Sony shuts down Dark Outlaw Games and downsizes mobile games development as PlayStation continues to rethink plans
Eurogamer • • technology
Key Points:
- Sony and PlayStation are experiencing significant layoffs in 2026, impacting even well-regarded studios like Bluepoint Games, amid broader industry challenges despite stable consumer spending.
- Dark Outlaw Games, a studio founded less than a year ago and led by Call of Duty veteran Jason Blundell, is being shut down after Sony pulled funding, with the project still in early development stages.
- PlayStation is also reducing its mobile game development efforts, affecting around 50 employees, though previously announced mobile titles and external collaborations, such as with NCSoft on an online Horizon game, will continue.
- This marks the second recent closure of a studio led by Blundell, following the shutdown of Deviation Games in 2024, which was working on a major original AAA IP before its closure.
- These developments fuel speculation that Sony's next-generation projects may adopt a more traditional approach, moving away from the live service-heavy model that characterized much of the PS5 era.
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