Bend Studio Cuts Staff as It Pivots to New Project

Sony Bend Studio, the developer behind Days Gone, has laid off an undisclosed number of employees.

In a short social media announcement, the studio explained the layoffs were part of its transition to a new project, calling it “a difficult time for our team.”

“Today we bid farewell to some highly talented colleagues as we shift focus to our next endeavor," the statement reads. "We are deeply grateful for their contributions—they’ve been essential to our identity, and their legacy will remain with us.

"Though this is a challenging period for our team, we have profound respect for everyone who contributed along the way. Moving forward, we remain dedicated to shaping Bend Studio’s future through creativity, passion, and innovation in every game we produce."

Bend Studio did not offer specifics regarding the new project or the number of employees affected. However, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier claims that 30% of the team—estimated to be roughly 40 people—were let go. When asked whether this could indicate the studio might soon shut down, Schreier responded it’s “unlikely,” noting that laying off 40 people wouldn’t make sense if management weren’t actively working to sustain the studio.

These job cuts follow Sony’s recent cancellation of two unannounced live-service games under development at Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games. The Bluepoint title was reportedly a live-service God of War spin-off. While details on Bend’s canceled live-service project are unknown, the studio’s community manager previously reassured fans the team is still “focused on creating cool content.” Bend Studio’s last release was 2019’s Days Gone for PlayStation 4, which later came to PC in 2021.

This downsizing is the latest in a wave of industry-wide layoffs. Just days earlier, Outriders developer People Can Fly issued a similar announcement, citing project cancellations as the reason for staff reductions.