PlayStation Partner Deviation Games Lays Off 90 Employees

Deviation Games is a relatively newer development studio, but it includes a number of talented veteran developers from Call of Duty studio, Treyarch. Due to the team’s history, many were immediately curious about their ambitions and future projects.

Unfortunately, the last few days have not been kind to Deviation Games. According to the latest reports, the studio has faced a massive wave of layoffs, with as many as 90 employees affected.

Why it matters: Back in 2021, PlayStation announced a partnership with Deviation Games. Many believed the partnership would allow the team’s talents to shine and help with PlayStation’s live-service ambitions.

Originally reported by VGC, various members of the studio posted about the layoffs a few days ago.

Previously, a user reported that PlayStation canceled a sci-fi shooter game. According to the report, Final Strike Games was working on the project, but the studio was not owned by or partnered with PlayStation.

Sources claim that Deviation Games was involved in the same project. It is possible Final Strike Games may have played a supporting role in this game, which would be in line with PlayStation being responsible for the cancellation.

Been told its the same game https://t.co/Z09B3PQ3pE

— Timur222 (@bogorad222) May 13, 2023

The same user also discovered that the canceled game had a budget of $50 million. PlayStation’s contribution to this budget is unknown, but the game is no longer in production, likely leading to the layoffs.

While little was known about this mysterious project, a Linkedin profile revealed that it involved co-op elements. Therefore, it could have been one of the many live-service games that PlayStation was experimenting with.

Layoffs are always a brutal reality for the gaming industry, and PlayStation has been known to cancel projects that the company finds unimpressive.

The gaming giant has previously canceled projects from first-party studios like Sony Santa Monica and Sucker Punch Productions, and Deviation Games appears to have been the latest studio affected by such measures.