Sony: Cuts won't affect game releases

Sony has confirmed that the recently announced cost-cutting measures being enforced across the company, including substantial lay-offs, will not affect Sony's internal games development teams.

Instead, the electronics division will be the worst hit of all the Sony departments, facing the closing of a whole plant and a 30 percent reduction in the total number of staff. Ouch.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves has told GamesIndustry.biz that the games division however will be mostly safe from similar cuts and that Sony is still dedicated to providing good games for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable users. An internal memo given out by Reeves also confirms this, despite rumours to the contrary.

"As was the case with the previous Sony restructuring announcement [these cuts] mainly concern our electronics business," said a Sony spokesperson in an effort to address rumours of cancelled or delayed games.

In a revised earnings forecast Sony has said that is now expects to lose more than £684 million GBP for the fiscal year ending March 2009. The games division is expected to increase losses by around £150 million GBP, half of which is due to lower sales according to Sony.

Finally, Sony has reduced projections for expected sales on the PlayStation 2 and PSP, though it still expects to sell 10 million PS3s this year. Have you helped towards that goal at all? Let us know in the forums.