With its project scrapped, a former Bend contractor alleges the studio has ended all ongoing contracts, save for a 'select few.'
Two weeks after Sony cancelled its in-development live-service game, Bend Studio has laid off an unknown number of contractors.
Several designers contracted to work on the unannounced game have revealed they were recently let go or will be laid off after February 14. These workers were part of Bend's level and system design teams. One designer stated Bend "made the decision to prematurely rescind all ongoing contracts except for a select few that will be hired full time."
Both Bend and Bluepoint Games were working on separate live-service projects at the time of their cancellation. Bluepoint was leading development on a title based on Sony Santa Monica's God of War series. After the projects were ended, Bend community manager Kevin McAllister said the company still had a future, and planned on "creating cool shit."
PlayStation has previously conducted layoffs after pulling the plug on its various live-service games. When it cut 900 jobs last year, it killed several planned titles, including one for the Twisted Metal series. It similarly shut down Concord developer Firewalk Studios after the game commercially underperformed.
In late 2023, Naughty Dog similarly cut contractor positions across its QA, art, and production teams. Those cuts came after work on the studio's Last of Us multiplayer spinoff was suspended following a troubled development cycle. The spinoff was officially canceled months later.
The cancellation of its multiplayer project means Bend Studio will have not shipped a game for over six years. The last game the company released was Days Gone in 2019.
Game Developer has reached out to Sony for confirmation on Bend's contractor layoffs, and will update this story when a statement is provided.
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