Sony Lays Off Unknown Number of Workers at PlayStation Visual Arts Studio

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, indicates that affected staff were informed their last day would be March 7th. The layoffs included 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 contributed to the The Last of Us Part I and Part II remasters. IGN has independently verified several LinkedIn profiles confirming layoffs at Visual Arts and at least one 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 within two years, following an earlier, undisclosed number of job cuts in 2023. The current size of the Visual Arts team and its ongoing projects remain unclear. IGN has contacted PlayStation for comment.

These layoffs reflect a broader trend of job losses and project cancellations within the gaming industry. While over 10,000 game developer layoffs were estimated in 2023, rising to over 14,000 in 2024, precise figures for 2025 are less readily available due to decreased transparency from affected studios.