LogInThe company's branch in Malaysia has reportedly also suffered around 20 job cuts.
Less than a month after Sony implemented layoffs at PlayStation's San Mateo office, the company has now terminated even more employees at its California offices, with the latest round of cuts targeting the San Diego-based Visual Arts studio, impacting an undisclosed number of workers.
First reported by Visual Arts' former Associate Project Manager Abby LeMaster and spotted by Kotaku, an unknown number of VA staff were notified that Friday, March 7 would be their last day at Sony. As with the previously-mentioned February layoffs at PlayStation, this new round was only revealed through LinkedIn posts from affected workers, with the company itself remaining tight-lipped about the number of employees impacted and the reasons for the terminations, leaving us to wonder what exactly has led to this unfortunate outcome.
As a team, Visual Arts is responsible for producing art, animation, and providing technical support for first-party game studios such as Naughty Dog – having worked closely on The Last of Us Part 1 and 2 remasters – as well as collaborating with third-party developers and publishers on video games, films, and TV series. As stated by LeMaster, the layoffs hit not only newcomers but also senior staff – industry veterans with decades of experience in the field.
At the moment, confirmed developers affected by the firings include Senior Animator Rodrigo Gonzalez, Senior Character Animator Tim McNulty, Senior Material Artist Lewis Labram, Senior Technical Director Juan Quiroz, Animation Supervisor Chris Clyde, and Technical Art Department Supervisor Sarah-Elizabeth Clemens, among others.
As if that wasn't enough, the company's Malaysian branch has also seen around 20 job cuts, according to NMIA Gaming. Reportedly, the studio's art department was the hardest hit, losing an unknown number of Asset Creators, Concept Artists, and Project Managers, including those at the senior level, with the total number of layoffs estimated to be between 17 and 18.
Sadly, the plague of layoffs has been corroding PlayStation for over a year at this point, as back in February 2024, Sony announced the termination of 900 workers – roughly 8% of their global workforce – and closed PlayStation London entirely. Later in the year, the company also shut down Firewalk Studios – the developer of what was by far the worst AAA game of 2024, Concord – resulting in around 150 developers being laid off.
This year, Sony also closed two unannounced live-service games in development at Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games, though it's unclear if those studios faced layoffs as a result. Additionally, the studio delayed its competitive heist game Fairgame$ until 2026, which could signal potential job cuts looming on the horizon.
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