Several PlayStation Visual Arts employees have emerged to reveal that they have left the company.
As reported by Video Games Chronicle, it is not clear if all these employees were laid off or finished their contracts.
We can at least confirm that there was a wave of layoffs. Daniel Bellemere, a former senior level designer, shared this statement:
”Unfortunately, following a wave of layoffs last week was my last at PlayStation. While this is certainly not the news I was hoping for, I’m grateful to have had a chance to work amongst extremely talented colleagues on incredible projects and I’m leaving with good memories of my time there.”
Matt Barney, another exiting staffer, had this to say:
“Goodbye PlayStation / Sony Interactive Entertainment, it’s been real! For the past few months, I knew this layoff wave was coming. I love PlayStation & I always will… I mean, I stayed when I had the chance to leave, so obviously!”
Some other former employees confirmed their exit but did not explicitly state they were laid off. Sean Teo, a rigging artist, made this statement:
“Hey everyone, my contract at PlayStation Visual Arts has unfortunately come to an end. I am currently looking for a new role and I am flexible with working on video games, cinematic films, and commercial work.”
So, it is possible that for some of these former employees, their contracts had expired and they were not renewed. It is also possible that they were offered new contracts, and they declined them. Giving the benefit of the doubt for these employees, however, it is clear that layoffs did happen.
It is possible that these layoffs are connected to the notorious The Last Of Us Factions multiplayer project. We had reported last May that Sony laid off employees at this exact same studio. At the time, it was clear that the layoffs happened because of Sony’s decision to ramp down the project.
Rumors spread that the project was cancelled after Bungie took a look at the work Naughty Dog had put into it, and advised Sony that it was not up to stuff. However, we recently reported a disputing rumor, claiming that it was actually Naughty Dog themselves who decided to set aside the project in favor of working on The Last Of Us Part 3.
Whatever the reason, this is only the latest of a series of reported layoffs in the industry for the year. We hope they can bounce back and hopefully continue working in the industry in more favorable conditions.
