Once again, we find ourselves talking about yet another set of layoffs in the gaming industry, and this time, it is affecting one of the biggest companies out there, PlayStation. We have seen multiple companies go through layoffs over the last few months, but this one is interesting for multiple reasons. It is easy to say that PlayStation Visual Arts is laying off developers to meet budget requirements, but there is more to look at here, ranging from the studio itself to the mystery game they are working on.
The Rundown
- PlayStation Visual Arts, or PlayStation Studios, have recently released a number of its developers, and it was done quickly and quietly.
- The layoffs will more than likely significantly impact the mystery game the studio has been working on.
- These layoffs come amid several other studios doing the same thing, and some had a connection to Sony PlayStation; this could have a big impact on their future game schedule.
The gaming industry is only growing larger, and many companies are experiencing record profits despite several underlying issues. Many of these issues manifest in studios laying off staff left and right. We have seen this across the board, but now it affects one of the PlayStation studios. Specifically, it is happening a PlayStation Visual Arts.
PlayStation Visual Arts or PlayStation Studios is a sub-studio of PlayStation that focuses on game development. Interestingly, the studio does not make many games, instead working with other studios like Naughty Dog and Santa Monica. This studio does supply a lot of developer manpower to projects and allows them to be integrated with the PS hardware.
Now it appears the studio has gotten into trouble as they have begun laying off staff. No official reason has been listed for the layoffs, but we can make some assumptions based on other factors. Most notably, the fact that, between the layoffs being cordial and the long development of a lengthy new game, the budget would seem to be an issue.
Layoffs at PlayStation Visual Arts pic.twitter.com/4QXSy5roW4
— Timur222 (@bogorad222) May 27, 2023
We are not currently aware of the budget for the unknown title, but it would seem to be the likely cause of the restructuring. Timur222 posted about employee layoffs and some info about the unknown game, which you can check out here. The employee who posted this did not mention any high-level dysfunction in the team, saying it was a good working experience.
They also did not say that they were necessarily done with their stage of development, suggesting that the restructuring was a strategic decision. A strategic move that lines up more with having gone over budget or, at the very least, close to it. If it is true, we will see some more leaks coming out of the studio sometime in the future about other changes for this.
That does leave us with the question of what this new game is and how these staffing changes could impact it. We don’t have any confirmation of the game, but we know some details about it. These came from the same Twitter source, so check that if you would like to see these for yourself.
The first thing that we do know is that the game will be a triple-A title. This doesn’t tell us much about the game, but it does mean it won’t be an indie title. This still leaves much room for what game it could be, as it doesn’t even say whether this would be an all-new game or a new entry in a series.
There was a job listing for an available position on the team for this game, and it gave us some more info on the project. The position was for the Project Coordinator and would have had a few jobs listed in it. It would have been the art outsourcing coordinator whose duties would have revolved around art.
Moreover, the coordinator would have been responsible for working with external studios and artists worldwide. The person in this position must work on timelines and coordinate the various artists to fit the project’s needs. The only direct reference to the game in this job listing is that it will be heavily stylized.
Stylized is not a lot of description, but combined with the fact that it is a multiplayer game, many think it will be the next entry in the Horizon series. This is a strong possibility because of the nature of the game in development. We know that the next Horizon game will essentially be a big multiplayer expansion in a way, and it will be the first multiplayer entry in the series. While there is a strong possibility that this could be it, there is no confirmation yet, and it could just as easily be a whole new game.
This, of course, has not been the only layoffs we have seen in the gaming world as of late, and it isn’t even the only one connected to PlayStation. Deviation Games recently had a mass layoff and might have stopped working on their latest project. This project was, in fact, a game for PlayStation that the studio had been specifically commissioned to make by PS.
Not only was this a colossal layoff, but it too was linked to the studio going over budget. Going over budget here was an impressive feat considering that PlayStation had given them fifty million dollars. That is a lot of money to squander over a few years and not even have a working version of the game to show off.
The main concern is that PlayStation studios will have a similar revelation soon. In many ways, this was very similar to PlayStation Visual Arts laying off developers to meet budget requirements.
All of these layoffs and budgetary issues it does leave a question mark on the future of game development. We will likely see far more oversight on both the budget and the actual development of a game in the future. Sadly, game developers might need this, but it is becoming increasingly an issue.
All we have on PlayStation Visual Arts is laying off developers to meet budget requirements.
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Jace loves both video games and writing, so he thought the best career was to write about video games. He attended Full Sail University and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Creative Writing. He joined Gamsual in 2022, and when not covering video game news, he is often building and strategizing in simulation and RTS games. Xbox: Alchemist5966
