Sony Cuts Jobs at PlayStation Visual Arts Studio

Sony has recently laid off an unknown number of employees from its Visual Arts studio in San Diego and PS Studios Malaysia, as reported by Kotaku and corroborated by former employees on LinkedIn.

According to Kotaku, the affected staff were informed that March 7 would be their final day at the company. These layoffs impacted developers who had worked on various projects, including a recently canceled live-service game at Bend Studio. Visual Arts, known for providing art and technical support, has collaborated with other PlayStation first-party studios, notably on the remasters of The Last of Us Part 1 and 2.

IGN has identified several developers on LinkedIn who confirmed their layoffs from Visual Arts, as well as at least one from PS Studios Malaysia. A former Visual Arts employee mentioned that the 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. It remains unclear how many employees are still at Visual Arts and what projects the studio is currently working on. 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. In 2023, it was estimated that over 10,000 game developers were 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 numbers affected.