"It's a warning sign": Union criticizes Sony for closing Firewalk Studios and Neon Koi; accuses PlayStation of holding a monopoly

This week, Sony and PlayStation announced the closure of Firewalk Studios and Neon Koi, studios that failed to meet expectations due to the setback of Concord and an unrevealed mobile game. The news spread quickly, and now a major union has spoken out.

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is very unhappy with the news, as dozens of developers lost their jobs. Due to this, they issued strong criticism against Sony, accusing PlayStation of holding a monopoly. CWA called on developers to unite and seek better working conditions in the video game industry. It also announced plans to discuss the impact of these studio closures with various regulators.

U.S. Union condemns studio closures at PlayStation

CWA described the closures of Firewalk Studios and Neon Koi as devastating, impacting many developers in the industry. They believe that executives at large companies are creating hazardous working conditions by eliminating job stability for creatives.

For this reason, the union called on developers to secure collective bargaining, which will guarantee them fair compensation and a voice in the impact of studio closures.

Additionally, they pointed to PlayStation and Sony for holding and wanting to defend their monopolistic position in the industry. As such, they plan to speak to various regulators about what happened with Firewalk Studios and Neon Koi, opposing such moves that negatively affect workers.

“Sony's decision to dissolve studios outside their walled-garden of PlayStation-exclusive content, rather than making games that have to compete in the highly diverse and competitive mobile game market, should be a cautionary warning sign of Sony's interests in furthering their monopoly position in the video game industry.

“CWA plans to raise the anti-competitive impacts of Sony's increasing monopoly and monopsony power with the appropriate antitrust regulators, policymakers, and stakeholders,” the organization stated.

At the time of writing, the companies have not commented on the statements from the Communications Workers of America. Previously, the union also condemned the waves of layoffs at Xbox.