Sony has reportedly laid off an unspecified number of employees from its San Diego-based Visual Arts studio and PS Studios Malaysia. This news comes from a Kotaku report and LinkedIn posts by former employees. Affected staff were informed their last day would be March 7th. The layoffs included developers who worked on various projects, including a recently canceled live-service game at Bend Studio.
Visual Arts, a support studio providing art and technical assistance, has collaborated extensively with other PlayStation first-party studios, notably on the recent The Last of Us Part I and Part II remasters. IGN has independently confirmed layoffs at Visual Arts through LinkedIn profiles, as well as at least one layoff at 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 in two years, following an earlier, undisclosed number of job cuts in 2023. The current size of Visual Arts' remaining workforce and its ongoing projects remain unclear. IGN has contacted PlayStation for comment.
These layoffs reflect a broader trend of job cuts and project cancellations within the games industry. While over 10,000 game developer layoffs were estimated in 2023, and over 14,000 in 2024, precise figures for 2025 are less readily available due to decreased transparency from many studios.
