Highlights
- Deviation Games, founded by Call of Duty veterans, is shutting down amid industry-wide layoffs, raising concerns about the gaming industry’s stability.
- Layoffs continue in the industry, as over 15,000 devs have lost their jobs across 2023 and 2024.
- PlayStation may be focusing on safer game releases going forward, as Deviation’s collapse and the recent cancelation of The Last of Us Online has undoubtedly been disappointing for the company.
Over the past year, layoffs and closures have swept the gaming industry, and PlayStation partner Deviation Games is the latest victim of this misfortune. The studio was founded in 2020 by Jason Blundell and Dave Anthony, both known for their work on the Call of Duty franchise. The studio had partnered with PlayStation in an effort to develop an unannounced AAA title, and there were high fan expectations for the end result of this collaboration because of how these people had shaped the visions of some of the best received Call of Duty games.
In 2023, a total of around 9,000 developers were laid off, and now at the beginning of 2024, 6,000 more have been added to that tally. It has become difficult for developers and fans alike to remain confident in the sustainability of the gaming industry as layoffs and closures appear to be a constant. With continued layoffs, it appears that the current landscape of the industry is changing. What that means for the future is uncertain, but for Deviation, this unfortunate trend has led to it shutting down.
LittleBigPlanet Developer Media Molecule Was at Risk of Being Closed Down
With a torrent of video game industry layoffs happening, LittleBigPlanet and Dreams developer Media Molecule was almost among that list.
Deviation Games Chief Human Resources Officer Kriste Stull shared on a LinkedIn post that the studio is being closed. In the post she thanks the team for their hard work, in addition to sending out thanks for all the support the studio has been given over the years. Stull mentions a networking event, asking any hiring companies to partake. This last part of the statement will hopefully come to benefit those losing ther jobs as a result of this closure. Layoffs have hit just about every corner of the entertainment industry recently, as just this week, Rooster Teeth was shut down after Warner Bros. failed to find a buyer for the company.
Kriste Stull Thanks Employees and Encourages Networking
It is difficult to predict what the space for video games will look like in the next few years. However, there are some indicators based on what major studios seem to be working towards. Warner Bros. continues to invest in live service gaming, while PlayStation seems to be a mixed bag on the matter. It has shuttered several projects, including Naughty Dog’s planned The Last of Us online game, while continuing other partnerships to work on games that will likely require a continuous online player base for success, such as the PvP extraction shooter Marathon that is being developed by Bungie.
It appears that PlayStation as a whole may be restructuring to establish a more focused vision in its upcoming release schedule while abandoning any involvement in scenarios that could involve too many risks. This could mean that over the next few years, big game releases in general could be noticeably safe in terms of approach, with players needing to look toward indie developers to take big risks, like Team Cherry and its largely anticipated Hollow Knight successor, Silksong.
