Sucker Punch Productions, the Sony-owned studio behind Ghost of Tsushima and Ghost of Yōtei, has confirmed 24 layoffs. The cuts amount to about 10 percent of the studio’s staff, Aftermath estimated. Estimates of the studio’s headcount run from 190 to 230, depending on the source.

In an email to staff, studio leadership pointed to challenges in the market. Leaders also cited a review of team needs for the studio’s next project. The email stated that they had tried to support affected colleagues during the transition.

This is not the studio’s only round of cuts. Sucker Punch also made an unspecified number of cuts in 2014, after Infamous Second Son launched. Sony has owned the studio since buying it in August 2011.

Strong Ghost of Yōtei sales did not prevent job cuts

Ghost of Yōtei launched on October 2, 2025. On Sony’s November 2025 earnings call, CFO Lin Tao put sales past 3.3 million units worldwide as of November 2. Tao also described the game as a major hit like its predecessor.

On a later call, Sony said the game had outsold Ghost of Tsushima over the same period after launch. The company added that it had contributed significantly to its results. Circana data ranked Ghost of Yōtei as the third-best-selling PlayStation game in the US in 2025. It was the 11th-best-selling game on any platform in the US that year.

The studio kept supporting the game into 2026. The Echoes of Sekigahara story expansion and the Most Wanted mode arrived on October 1 in Ghost of Yōtei Complete Edition. Existing owners can add both with a $14.99 upgrade. Most Wanted brings back Ghost of Tsushima hero Jin Sakai as a playable character.

For players, the layoffs land while that content is less than a month old. The email’s focus on team needs for the next project is consistent with a smaller team for whatever the studio makes next.

The cuts follow Bluepoint’s closure and Bungie layoffs

Sucker Punch is not the only PlayStation studio to lose staff in 2026. On February 19, Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation’s studio business, told staff that Sony would close Bluepoint Games. He blamed an increasingly challenging industry environment. The closure, set for March, put around 70 people out of work.

On June 25, Hulst announced job cuts at Bungie in an internal email. Most of the Destiny team was affected, and so were some developers working on Marathon. Sony Interactive Entertainment teams that support Bungie’s operations were also affected. At least 292 Bungie employees at its Bellevue location were being laid off.

Both the Bluepoint message and the Sucker Punch email pointed to difficult conditions in the wider market.

Sucker Punch leadership has promised staff more details about the studio’s future next week. Sony is due to report its next quarterly earnings a little more than a week after the October 26 layoffs.

Sources

  • An Update from PlayStation Studios (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  • Ghost of Yōtei Complete Edition Comes to PS5 October 1 (PlayStation Blog)
  • Sucker Punch lays off 24 to align with 'current market', 'next project needs' (Game Developer)
  • Ghost of Yōtei studio Sucker Punch reportedly lays off 24 workers (Engadget)

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