Sucker Punch Productions, the studio behind Ghost of Tsushima and Ghost of Yotei, has laid off 26 employees, according to an internal email obtained by Aftermath. The cuts land just weeks after the studio released a well-received story expansion for its latest game.
Key points
- Sucker Punch Productions laid off 26 employees, according to an internal email obtained by Aftermath.
- The cuts come despite Ghost of Yotei selling 3.3 million units in its first 32 days.
- Sucker Punch's leadership cited market challenges and staffing needs for its next project.
- Estimates of the studio's total headcount before the layoffs range from about 160 to under 200.
- Ghost of Yotei's Echoes of Sekigahara expansion and a multiplayer mode, Legends, have both drawn attention this year.
The layoffs stand out because they come at a studio whose most recent release has been commercially and critically successful, raising questions about how much game sales protect developers from cost-cutting across the industry.
In the email shared with Aftermath’s report, Sucker Punch leadership told staff: “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.”
The email continued: “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.”
How Many People Worked at Sucker Punch
Estimates of the studio’s size before the layoffs vary by source. Wikipedia lists the studio’s headcount at 160 as of 2020, while other reports describe the pre-layoff total as fewer than 200. Either figure puts the reduction somewhere in the range of 13% to 16% of staff, though no outlet has confirmed an exact percentage.
No department or role has been specified as the focus of the cuts. Sucker Punch has not issued a public statement beyond the leaked internal email, and the studio told staff it would share more information about its future the following week.
Ghost of Yotei’s Sales Numbers
The layoffs come despite strong performance from Ghost of Yotei, which launched on PlayStation 5 on October 2, 2025. Sony Chief Financial Officer Lin Tao said during an earnings call that the game sold 3.3 million units in its first 32 days, outpacing Ghost of Tsushima’s sales over the same stretch after release, as detailed in a Game Developer report on the sales figures.
Ghost of Tsushima, by comparison, sold 2.4 million units in its first three days and crossed 5 million units within four months. Tao also credited Ghost of Yotei, alongside live-service titles like Helldivers 2 and MLB The Show, with helping drive PS5 hardware sales during the quarter.
Sucker Punch recently released Echoes of Sekigahara, a story expansion for Ghost of Yotei that added new content and drew praise from critics and players. Ghost of Yotei was also among the first games to feature Sony’s new PS5 upscaling technology, QSSR.
