Oscar & Emmy Award-Winning VFX Studio Pixomondo Is Shutting Down
Sony's decision will affect "a few hundred" people.
The world of animation and VFX has received horrible news: Sony Pictures Entertainment is going to close Pixomondo, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning VFX and virtual production company that it acquired in 2022.
Pixomondo's management told AWN that 500 people would be affected by the shutdown, although a source at Sony shared that it is a few hundred. It is said that a significant number of Pixomondo employees are hired for specific projects and will complete them, as instructed by their contracts.
Sony added that many workers will be transferred to Sony Group, but the process will take several months at least.
"PXO is a medium-sized studio that consistently punched above its weight. The artists here are very strong and would be an asset anywhere they go. Whenever I look at the project reels, I'm constantly in awe of what they've done with the resources they have," commented Pixomondo's Head of Training Joe Raasch.
Nathan Bazley, the Global Director of Business & Operations at NantStudios, also shared his view on the situation, mentioning that Pixomondo "was a stalwart of the Virtual Production space."
"It's no secret that Sony looked to the PXO VP team to keep spinning off VP-related pro products that were intended to be sold by their successful hardware business. But there's not that many new products that need to be created, and not really a huge market to sell them to.
"So despite the hard work they put in on innovation and development, I don't think the products that they did birth ended up going very far in the marketplace."
Pixomondo has worked on many famous projects, including Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, The Boys, Halo, and more, so seeing it go is a tragedy.
As for Sony, it will then "streamline VFX efforts internally to focus on its [Sony Pictures] Imageworks capabilities." Imageworks has contributed to Into the Spider-Verse, The Polar Express, KPop Demon Hunters, and much more.
Hopefully, everyone affected by the closure will quickly find other great opportunities. For now, the gamedev and animation industries keep counting losses.
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