Naughty Dog, producer of series such as The Last of Us and Uncharted, is experiencing a large wave of layoffs, according to emerging news. The information received is that the company wants this news to remain secret.
At least 25 developers laid off due to downsizing at Naughty Dog
According to the news shared in Kotaku, Naughty Dog, the producer of legendary PlayStation games, laid off a large part of its workforce. According to the source, at least 25 developers affiliated with the art and production departments were laid off due to downsizing.
However, the majority of layoffs occurred in the quality control department. Sources claim that no severance pay is currently being offered for those laid off, and that remaining employees, as well as the affected developers, are being pressured to keep the news quiet.
According to the report, full-time staff do not appear to be part of the layoffs. Sony did not respond to a request for comment.
As you know, Naughty Dog is currently working on a multiplayer spin-off of The Last of Us. However, whenever this game is brought up, the company refrains from commenting.
According to rumors, Naughty Dog delayed The Last of Us multiplayer spin-off game due to layoffs. The game has not been completely canceled yet, but it looks like it has been shelved for a while.
The layoffs at Naughty Dog will be the latest in a series of widespread layoffs in the gaming industry this year, as many companies adjust their post-pandemic expansions.
Epic Games recently announced that it would lay off approximately 16% of its workforce. Earlier this year, Microsoft confirmed that it planned to lay off around 10,000 employees, some at Xbox and Bethesda.
CD Projekt Red also announced plans to lay off approximately 10% of its staff in July. There have been layoffs at a number of other companies recently, including Unity, Riot Games, Blizzard, Crystal Dynamics, Bioware.
As you can see, Naughty Dog has also joined this bandwagon. What do you think? Please don’t forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments.