Sony Reportedly Forcing Insomniac To Cut Budgets Despite Recent Success

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Abdullah Waseem

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Insomniac is one of Sony’s most trusted developers when it comes to PlayStation exclusives. However, despite their recent success with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, things might not be that bright overall. 

According to the Insomniac leaks, PlayStation is pressuring Insomniac to force pay cuts and make several layoffs at the studio.

Why it matters: The studio achieved a major milestone when Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 became the fastest-selling PlayStation game. Therefore, layoffs on the cards don’t seem like a good move.

The leaked slides mention that the measure is necessary for sustainability and to make a profit from future releases. As for releases, Insomniac has a packed schedule for the years to come.

The Spider-Man sequel reportedly cost a whopping $315 million to develop, but Sony is not looking to allocate a similar budget for future games. Apart from simple budget cuts, more drastic measures in the leaks say:

“To remove 50-75 people strategically, our best option is to cut deeply into Wolverine and Spider-Man 3.” 

Ever since the leaks, fans have been wondering about the gargantuan budget.

The main story was noticeably small, not lasting much more than 17 hours, so $315 million might not have been properly justified. Furthermore, Insomniac itself questions in the slides if the 3x investment is justified in the sequel.

The leaks also outline that the studio is considering a strategy of making more mid-sized games. Furthermore, the next games will be limited to a $350 million budget, which is less than Spider-Man 2’s cost when accounting for inflation.

As for the studio being closed down, this seems to be the most extreme measure from PlayStation. The company shut down PixelOpus earlier this year, so another closure so soon cannot be good.

Whatever happens, we hope everyone comes out on top.

Layoffs have become an increasingly popular trend in the industry that we don’t condone. Insomniac has developed some of the best games out there, so hopefully, the studio will be able to continue this work in the future.

Abdullah Waseem

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