They are claiming someone was sexist or maybe they just misgendered someone.
@naruball exactly, I've heard people call put employees for asking them to come back.
Reasoning? Because they actually have to get dressed.
Of course its a different story if you got the job on the work at home basis.
But if you was at the office before covid. I really don't see why you have anything to complain about if your employee has decided that they want you all back in the office now.
Even asking the question is being used as toxic and mental health.
Its so funny that covid times it was all about being isolated in your home was the cause of mental health.
Now we are at the point that People are using mental health as an excuse for refusing to leaving your house and going to the office.
The world has now completely gone mad.
We've actually created a world where no one wants to leave their house, even for work.
@Shepherd_Tallon this sir is the world we live in.
All I've heard is the moaning abd crying about going back to the actual job they got employed to do in the first place.
You have now given the story from the opposite said of trying to get them to do something and thats what you get.
Its madness gone insane.
And we all sit here reading articles like these with conflicting views and we are ment to think the worst.
When reality it probably is more on the lines of your story.
@Bez87 perhaps we're going through an adjustment period. Covid happened (and it's still happening) very recently and I know a lot of people who used to go out all the time and now they don't feel like to. I believe things will get back to normal in a couple of years.
@naruball @Bez87
People became very used to doing things a certain way over the last 4 years and the readjustment to some kind of half way point is difficult for some.
I think there's definitely a new normal on the way, but everyone will need to meet each other half way before we get there.
We're actually quite flexible on our project when people tell us what they need. And our bosses are flexible with us too.
A small number of individuals always assume the worst is happening though. No clarity sought. Just assumptions. I've seen them from all walks of life and all along the political spectrum (if that's considered relevant).
All of them very impatient with anyone who doesn't share their views of how it all should be.
Disclaimer: I realise if you change a few words around I could almost be talking about politics here, but you'll have to forgive me for that. That was not my intention.
'not everyone quoted is as critical, with one claiming there’s a “strong push for inclusivity” with “people from a wider range of backgrounds, ethnicities, and gender identities being valued and working together”.'
Talk about throwing gasoline on a fire. Guarantee this alone will kill that studio and create the issues they are trying to avoid or fix. Be prepared for firings after the next wave of layoffs before the studio shuts down for good.
But I thought that Sony were always wonderful at running studios because of the organic way they build relationships etc. etc.
@TrickyDicky99 Almost as if 40hr work weeks aren’t actually good for people and that Gen Z actually values their mental well-being? Sorry that we don’t want devote most of our lives to barely getting by 🤷
Shame that Twisted Metal reboot apparently got canned. I’m very happy that the show is great and doing well but a new entry would get me to buy a PS5.
@tobsesta99 There are 168 hours in a week, what the hell are you on about?
You think working 40 hours a week, 35 after lunch breaks, it devoting most of your life to work?
Ex Psygnosis to Liverpool studio staff to Firesprite. They made Playroom a key application for PS4 with the PS Camera so that's not just nothing (Most people would because oh it's no a big game so who cares, I thought it was a great app) and other games up to Call of the Mountain.
The UK studios and Sony, it's just sad. I wish them the best.
Seems a bit of a mess. Financial I'd say sure it sucks but I can understand why, but for these reasons hmm, skills for sure and getting the project done. If toxic due to just awkwardness between people then sure it happens between some staff. But sigh. Them being around PlayStation still after the Liverpool Studio shut down just raises questions, let alone being still close to them after all this time. Was the shut down a good thing to save money, change situations of their type of business status or was it to move people over or was it to get rid of people even those talented that deserve better even if personalities can clash?
@get2sammyb Then maybe they should be looked into further before a buy out since they've basically destroyed so many UK studios over the years.
@TrickyDicky99 40 hrs week is pretty bad for mental health if the workers are treated as dirt. A common occurrence for starter positions. I don't believe Gen-Z are complaining about working in a nice environment.
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