Sony has recently conducted layoffs affecting an unspecified number of employees at its Visual Arts studio in San Diego and PS Studios Malaysia, as reported by Kotaku and confirmed by former employees on LinkedIn.
According to Kotaku, the affected staff were notified earlier this week that their last day would be March 7. These layoffs included developers who had worked on various projects, including a recently canceled live-service game at Bend Studio. Visual Arts, known for its art and technical support roles, has collaborated with other PlayStation first-party studios, notably contributing to The Last of Us Part 1 and 2 remasters.
IGN identified several developers on LinkedIn who confirmed their layoffs from Visual Arts, along with at least one from PS Studios Malaysia. A former Visual Arts employee mentioned that these layoffs were a result of "multiple project cancellations."
This marks the second round of layoffs at Visual Arts within the last two years, following another wave in 2023. The current number of employees at Visual Arts and the studio's ongoing projects remain unclear. IGN has reached out to PlayStation for further comment.
These layoffs are part of a broader trend of job cuts and project cancellations within the gaming industry. Since 2023, over 10,000 game developers have been laid off, with the number rising to over 14,000 in 2024. In 2025, the trend persists, though exact figures are increasingly difficult to ascertain as more studios choose not to disclose the numbers affected.
