Sony has reportedly laid off an unspecified number of employees from its San Diego-based Visual Arts studio and PS Studios Malaysia. This news, initially reported by Kotaku and corroborated by former employees' LinkedIn posts, reveals that affected staff were informed their last day would be March 7th. The layoffs impacted developers who contributed to various projects, including a recently canceled live-service game at Bend Studio.
Visual Arts, a support studio providing art and technical assistance to other PlayStation first-party studios, notably worked on the recent The Last of Us Part I and Part II remasters. IGN has independently verified several LinkedIn posts from laid-off Visual Arts employees, along with at least one from PS Studios Malaysia. One former Visual Arts employee attributed the layoffs to "multiple project cancellations."
This marks the second round of layoffs at Visual Arts within two years, following an earlier wave in 2023. The current number of remaining employees and ongoing projects at Visual Arts remains unclear. IGN has contacted PlayStation for comment.
These layoffs reflect a broader trend of job cuts and project cancellations within the games industry. While precise figures are difficult to obtain due to decreased reporting transparency, the trend, which began in 2023 with an estimated 10,000 layoffs, escalated to over 14,000 in 2024 and continues into 2025.
