Whether they can or cannot do their jobs from home due to the COVID-19 quarantine, all PlayStation employees will receive full-time pay up until April 30.
Journalist Patrick Klepek reports on the following finds, a PlayStation memo stating employees will be paid their full rate for the time-being.
According to Klepek, employees will be given a stipend of $1,000 to help them afford the technology required to work remotely, with much of that work presumably being done on the coming PlayStation 5 console.
Sony is also issuing a one-time stipend of $1,000 so employees can purchase equipment to enhance their ability to work from home.
— Patrick Klepek (@patrickklepek) March 27, 2020
Klepek continues to report that, “PlayStation is continuing to pay contractors as well. The memo specifically calls out how this applies to ‘contingent’ (aka contract) workers.”
With no time to lose in the push for AAA titles, such as the often-delayed The Last of Us Part II, Sony can’t risk losing much more productive work hours.
While it’s not easy for video game developers and staff to work from home, it’s certainly a lot more plausible to do so than it would have been 10 years ago, when at-home technologies were not up to development office snuff.
Recently, a report from Business Insider cited the possibility of both the Sony PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Xbox Series X consoles facing delays due to COVID-19’s influence.
As these consoles are still slated for release this holiday season, both technology giants are likely striving to hit this release window, even amongst a global pandemic.
The February Business Insider report considers “If [company] shutdowns exceed a month or so, game schedules will be delayed. New consoles may likewise suffer supply issues from a prolonged disruption, ahead of their Fall 2020 planned launches.”
As the global economy reels from the damages of the COVID-19 quarantine, video games and consoles may soon face similar delays as recently shelved blockbuster movies.
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