PlayStation support studio Visual Arts (The Last of Us Part 1) has reportedly been impacted by widespread layoffs, per social media posts surfaced by VGC. Several developers have taken to LinkedIn to reveal their redundancies, with one mourning “a wave of layoffs” at the studio.
“Unfortunately, following a wave of layoffs, last week was my last at Playstation,” Daniel Bellemere, senior level designer, wrote. “While this is certainly not 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.”
Similar posts from other senior designers and developers have also been shared on LinkedIn, confirming several studio contracts have now unexpectedly concluded. According to VGC, several of the developers impacted – including Bellemere – were working on an unannounced project. At this stage, it’s unclear how the layoffs will impact this project, and the work of the wider PlayStation team.
Read: Team17 staff face layoffs, as company restructure begins
The news from Visual Arts arrives amidst a wave of rampant layoffs in the games industry, as companies reckon with a tough economic market, over-spending, and overall downturn. In recent months, countless studios have announced cuts, including Blizzard, Team17, EA, CD Projekt Red, Riot Games, Amazon, Ascendant Studios, Private Division, 2K, Volition, Firaxis, Telltale Games, Crystal Dynamics, and Epic Games – with seemingly no end in sight.
Per one developer at Visual Arts, change felt inevitable. “For the past few months, I knew this layoff wave was coming,” developer Matt Barney wrote. “I love PlayStation and I always will… I mean, I stayed when I had the chance to leave, so obviously!”
At this stage, it appears sweeping changes will continue, as studios contend with a major contraction of the global games industry. Those laid off by Visual Arts are now looking for work – but in a tough jobs market crowded with talent, it’s unclear what the future looks like.
Our thoughts are with those impacted by the reported layoffs at Visual Arts.