PlayStation Shuts Down Dark Outlaw Games & Scales Back Mobile Gaming Push

PlayStation has shuttered Dark Outlaw Games, a studio founded last year by former Call of Duty lead Jason Blundell, and is scaling back its mobile gaming ambitions with approximately 50 layoffs across the United States and the United Kingdom, according to reports confirmed by Jason Schreier of Bsky Social.

The closures and staff reductions signal a strategic shift for Sony’s gaming division, which had previously outlined aggressive plans to expand its presence in the mobile market. While the company isn’t abandoning mobile gaming entirely, It’s now prioritizing core projects and streamlining its development efforts.

Key mobile titles, including MLB The Indicate Mobile and Ratchet & Clank: Ranger Rumble, will continue to receive support. A significant collaboration with NCSOFT remains unaffected, indicating Sony intends to maintain a foothold in select areas of mobile gaming. The decision to curtail other mobile projects reflects challenges encountered in the free-to-play gaming landscape, a market Sony had hoped to capture more aggressively.

Dark Outlaw Games, led by Blundell – previously known for his work on the Zombies mode in the Call of Duty franchise – had not yet released a title before its closure. Blundell’s previous PlayStation studio, Deviation Games, was also shut down in 2024, adding to the recent turbulence within Sony’s first-party development teams.

The move comes after Sony had publicly stated its goal of having half of its games released on PC and mobile platforms by 2025. The company is now recalibrating its strategy, focusing resources on higher-priority projects and demonstrating a more cautious approach to mobile game development. The restructuring suggests Sony is reassessing the profitability and sustainability of its broader mobile gaming initiatives.

Recent cutbacks at Reach, a UK-based publisher, have also impacted senior editorial staff and editors, according to Press Gazette, highlighting a broader trend of restructuring within the media and entertainment industries. While not directly related to Sony’s decision, the Reach layoffs underscore the economic pressures facing content creators, and publishers.

CBS News has also recently undergone changes, with a novel boss remaking the network and leading to the departure of its standards chief, as reported by the New York Post. This demonstrates a pattern of leadership changes and strategic realignments across major media organizations.