Sony Lays Off PlayStation Visual Arts Staff

Sony has reportedly cut jobs at its San Diego-based Visual Arts studio and PS Studios Malaysia, with affected employees being notified their final workday would be March 7, according to Kotaku and LinkedIn posts from former staff members. The impacted teams included developers who had contributed to various projects, including an abandoned live-service title at Bend Studio.

Second Round of Workforce Reductions in Two Years

The Visual Arts studio, which provides art and technical support for PlayStation's first-party titles including The Last of Us Part 1 and 2 remasters, previously experienced layoffs in 2023. Current staffing levels and ongoing projects at the studio remain uncertain.

Multiple developers have publicly confirmed their departures on LinkedIn, with one former Visual Arts employee citing "multiple project cancellations" as the reason for the workforce reductions. At least one employee from PS Studios Malaysia has also reported being affected.

Continuing Industry-Wide Contraction

These cuts add to the growing wave of workforce reductions across the gaming industry that began in 2023, when an estimated 10,000 developers lost jobs. The trend accelerated in 2024 with more than 14,000 layoffs, and has persisted into 2025 - though tracking has become more difficult as fewer studios disclose exact numbers of affected employees.

IGN has contacted PlayStation for additional information regarding the scope of these latest reductions. The publication notes this marks Visual Arts' second significant restructuring in recent years, following similar cuts in 2023.