According to a recent Kotaku report, Sony is reportedly considering planning budget cuts, layoffs, and a potential first party studio closure. According to the report the company is planning on preventing over 470 people working on a game, and the company also reportedly requested for job cuts in the future according to files dating back to November 9. According to files leaked as part of the recent ransomware hack, studio heads have had a hard time juggling the several workers, teams, and budgets for studios such as Insomniac.
As per the report, “PowerPoint slides from a September presentation reference “6 potential areas to reduce headcount,” including a few layoffs, not backfilling certain positions, and placing up to five employees on performance improvement plans.” Additionally, another recent PowerPoint note by Insomniac head Ted Price states that “Slimming down Ratchet and cutting new IP will not account for the reductions Sony is looking for,” and “to remove 50-75 people strategically, our best option is to cut deeply into Wolverine and Spider-Man 3, replacing lower performers with team members from Ratchet and new IP.” But documents also note that “there will be one studio closure.”
Over 1.3 million stolen internal Insomniac files were recently leaked to the internet following a recent hack by the ransomware group Rhysida. The documents were leaked after Insomniac Games refused to pay for the return of these files which amount to 1.67 terabytes of data. These files include confidential information about several of the studio’s upcoming projects, including several images, alpha footage, and concept art, as well as financial information, projections, release dates, and more.
A significant part of the leak is focused on the upcoming title Marvel’s Wolverine, which the leak reveals is targeting a 2026 release window, and will be followed up with multiple Wolverine titles including, Marvel’s Wolverine, Marvel’s X-Men, and Marvel’s X-Men 3, along with a potential fourth title. It also shows a Wolverine Online title for 2026 and X-Men Online for 2028. However, these release plans may not currently be out of date.
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A trailer was also released.
Dauntless first launched on September 26, 2019.
According to a recent earnings report.