Deck Nine lays off 20% of its workforce

Something Wicked Games has reportedly laid off «most of» its staff, according to a handful of people impacted.

Sony has today confirmed around 900 PlayStation employees — or around eight per cent of its workforce — are being laid off in order to «future ready ourselves to set the business up for what lies ahead». As a result of the downsizing, PlayStation's own London Studio is being closed completely and Firesprite will be reduced in size. The staff reductions will also hit Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games, and Guerrilla Games. Some unannounced games have been cancelled.

You could be forgiven for thinking the video game industry is collapsing, and you may be wondering why. Last week, PlayStation announced it was laying off over 900 employees and shutting its long-running London Studio, and it’s not alone. There have been thousands upon thousands of jobs cut across the entire industry, and virtually every major publisher and platform holder has been affected. So, why is it happening and what does it all mean?

Sony has confirmed that «some» unannounced games in development within PlayStation Studios have been cancelled as a result of the decision to lay off around 900 employees. In a separate article from Hermen Hulst, it's explained: «We looked at our studios and our portfolio, evaluating projects in various stages of development, and have decided that some of those projects will not move forward.»

Of the 900 PlayStation employees that lost their jobs during yesterday's layoffs, it's reported that roughly 40 of them — or 10 per cent of the developer's workforce — belonged to Horizon Forbidden West team Guerrilla Games. Dutch outlet AD shared the news that the layoffs at Guerrilla Games concerned «ten percent of the staff, or about forty of the more than four hundred employees», having spoken to sources.

PlayStation recently announced that it will be reducing its workforce by roughly 8 percent, which translates to around 900 layoffs, and given that number, it’s no surprise that the effects are going to be felt across the company. A number of major first-party studios are set to make job cuts, Firepsrite’s rumoured Twisted Metal game has been cancelled (alongside reports of workplace toxicity within the studio), while SIE London Studio has been shut down entirely.

Guerrilla’s multiplayer Horizon game is reportedly not among a number of recently cancelled PlayStation titles.

EA is the latest game company to announce layoffs, with 5% of its workforce to be made redundant. From the most recent headcount EA provided – 13,400 in March 2023 – that would amount to around 670 people.

Yesterday, shortly after EA laid off 670 employees and canceled a new Respawn game, a report has revealed Mass Effect 5 is still alive, and in pre-production.

EA is the latest game company to announce layoffs, with 5% of its workforce to be made redundant. From the most recent headcount EA provided – 13,400 in March 2023 – that would amount to around 670 people.

Deck Nine has announced that it had laid off 20% of its overall workforce, due to the current market situation which has led to a large scale series of redundancies across the video game industry. The developer, which has developer Life Is Strange: True Colors, Life Is Strange: Before The Storm, Life Is Strange Remastered Collection, and The Expanse: A Telltale Series, confirmed the news of X, formerly known as Twitter.

Deck Nine, the studio behind Life Is Strange entries Before the Storm and True Colors, as well as The Expanse: A Telltale Series, laid off 20% of its staff today.