It appears that Sony is starting a new round of layoffs.
As reported by Tech4Gamers, a Sony developer revealed that he was part of a new round of layoffs. However, Tech4Gamers’ claim that this had something to do with Concord is factually incorrect.
Concord’s developer, Firewalk Studios, is based in Bellevue, Washington. The developer who recently lost his job, Environmental Artist Ryan Jewell, was originally from Sony Online Entertainment. His LinkedIn also indicates that he spent the last nine years working for Sony Interactive Entertainment in San Diego.
While it isn’t named in his resume, Jewell most likely worked for San Diego Studio, the Sony owned game developer who makes the MLB The Show games. Jewell joined the studio in 2015, and likely made these games exclusively for nearly a decade.
Jewell said this on his LinkedIn:
“After almost a decade of bringing digital worlds to life at Sony, I’ve recently been let go due to a round of layoffs. Although it’s a bittersweet moment, I’m so incredibly grateful for the journey, friendships, and incredible projects I’ve been a part of.
As a Lead Environment Artist with experience in outsourcing management and training, I’m now seeking new opportunities. Please feel free to reach out if you have any leads or would like to connect.”
As best as we can tell, this is not related to the layoffs that Sony officially announced in February of this year. That added up to 900 layoffs, the closure of London Studio, and cancellations of several unannounced games.
It seemed that those layoffs were leaked, as part of the Rhysida ransomware leak that targeted Insomniac Games. It also looked like layoffs at Sony ended last July, when Firesprite shared new job openings after announcing they had officially ended layoffs.
After reviewing news over the last year, it does seem that we can say that Bungie’s layoffs that were announced at the end of July, was the beginning of a new wave of layoffs in Sony owned studios.
Bungie announced that 220 staff were laid off, and 155 staff would be moved to other studios. In total, one third of the studio’s headcount left the company. This started a wave of rumors about what was going on behind the scenes at the studio, but they were only the start.
Last week, Ballistic Moon confirmed that they had layoffs just before the release of the Until Dawn remake. Now we have to point out here that Sony has never officially confirmed they have acquired Ballistic Moon. However, fans found evidence on their own that this actually happened. So while they may not confirm this officially, these are part of Sony’s layoffs too.
So it seems likely that San Diego Studio will officially announce or confirm layoffs shortly. We also confirmed last week that Firewalk Studios are currently on paid time off. We wish the best for all these employees that Sony have laid off within this year, and we certainly hope that Firewalk can find a way to keep going. It’s unfortunate, but we can’t pretend not to see that Sony is continuing layoffs, even as they seem set to announce the PlayStation 5 Pro.
