When Sony announced a round of layoffs at God of War developer Sony Santa Monica on Tuesday, it was reported that one project had been canceled as well. Now, that's been seemingly confirmed, as former lead level designer Jonathan Hawkins explained in a series of tweets that a mystery new IP is no longer in the works, though he can't comment more on it.
"Yesterday, I was laid off. It was a good 10 year run & I got to make three 90+ games. I lived the dream & got to accomplish all of my goals. Except one… making something out of nothing & creating a new AAA IP," Hawkins said on Twitter.
"The saddest part of waking up today is I no longer get to work with my family. Secondly, the pain that I feel for my friends who have lost their jobs," he added. "The saddest & most important part is the game I was creating for the player that will never be played. I'm sorry that I've failed you."
This new IP was supposedly the brainchild of Stig Asmussen, who served as game director for God of War III. We don't know much more about it, unfortunately, but Hawkins said it had been in development since God of War III, which launched in 2010. He also didn't see the layoffs coming, as he noted, "We were surprised too."
With the new IP canceled, what is Sony Santa Monica working on? In addition to supporting Ready at Dawn's PlayStation 4-exclusive The Order: 1886, the studio is also working on a mystery project led by veteran designer Cory Barlog that is described only as "freaking huge."
New IP Canceled as Part of God of War dev Layoffs
