Earlier this week, GameDaily BIZ broke the news that Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) is considering cutting headcount across Europe by as many as 160 employees. At the time, SCEE's Nick Sharples told us, "The management of the company has concluded that we need to change our structure, streamline and strengthen our business operations � and that our cost base needs to be significantly reduced."

Well, as it turns out SCEE may not be the only part of Sony's game division that may see layoffs. According to a new report in The Wall Street Journal, Sony is considering a global restructuring of its game unit and job cuts may happen not only in Europe, but also in Japan and North America. Sony's game unit is currently comprised of about 4,500 employees worldwide.

A spokeswoman in Tokyo told the Journal that reducing staff was "one choice of many" for SCE in Japan and SCEA. She said that both divisions are considering various restructuring measures.

Although Sony's game unit is expected to post a gigantic loss of around 200 billion yen for the fiscal year ended in March, the spokeswoman denied that any potential job cuts have anything to do with the PlayStation 3 business and the huge costs associated with the new console. According to the report, layoffs would be more "a reaction to general changes in the game industry, such as the move to online game distribution."

Thus far, SCEA has not acknowledged that job cuts are part of a new restructuring plan. "We have no announcement regarding any staffing changes at SCEA," Dave Karraker, Sr. Director, Corporate Communications told GameDaily BIZ.