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Austin Manchester is a writer and editor living in New York City. At Polygon, he covers gaming and entertainment news, reviews new video games, interviews behind-the-scenes talent, and more. He enjoys discovering hidden gems and sharing them with Polygon's audience. Previously, he was the gaming editor for AIPT Comics and has written for other outlets like XDA, How-To Geek, and The List.
He enjoys soulslikes, character-driven RPGs, and third-person shooters plucked straight out of the Xbox 360 era. He also likes to flex his non-video game nerdy knowledge sometimes, whether that's explaining who's who in the new Wolverine game or recommending a comic book series about a sentient sword.
Just over 10% of staff have been let go
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Ghost of Yōtei and Ghost of Tsushima developer Sucker Punch Productions is facing a round of layoffs. According to a report from Aftermath, 24 staff members have been let go. Sucker Punch reportedly had around 200 employees, but that number may be closer to 230. Roughly 10-12% of Sucker Punch's workforce has been let go.
Aftermath viewed an email studio leadership sent to staff regarding the layoffs. "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," the PlayStation studio said. "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."
Ghost of Yōtei was a hit
Ghost of Yōtei was released last fall and was a hit with critics and players. It earned an 86 Metascore on Metacritic and was a year-end awards contender at various 2025 awards shows. It took home Adventure Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Character, and Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition at February's DICE Awards.
That success carried over into sales too. As of October 2026, it's estimated to have sold 5.4 million copies and generated just over $400 million in revenue. In June 2026, Alinea Analytics reported that Ghost of Yōtei was Sony's top-selling first- or second-party game of the year so far, moving 1.1 million copies and generating $77.6 million in revenue.
It's not clear what that "next project" is for Sucker Punch. Since 2020, it's only released Ghost games and their multiplayer modes. Previously, Sucker Punch developed the Sly Cooper and Infamous series. Ghost of Yōtei's excellent expansion is the studio's latest release.