Ex-Sony Dev Reveals Contract Worker Struggles

A former PlayStation Studios employee says contract workers on hits like The Last of Us Part 2 lacked health insurance, pensions and even door access — and faced a hard two-year cap.

Ever wonder what it's like to work on some of PlayStation's biggest games without actually being a PlayStation employee? A former staffer just pulled back the curtain, and it's not pretty.

According to a report from Playground, Mia Gene Watkins, who previously worked at PlayStation Studios, recently shared her experience at Sony — and highlighted some of the real struggles faced by temporary contract workers at major game companies. The kicker? She contributed to several well-known games behind the scenes, yet at one point couldn't even enjoy the basic perks of a full-time employee.

Watkins first joined Sony's San Diego division through an internship before moving into a contract role. Over that stretch she worked on titles including Days Gone, Uncharted, Death Stranding and The Last of Us Part 2. But her contract status came with plenty of strings attached.

According to her account, temporary contract staff couldn't access some of the benefits regular employees received — including health insurance and pensions. Even their office access was limited, meaning they couldn't freely move between other buildings on campus the way full-time staff could.

The bigger headache was the contract length itself. Under the rules she described, contract workers could only stay on for a maximum of two consecutive years. Once that ran out, if the company didn't offer a permanent position, they had to leave — no extensions. In other words, even if you knew the workflow inside out and had shipped multiple projects, that didn't guarantee you could stick around long-term.

To fight for a shot at going permanent, Watkins took the initiative and organized a large-scale motion capture event, inviting actors including Christopher Judge — the voice of Kratos in God of War — to take part. In the end, she earned a move into the internal communications department and became a full-time employee, staying at Sony until she left in late 2021.

Her story offers a glimpse at a side of big-budget game development that fans rarely see: working on famous titles doesn't mean every person behind them has stable career security. Have you ever worked a contract gig in games — or does this change how you think about the credits roll?