The short version
- Sucker Punch, the Sony studio behind Ghost of Tsushima and Ghost of Yōtei, has reportedly laid off 26 people.
- Aftermath broke the news on October 26, citing a former employee and an internal email from studio leadership.
- The email reportedly blames "challenges in the market" and the needs of the studio's next project, which hasn't been announced.
- The studio has an estimated 230 staff, so that's roughly one in nine. Sony hasn't commented publicly.
What's been reported
According to Aftermath, leadership told staff that "several positions" would be cut across the studio. The email said the decision wasn't made lightly, that the studio had tried to support the people affected, and that more details about the future would follow next week. Kotaku says it has seen the same email, and VGC, GamesRadar and Push Square have all reported on it.
It doesn't say which teams or roles were affected. Treat the exact number as reported, not confirmed. It comes from one former employee, though Kotaku's copy of the email backs up the layoffs themselves.
Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Why it stands out
By any measure, Ghost of Yōtei is a hit. It launched on October 2, 2025 at ₹4,999 in India and sold 3.3 million copies in its first month, ahead of Ghost of Tsushima over the same period. Kotaku now puts it at more than 5 million. Sony said the game "significantly contributed" to its gaming results that quarter.
The studio kept supporting it, too. Ghost of Yōtei: Legends, a free online co-op mode for up to four players that ends in a raid, arrived as promised. Then on October 1 this year, the Complete Edition ($69.99, or a $14.99 upgrade for existing owners) added two big pieces of content:
- Echoes of Sekigahara, a story expansion that moves between Atsu's present in the Ashoro Foothills and flashbacks to the Battle of Sekigahara, with a new character, Nagato.
- Most Wanted, a roguelike survival mode with four playable characters. One of them is Jin Sakai, the hero of Ghost of Tsushima.
Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment
So this isn't a studio cutting back after a flop. It's cutting back weeks after shipping its biggest content update, on a game that's still selling. That says a lot about how tight things are across the industry right now.
Why it might be happening now
The key line in the email is "the needs of our next project". Sucker Punch makes one game at a time. Co-founder and studio head Brian Fleming told VGC last year that the studio "can only do one thing at a time", and that it commits to a single game roughly every five years. That's whether it's more Ghost, or a return to Sly Cooper or inFamous.
That cycle matters. When a big game and its expansions ship, a lot of specialised roles, like live-service support, DLC content and certification, aren't needed in the same numbers while the next game is still in early design. Many studios cut at exactly this point. Sucker Punch hasn't said that's the reason, but the timing fits.
Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment
A rough month for studios
It's not the only studio having a hard time this month:
- EA shut down BioWare and cancelled the next Mass Effect.
- Microsoft's Arkane Lyon, the studio making Marvel's Blade, is still looking for a buyer, with the deadline now pushed to December 13.
- Xbox has cut about 1,600 jobs so far this year, with more reportedly planned.
A cut at one of Sony's most successful studios suggests even hits don't protect teams once a project winds down.
What happens next
Sucker Punch has existed since 1997, and has gone from Rocket: Robot on Wheels and three Sly Cooper games to inFamous and now the Ghost series. What it makes next hasn't been announced. Fleming's "one game at a time" comment means we may not hear about it for years.
Watch for Sucker Punch's promised internal update this week, any official statement from Sony, and whether other PlayStation studios follow.
