Sony Cuts Jobs at PlayStation Visual Arts Studio

Sony has recently conducted layoffs at its Visual Arts studio in San Diego and PS Studios Malaysia, affecting an undisclosed number of employees. According to a report by Kotaku and statements from former employees on LinkedIn, the affected staff were informed that their last day would be March 7. These layoffs impacted developers who had worked on various projects, including a recently canceled live-service game at Bend Studio.

Visual Arts, known for its role as an art and technical support studio, has collaborated with other PlayStation first-party studios on projects such as The Last of Us Part 1 and 2 remasters. Several developers from Visual Arts and at least one from PS Studios Malaysia have publicly shared on LinkedIn that they were part of the layoffs. One former employee from Visual Arts mentioned that the layoffs resulted from "multiple project cancellations."

This marks the second round of layoffs at Visual Arts within the last two years, following a similar event in 2023. The current status and ongoing projects at Visual Arts remain unclear. IGN has reached out to PlayStation for further comment.

These layoffs add to the ongoing trend of job cuts and project cancellations within the gaming industry, which began in 2023. That year saw over 10,000 game developers laid off, a number that increased to over 14,000 in 2024. In 2025, the trend has continued, though exact figures are harder to come by as more studios are reluctant to disclose the full extent of their layoffs.