Sony Fired Folks at PlayStation Developer Visual Arts

More layoffs have been confirmed at Sony, as reports came in that the company fired multiple staff members from PlayStation support studio Visual Arts. It’s currently unknown how many people have been affected and let go from their positions. [Thanks, Kotaku!] Confirmation on the Visual Arts layoffs came from posts from the affected staff on LinkedIn. Abby LeMaster, a former project manager at the studio who now works for Riot, expressed her condolences while sharing several of these posts on her feed. Many of the affected staff appear to have been working with Bend Studio on its recently canceled live service game, widely believed to be a God of War spin-off. However, the layoffs appear to be broader than these projects. These layoffs come during a major restructure at PlayStation, even outside Visual Arts. As well as recent reorganization in management following the departure of Jim Ryan, efforts are being made to cut back increasing budgets. A big part of these changes have seen the company’s twelve in-development live service games severely cut back following the failure of Concord. The developer of that game was also closed down in October 2024. Layoffs continue to be an ongoing problem within the games industry. Even the success of Marvel Rivals failed to stop staff at NetEase Games facing layoffs. The entire US team, who helped complete development of the base game, appears to have been axed. It is unknown if these layoffs will affect development of other Sony games. Current known first-party games in development include Ghost of Yotei, the sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, and the new Naughty Dog game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. The post Sony Fired Folks at PlayStation Developer Visual Arts appeared first on Siliconera.

Mar 5, 2025 - 18:02

Sony Fired Folks at PlayStation Developer Visual Arts

More layoffs have been confirmed at Sony, as reports came in that the company fired multiple staff members from PlayStation support studio Visual Arts. It’s currently unknown how many people have been affected and let go from their positions. [Thanks, Kotaku!]

Confirmation on the Visual Arts layoffs came from posts from the affected staff on LinkedIn. Abby LeMaster, a former project manager at the studio who now works for Riot, expressed her condolences while sharing several of these posts on her feed. Many of the affected staff appear to have been working with Bend Studio on its recently canceled live service game, widely believed to be a God of War spin-off. However, the layoffs appear to be broader than these projects.

These layoffs come during a major restructure at PlayStation, even outside Visual Arts. As well as recent reorganization in management following the departure of Jim Ryan, efforts are being made to cut back increasing budgets. A big part of these changes have seen the company’s twelve in-development live service games severely cut back following the failure of Concord. The developer of that game was also closed down in October 2024.

Layoffs continue to be an ongoing problem within the games industry. Even the success of Marvel Rivals failed to stop staff at NetEase Games facing layoffs. The entire US team, who helped complete development of the base game, appears to have been axed.

It is unknown if these layoffs will affect development of other Sony games. Current known first-party games in development include Ghost of Yotei, the sequel to Ghost of Tsushima, and the new Naughty Dog game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

The post Sony Fired Folks at PlayStation Developer Visual Arts appeared first on Siliconera.