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Sucker Punch Productions, the studio behind Ghost of Yotei and Ghost of Tsushima, has laid off 26 employees, according to a report published October 26 by the outlet Aftermath. The studio employs fewer than 200 people, which works out to roughly one in eight staff. The studio reportedly told employees the move came after “carefully evaluating the challenges in the market and reconsidering the team it needs for its next project.” As of October 27, 2026, there has been no official statement from Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Ghost of Yotei launched October 2, 2025 on PS5 and, per Sony’s earnings materials, sold 3.3 million copies in 32 days. The Complete Edition bundling its additional stories arrived only on October 1, 2026, and a Ghost of Tsushima anime is still ahead in 2028. The game sold. It was well received. And the headcount still shrank.
This article separates what the report establishes from what it does not, then walks through the statement, Ghost of Yotei’s track record, and the industry pattern of layoffs landing right after a hit.
Start by drawing the line around the facts.
*Prices in this article are converted from Japanese yen at ¥153 = US$1 (September 2026 rate).
What is established about the Sucker Punch layoffs?
What is established: Aftermath reported the cut of 26 roles based on information from former employees, the studio’s headcount sits under 200, and studio leadership told staff the decision came from reassessing the team structure needed for the next project. Which disciplines were hit, what the severance terms are, and what the next project is have not been reported.
| Item | As of October 27, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Reported by | Aftermath (October 26, 2026) |
| Number cut | 26 (per former employees, not a company figure) |
| Studio size | Fewer than 200 |
| Stated reason | Challenges in the market, and reassessing the team needed for the next project |
| Official SIE statement | None |
| Next project | Unannounced. Staff were told the studio would “share more about the future next week” |
The figure of 26 did not come from the company; it was reported as testimony from former employees. So rather than stating 26 as fact, “26 reportedly” is the accurate phrasing. On the other hand, the wording of the statement has been carried in the same form by multiple outlets including Gematsu and Game Informer, so it is fair to treat it as established that some internal explanation was given.
What does the studio’s statement actually say?
The statement Aftermath is said to have obtained cites challenges in the market and the team structure for the next project, then adds that the decision was not taken lightly and that the studio supported affected colleagues as much as possible. The core of it reads as follows.
After carefully evaluating the challenges in the market and considering the staffing our team requires for its next project, we made the decision to reduce our headcount. As a result, a number of positions at Sucker Punch are being eliminated. […] There is no denying that today is a difficult day. Next week, we will share more about the future.
Source:Gematsu
That line about sharing more next week suggests either a direction for the next project or an explanation of a restructure is close. Whether any of it becomes a public announcement is another matter. SIE has issued no public statement on this, and Sony’s own earnings report is scheduled for November, so the topic could surface there. That part is speculation.
Was Ghost of Yotei actually underperforming?
It was not. In Sony Group’s fiscal Q2 2025 earnings (announced November 11, 2025), Ghost of Yotei was reported to have passed 3.3 million copies worldwide as of November 2, 32 days after launch, and was described as “another major hit following its predecessor.” It was also said to have outpaced Ghost of Tsushima over the same stretch. On October 1, 2026 the Complete Edition arrived at US$59, and the October 2 patch added the extra stories Echoes of Sekigahara and Most Wanted.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Release date | October 2, 2025 (PS5) |
| Sales | 3.3 million in 32 days (as of November 2, 2025, Sony earnings) |
| Complete Edition | Released October 1, 2026, US$59 |
| Additional stories | Echoes of Sekigahara and Most Wanted (patch 2.0, October 2) |
| For existing owners | Complete Edition upgrade, US$10 |
| Related projects | Ghost of Tsushima: Legends anime (2028, Crunchyroll) |
So these cuts are not a case of “it did not sell.” They land one year after launch, with the Complete Edition and its extra stories already out the door and the studio moving on to its next project. I have broken down what those extra stories contain and how they play in a separate article, so anyone still deciding on the Complete Edition should read that one.
Why do layoffs follow hit games?
The window right after a big release is also when the staffing that ballooned through late production has nowhere to go. Inside Sony’s stable, Insomniac Games cut staff in early 2024 after the success of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, making this the second round of cuts at a studio that just sold well in three years. Earlier this year, Xbox’s restructuring removed 268 roles and Arkane Lyon entered talks over closure or a sale. Development costs keep climbing across the market, and a hit no longer guarantees the next budget.
Sucker Punch was founded in 1997, acquired by Sony in 2011, and is based in Bellevue, Washington. From inFAMOUS through the Ghost games, it is the kind of studio that nurtures one series over a long stretch. If these cuts really are about reshaping the team for the next project, the open question is whether the next Ghost game starts small or the studio builds something entirely different. For that, the explanation next week is all we have to go on. Still, a decision to shed people immediately after shipping a game that sold is becoming the industry default, and as someone on the playing side, that is not a pleasant thought.
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Summary: what we know about the Sucker Punch layoffs
Aftermath reported on October 26, 2026 that Sucker Punch Productions laid off 26 employees. The studio employs fewer than 200 people, and the reason given was challenges in the market plus a reassessment of the team needed for the next project. There is no official statement from SIE. Ghost of Yotei launched October 2, 2025, sold 3.3 million copies in 32 days, and its Complete Edition (US$59) arrived as recently as October 1, 2026. The studio says it will share more about the future next week.
A studio that moved 3.3 million copies in a month cuts one in eight staff a year later. On the numbers alone it makes no sense, yet it fits the industry template perfectly: scale the headcount that swelled at the end of a big project down to the size of the next one. The real question is whether that template is producing more good games for the people who play them.
If next week’s explanation sketches out the next project, that is when these cuts will finally make sense. I will update this article as more comes in.
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