PlayStation Studios Reshuffle: Visual Arts Team Faces Layoffs Following Concords Fallout

Everyone remembers Concord, and so does Sony. That’s why the company is continuing to reorganize its gaming studios—this time, the PlayStation Visual Arts team based in San Diego is affected. According to Nmia Gaming, there are also reports of layoffs at PlayStation Studios Malaysia.

While the exact number of employees leaving Visual Arts has not been disclosed, Kotaku reports that notifications began going out on Monday, with the last day for affected staff being March 7. Sources indicate that some of those laid off were involved in recently canceled projects, including a service game from Bend Studio. Nmia Gaming’s well-placed sources in PlayStation Studios Malaysia suggest that the majority of layoffs impacted art teams, with around 17-18 individuals departing from the studio.

Former project manager of PSVA, Abby LeMaster, is among those affected.

This move follows the significant failure of Concord last year, which cost Sony a substantial amount of money, as well as the cancellation of several service games, including a spin-off of God of War from Bluepoint Games.

The scale of these layoffs appears to be broader than just a cleanup following canceled titles—there is a consensus online that this is part of a deeper restructuring of Sony amidst financial difficulties. Contributing to this situation is also a change in leadership; effective April 1, Hiroki Totoki will take over as the new CEO of Sony, succeeding Kenichiro Yoshida, who will remain as chairman of the board.

Visual Arts has long been recognized as a support studio that assisted prominent companies like Naughty Dog with projects such as the remasters of The Last of Us Part I. PlayStation Studios Malaysia was established in 2020 as a supporting studio to work alongside Visual Arts.