Bend Studio, known for Syphon Filter and Days Gone, has reportedly laid 40 employees, 30 percent of its total staff, according to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier. It follows the cancellation of the developer’s live service project earlier this year, with Sony promising the studios wouldn’t close but not saying anything about layoffs.
Schreier reveals that the studio has been “spinning up a new project” since. Despite also having its live service project cancelled at the same time, Bluepoint Games reportedly isn’t seeing layoffs.
The cancellations occurred after Sony re-evaluated its live service initiative. Naughty Dog cancelled its standalone The Last of Us multiplayer title in December 2023 to focus on single-player games (including the upcoming Intergalactic). SIE London would close down in February 2024, and its live-service fantasy title was cancelled.
Concord would also launch last year and massively fail, with Firewalk Studios closing shortly after. Bungie’s Marathon and Haven Studios’ Fairgame$ have also had troubles, with studio founder Jade Raymond leaving the latter for unknown reasons.
