Sony comments on God of War dev layoffs and what they mean for the studio

Sony has said that the recent layoffs at God of War developer Sony Santa Monica is the result of a high profile project and the studio in general needing a “reboot.”

Speaking with IGN, head of internal software development for the PlayStation brand Scott Rohde didn't say what projects the studio is still working on, only that “sometimes, a project needs a reboot. So that’s what we’re doing overall with the titles we’re working on there, and the studio itself.”

Rhode again did not confirm that any in-development game had been canceled, but said that “There’s not a single business on the planet where every single project that is started is a success.”

Rhode confirmed that even after the layoffs, the studio still employs around 200 people.

As to when and what we’ll see from Santa Monica next, Rhode said we’ll just have to be patient and wait.

The studio opened in 1999 and rose to prominence after creating the original God of War. The last game the studio launched was God of War: Ascension. We know that it is currently collaborating with developer Ready at Dawn on the PlayStation 4 exclusive The Order: 1886.