Layoffs at Sony Santa Monica, Project Canceled

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Reliable sources have confirmed to IGN that there were layoffs at Sony Santa Monica Studio today. The Sony-owned, exclusive developer ? founded in 1999 ? is best known for its God of War games. The extent of the damage remains unclear, though there are indications that one of the projects the studio was working on has been cancelled alongside this round of layoffs.

 

 

Update: Sony has provided the following statement to IGN, confirming what our sources have told us:

 

SCEA can confirm that we have completed a reduction in workforce at Santa Monica Studio. This is a result of a cycle of resource re-alignment against priority growth areas within SCE WWS. We do not take these decisions lightly. However, sometimes it is necessary to make changes to better serve the future projects of the studio. We have offered outplacement services and severance packages to ease transition for those impacted.

 

 

 

Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/25/layoffs-hit-god-of-war-studio-sony-santa-monica

 

Ouch :/ Either Ascension has hunted them, or Sony aren't having any more development hell projects like The Last Guardian run for years... Either way ###### for the all the staff. Sure there's a lot of talent to now be picked up though.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Read this last night but forgot to post it. Really sucks. I was one of the people who was really hard on them for making GoW:A and dismissed it for many months. Picked it up not long ago and it's a solid entry in the series, just really really fun. Couldn't care less about the MP mode and I think that's what hurt them most in the end.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Read this last night but forgot to post it. Really sucks. I was one of the people who was really hard on them for making GoW:A and dismissed it for many months. Picked it up not long ago and it's a solid entry in the series, just really really fun. Couldn't care less about the MP mode and I think that's what hurt them most in the end.

 

I've got it, along with the statue even, picked it up from Amazon Warehouse deals for ?20 something. Still not played it :/ I've read gameplay is good, it's just a weak story entry and noticeably b-tier.

[Hedon]

Am I reading this right? Does that mean, no more GOW games, at least not from that studio?

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Am I reading this right? Does that mean, no more GOW games, at least not from that studio?

 

Not at all, doesn't say that. 50 members of staff have been laid off, and it's rumoured a project cancelled (Sony's PR hasn't confirmed or denied this part, but it's likely). 

 

We don't know what game they're currently working on, but it's said NOT to be GoW, but again that is no confirmation that no more GoW games aren't on the way.

 

Also to put the size of the studio into the fray here, they were at over 200 staff prior to this.

[Hedon]

Not at all, doesn't say that. 50 members of staff have been laid off, and it's rumoured a project cancelled (Sony's PR hasn't confirmed or denied this part, but it's likely). 

 

We don't know what game they're currently working on, but it's said NOT to be GoW, but again that is no confirmation that no more GoW games aren't on the way.

 

Also to put the size of the studio into the fray here, they were at over 200 staff prior to this.

Ok good to know. Thanks for clarifying. I was a bit confused. GOW3 was awesome...would hate to lose a great IP.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Some more info on SSM and what each team was doing

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Some more info on SSM and what each team was doing

Thanks for this!

Must of been in development issues and/or Destiny was shaping up to simply be the better sci-fi game. Still sad to lose a new IP, but not every game can be given the ridiculous The Last Guardian budget/development time frame.