Sucker Punch eliminated 26 roles ahead of next project

Sucker Punch eliminated 26 roles ahead of work on its next project after Ghost of Yōtei, Game Informer and Shacknews reported Oct. 26, 2026, citing Aftermath’s review of a company email and a former employee’s confirmation.

Sucker Punch leadership said in an internal email that the reductions followed a review of market conditions and staffing needs for the upcoming project. “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,” the leadership wrote. The studio said it will support affected staff in their transition and will share more details next week. Sucker Punch has not disclosed which departments the reductions affected or how the changes might influence its next game, and the internal message references an upcoming project without detailing its identity, schedule or scope.

Engadget reported Oct. 26, 2026 that Sucker Punch reduced its workforce by 24 workers on Monday, and described the studio’s staffing as roughly more than 200 employees with exact counts unavailable. Polygon reported that Aftermath found 24 staff members had lost their jobs, estimating the studio at around 200 employees, possibly closer to 230, meaning roughly 10 to 12 percent of the workforce lost their jobs. Geeks + Gamers put the figure at approximately 26 employees, more than 11 percent of a reported workforce of approximately 229 people.

Sucker Punch released Ghost of Yōtei: Complete Edition on Oct. 1, introducing the Echoes of Sekigahara story expansion and the Most Wanted survival mode, and began eliminating positions less than four weeks later. Engadget reported that the layoffs occurred a little over a week before parent company Sony reports its latest quarterly earnings.

Shacknews reported that Ghost of Tsushima came out for PS4 in 2020 and Ghost of Yotei launched on PS5 in 2026. The outlet identified Sucker Punch as part of PlayStation Studios, said co-founder Brian Fleming left at the end of last year, and noted neither the studio nor Sony Interactive Entertainment had commented. Since 2020, Sucker Punch has only released Ghost games and their multiplayer modes, having developed the Sly Cooper and Infamous series.

Ghost of Tsushima sold 13 million copies in its first four years, unlike Ghost of Yōtei, which Engadget reported does not appear to be coming to PC. Engadget reported that a port appeared nearly complete before word arrived earlier this year that Yōtei, Saros and future first-party single-player titles would stay on PS5 only.

Sony repeatedly characterized Ghost of Yōtei as a commercial success and celebrated the game selling 3.3 million copies during its first 32 days, Geeks + Gamers reported. Alinea Analytics estimated in an Oct. 16 analysis that Ghost of Yōtei sold an estimated 5.4 million copies since its October 2025 launch, while Ghost of Tsushima had reportedly sold nearly 7 million copies at the same point in its commercial lifespan.

The sales gap represents approximately 1.6 million fewer copies, or roughly 23 percent fewer units, Geeks + Gamers said. Alinea Analytics estimated game sales revenue of approximately $407 million for Ghost of Yōtei versus $418 million for Ghost of Tsushima at the same post-launch point, figures that Geeks + Gamers said do not adjust for inflation.

Geeks + Gamers reported that the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index indicates the purchasing power of the dollar declined by approximately 23 percent since July 2020. Applying that measure, the $418 million figure for Ghost of Tsushima reaches roughly $544 million in 2026 dollars, about $137 million above Ghost of Yōtei. The outlet noted Ghost of Tsushima originally launched at $60 and received discounts early, while Ghost of Yōtei launched at $70 and has received considerably fewer discounts.

Geeks + Gamers said determining whether Ghost of Yōtei met expectations is impossible without knowing development costs, marketing expenditures, profit margins and Sony’s original sales targets. The outlet cited Alinea Analytics estimates that the game averaged approximately 150,000 daily active users during the two months preceding the October update, then climbed to a peak of approximately 327,000 daily active users after the expansion’s release, and just over 6 percent of the existing player base returned for the new content after the Oct. 1 expansion. Geeks + Gamers reported that digital sales of the Complete Edition reached nearly 50,000 copies in its first two weeks, bringing in more than $2 million in added revenue, and that current owners could buy the $14.99 upgrade on its own. PlayStation confirmed Jin Sakai returned with all four signature combat stances in the Most Wanted mode, though Sucker Punch has not indicated the return aimed to reengage players who never fully embraced Atsu.

Ghost of Yōtei earned an 86 Metascore on Metacritic and won Adventure Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Character, and Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition at February’s DICE Awards, Polygon reported. Techtroduce reported the game was Sony’s best-selling PlayStation 5 game of 2026 as of June.

As of October 2026, Polygon estimated Ghost of Yōtei had sold 5.4 million copies and generated just over $400 million in revenue. Polygon pointed to an Alinea Analytics report from June 2026 showing Ghost of Yōtei as Sony’s leading first- or second-party title for the year so far, with 1.1 million copies sold and $77.6 million in revenue.

Ghost of Yōtei replaced Ghost of Tsushima protagonist Jin Sakai with a new female lead, Atsu, played by Erika Ishii, whom Geeks + Gamers described as a gender activist and self-proclaimed member of Antifa. The outlet said the layoffs raise uncomfortable questions about whether the sequel’s celebrated success matched Sony’s expected results, though it also stated public data cannot establish whether the game satisfied Sony internally. A Grummz post on Oct. 26, 2026 said 26 people lost their jobs at a “super successful game studio” and claimed it knew the reason.

Engadget reported that the video game industry has laid off tens of thousands of employees over the last few years, that EA closed BioWare and cut around 400 jobs just last week, and that Xbox said in July it would shed around 3,200 workers over the following 12 months, with hundreds still to come, and Xbox most recently laid off 268 workers in September. Techtroduce reported that Microsoft recently implemented workforce reductions affecting Treyarch and Raven Software, and that Cold Iron Studios also experienced layoffs following its work on Aliens: Fireteam Elite. Engadget described Sucker Punch’s workforce as roughly more than 200 employees, a staffing count separate from the 268 Xbox layoffs in September.