Sony Cuts Jobs at PlayStation Visual Arts Studio

Sony has recently laid off an unspecified number of employees from 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, primarily known for its art and technical support, has collaborated extensively with other PlayStation first-party studios, notably on The Last of Us Part 1 and 2 remasters.

IGN has identified several developers on LinkedIn who have announced their layoffs from Visual Arts, along with at least one from PS Studios Malaysia. A former Visual Arts employee stated 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 that also affected an unknown number of employees. It remains unclear how many staff members are currently at Visual Arts or what projects they are working on. IGN has sought a comment from PlayStation on the matter.

These layoffs are part of a broader 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 figure that increased to over 14,000 in 2024. In 2025, the trend has continued, though exact numbers are less clear as more studios have chosen not to disclose the specifics of their layoffs.