Ghost of Yōtei studio Sucker Punch reportedly lays off 24 workers

The developer released a well-received expansion for the game just a few weeks ago.

Sucker Punch Productions/ Sony Interactive Entertainment

More video game industry workers are out of a job after Sucker Punch Productions carried out layoffs. The Ghost of Yōtei developer let go 24 workers on Monday, as Aftermath reports. The developer is said to have roughly than 200 employees, though exact counts aren't available. Regardless, it lost a significant number of its staff a little over a week before parent company Sony reports its latest quarterly earnings.

"After carefully observing the challenges in the market and reviewing the team needs for our next project, we've decided to make some staffing reductions. Several positions across Sucker Punch will be eliminated as a result," the studio told staff in a memo obtained by Aftermath. "We know this is a lot to take in, and we want to assure you that we did not make this decision lightly. We have given this a lot of attention and worked to support our affected colleagues during this transition as well as we can. [...] There's no getting around that this is a hard day. Next week we will go into more details about the future."

Ghost of Yōtei was released in October last year and it racked up 3.3 million sales in its first month. Sucker Punch released a well-received expansion just a few weeks ago. 

Unlike its predecessor (which sold 13 million copies in its first four years), Ghost of Yōtei does not appear to be coming to PC. A port was seemingly almost ready before it was reported earlier this year that Yōtei, Saros and future first-party single-player games would remain exclusive to the PS5.

This is yet another blow for workers in the video game industry, which has laid off tens of thousands of employees over the last few years. Just last week, EA closed BioWare and cut around 400 jobs. 

There are certainly more layoffs on the way. Xbox said in July it would shed around 3,200 workers over the following 12 months, with hundreds of those still to come. It most recently laid off 268 workers in September.

Meanwhile, the fate of Arkane remains uncertain. It was reported last week that the studio had until November 13 to find a buyer or face closure. However, Microsoft has given Arkane, which is said to be in the final stretch of development on Marvel's Blade, more time.

"We have extended the consultation period by one additional month as we explore options, including finding a partner to support the studio through the development work still ahead," a company representative told PC Gamer on Friday. "This is a defined extension, and we remain committed to keeping the Works Council informed throughout the process."