Update 10/06/2025: Following Schreier's initial report, Sony Bend has confirmed the layoffs in a statement posted to the studio's official X account.
"Today, we said goodbye to some incredibly talented teammates as we transition to our next project," the statement began. "We're deeply thankful for their contributions as they've shaped who we are, and their impact will always be a part of our story."
"This is a difficult moment for our team, but we hold immense respect for everyone who got us here. As we move forward, we remain committed to building the future of Bend Studio with creativity, passion, and innovation in the titles we craft."
Employees impacted by the layoffs have also taken to social media, expressing their disappointment with the situation. It's also clear that these layoffs have hit veteran developers on Bend's team.
The now-former senior staff animator at Bend, Robert Morrison, who has worked in games and animation since the mid-90s and worked at other PlayStation Studios teams like Santa Monica and PlayStation Studios Visual Arts before coming to Bend, confirmed he was part of today's cuts.
Creative and product lead on Days Gone Remastered, and community manager, Kevin McAllister, was not part of the cuts, but echoed a sentiment likely shared by the rest of Bend Studio, saying, "It's a sad day in Bend. I love this studio, it means so much to me. Hard to put into words when something like this hits your team."
Original Story:
According to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Sony Bend has just laid off 30% of its staff, which is approximately 40 people, following the cancellation of its live service project earlier this year. Bend is still
At the top of the year, we learned that live service projects at Sony Bend and Bluepoint were canceled. It's not entirely clear, but these layoffs could be the runoff from that project cancellation. Schreier adds that since its live service game was canceled, it has been working on "spinning up" a new project.
Sony's Bend studio, which canceled a live-service game earlier this year, is laying off 30% of staff today (around 40 people), Bloomberg News has learned. The studio has been spinning up a new project following the cancellation.
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social) 2025-06-10T18:12:01.815Z
This is the latest mark in Sony Bend's journey to try and find their next project. As PlayStation's live service experiment keeps seemingly heading in the wrong direction, Bend Studio has been on the short end of the stick. While other PlayStation Studios teams like Insomniac and Sucker Punch have been able to get multiple projects out the door in the PS5 generation, the last new game we saw from Sony Bend was Days Gone in 2019.
So far, the Days Gone Remaster is the only current-gen release from Bend Studio, as the rest of the team's recent projects have all been canceled at some point in the process. Ultimately, it's unfortunate to see, especially for a studio that was once such a key part of PlayStation's first-party portfolio.
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