God of War Studio Hit with Substantial Amount of Layoffs

Sony Santa Monica Studio, known for its excellent work with the first four God of War titles and the Kinetica game engine, has been hit with a significant reduction in its roster.

Sony has provided an official statement to IGN confirming the reduced workforce at Santa Monica Studio, claiming that it is a part of major resource adjustments being made throughout Sony Computer Entertainment World Wide Studios. Sony has offered severance packages and outplacement services in order to help assist those who were let go in this studio reduction.

SCEA can confirm that we have completed a reduction in workforce at Santa Monica Studio. This is a result of a cycle of resource re-alignment against priority growth areas within SCE WWS. We do not take these decisions lightly. However, sometimes it is necessary to make changes to better serve the future projects of the studio. We have offered outplacement services and severance packages to ease transition for those impacted.

While the company was met with tremendous success in response to the original God of War trilogy, God of War: Ascension, the studio's latest title, was met with underwhelming responses. The critical response to Ascension led to Santa Monica Studio veteran and Ascension's director, Todd Papy, quitting the studio. Unfortunately, there is no word in regards to the current statuses of any developmental titles Santa Monica Studio had in the works.

With this being so close to the shocking news that Irrational Games was closing its gates, we hope that our other favorite development teams are not met with similar fortunes. Hopefully everyone there can find new work soon.