If Sony wants another SOCOM game, it'll have to come from a new studio.

After a week that saw multiple studios and publishers laying off employees amid canceled projects and less-than-stellar financial reports, pretty much the last thing anyone needed was another layoff story. So, consider this my apology for being the bearer of bad news yet again.

Sony has confirmed today that Zipper Interactive, the studio in charge of the console maker's long-standing SOCOM series of online shooters, has been closed. According to a prepared statement by Sony, the closure comes as a result of a "resource re-alignment."

Sony could well fold a number of the Redmond, Washington based developer's employees into other divisions of the company, but as of right now the company hasn't specified how many of the employees will be moved elsewhere, versus outright laid off. Zipper employed roughly 80 staff members.