Horizon: Call of the Mountain game director Alex Barnes announced his last day at Firesprite declaring that his position was now considered redundant. Horizon: Call of the Mountain launched for the PlayStation VR2 in February 2023. Firesprite and Guerilla Games developed it and immediately gained praise from the VR community and reviewers alike with some even comparing it to Super Mario 64 regarding its potential impact on the gaming community.
However, sales for PlayStation’s virtual reality headset have reportedly been declining since its launch. That combined with industry-wide layoffs has also led to Sony reducing staff. Almost a year to the day after the game’s release, it was revealed that roughly 900 PlayStation employees were to be let go and we now know that Firesprite’s game director is among them. This news also comes after it was recently revealed the studio’s Twisted Metal reboot project had been canceled, something that might have done well given the success of Peacock’s streaming show.
Per Alex Barnes (via X):
“Today was my last day at Firesprite and PlayStation, as after nearly 7 years here I am being made redundant. It has been a tough time over the past few months, but thank you to all the folks that have continued to help each other through all of this, you have been incredible.”
While VGC also praised Horizon: Call of the Mountain, calling it the PS VR2’s “Killer App”, it has also noted how Sony’s lack of follow-through in supporting the headset has no doubt played a factor in its decreasing sales. A recent report from Bloomberg has indicated that shipments for the VR2 have been put on pause. An interesting twist is that some developers are still planning releases for VR and while not exclusive to the VR2, its support is included. Deep Silver and Vertigo Games announced Metro Awakening, a new story-driven VR game, and just last week Survios and 20th Century Games announced Alien: Rogue Incursion, a new action-horror VR game. Both titles are planned to launch this year for PC VR, MetaQuest, and the PlayStation VR2.