Ghost of Yotei Developer Sucker Punch Lays Off 24 Employees, About 10% of Staff

Sucker Punch, the studio behind Ghost of Yotei, has laid off 24 employees, which is an estimated 10 percent of its workforce. The studio confirmed the cuts, which it tied to ongoing market challenges and to the staffing needs of its next project.

An email sent to staff laid out the reasoning. "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," it reads. "Several positions across Sucker Punch will be eliminated as a result."

The message frames the move as both a response to the wider industry climate and a way to reshape the team around whatever Sucker Punch tackles next. The studio has not said what that project is, and the email does not name it.

A message to affected staff

The email stresses that the decision was not taken casually. "We know this is a lot to take in, and we want to assure you that we did not make this decision lightly," it continues. "We have given this a lot of attention and worked to support our affected colleagues during this transition as well as we can."

It closes by acknowledging the mood inside the studio: "There's no getting around that this is a hard day. Next week we will go into more details about the future."

That last line suggests studio leadership plans to address the team again soon, though no specifics about what will be discussed have been made public.

What we know and what we don't

The figure of 24 laid-off employees has been confirmed. The 10 percent share is an estimate, so the exact size of the studio's headcount before the cuts is not on record. Details such as which disciplines were affected, what severance or support is on offer, and how the reductions will change work on the next project have not been disclosed.

Sucker Punch is best known for the Sly Cooper, Infamous, and Ghost of Tsushima series, and Ghost of Yotei is its most recent release. The studio's next project has not been announced, so the layoffs arrive before any public reveal of what the reshaped team will be building.

The cuts add to a long run of studio layoffs across the games industry, with companies of every size citing market turbulence and shifting project needs. Sucker Punch's own message follows that pattern, pairing a reference to external conditions with an internal reorganization ahead of its next game.