The developer behind Ghost of Yotei, Sucker Punch Productions, has reportedly laid off several employees as the company prepares to begin development on its next game. This comes several weeks after the developer released Ghost of Yotei: Complete Edition, adding content to their 2025 action-adventure title, including a new narrative expansion titled Echoes of Sekigahara, which adds a new area to explore and cut a path through.
Now, however, it appears that Sucker Punch has let go of more than two dozen staff members, according to reports from the publication Aftermath, stating that the exact number appears to be 26. In an email that was obtained by the publication, the company informed employees that there would be staffing reductions. It Read:
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.
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.
What the studio’s next project is remains to be seen at this point. There is a likelihood that the title will be a follow-up to Ghost of Yotei, given that the game has generally been considered to have been a success, though sales were slower than those of Ghost of Tsushima. Despite this, it became one of the best-selling Sony games. Sucker Punch has previously stated that since their game cycles typically take 5 years, the studio would have a period of discussing potential projects before committing to one, leaving some possibility for a new IP or the return of a previous franchise from them open.
Previously, there were plans for Ghost of Yotei to follow its predecessor and receive a PC release sometime after its console release. It was reported that Sony had canceled that port, along with others, in an effort to create more value for their console ecosystem, as well as being overwhelmed with sales figures of their PC prior.
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