Ex-Sony Boss Chris Deering Asks Sacked Game Developers To ‘Drive Uber’ Or ‘Hit The Beach’

Former President of Sony’s Computer Entertainment business in Europe Chris Deering has given strange advice to game creators who were recently sacked by the corporation. Speaking on My Perfect Console podcast, Deering recommended that these people think about taking a year off or look for temporary work, like driving for Uber. This guidance follows Sony’s revelation earlier this year that it would close PlayStation Studios’ London location and lay off nearly 900 employees.

Deering, who oversaw Sony’s PlayStation division in Europe from 1995 to 2005, likened the industry’s widespread layoffs to “the pandemic.” “You’re going to have to take a few, figure out how to get through it, drive an Uber or whatever. Find a cheap place to live and go to the beach for a year,” he said on the podcast. He went on to suggest that people should not completely withdraw from the sector during this period of inactivity by saying, “Keep up with your news. Once you get off the train, it’s much harder.”

According to a Fortune report, since 2023, over 645,000 IT professionals have lost their jobs and more than 20,000 of them were in the recently severely impacted video game business. More than 10,000 gaming employees lost their jobs this year by May alone. It exceeded the total amount of layoffs in this field for the entire year of 2023, the report added.

Deering dismissed claims that corporate greed was the driving factor behind these layoffs, pointing out that cyclical market circumstances often require businesses to grow carefully. He made the point that supporting future endeavours becomes unsustainable if customer purchasing does not keep up with the current gaming releases.

Nonetheless, not everyone has agreed with Deering’s comments. The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) division on gaming denounced his remarks and emphasised the need for collective action to defend workers’ rights. “With a strong union, we can get what we deserve — work-life balance and job security,” the union wrote in response. “Without it, we’re left with ‘let them eat cake’.”

A veteran of the business, Deering began his career with Atari before joining Sony, and he played a significant role in the introduction of the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, the company’s initial consoles.

In 2010, he was appointed chairman of Codemasters, a business that made racing video games. Currently, he serves as an adviser for Cudo Ventures, a firm that makes cryptocurrency mining software.