[VGC] Sources: PlayStation is winding down Sony Japan Studio

[KoolAid]

The iconic developer behind Ape Escape, Gravity Rush and Knack has seen the vast majority of its development staff let go, the sources said, after their annual contracts were not renewed ahead of the company's next business year, which begins April 1.

Localisation and business staff will remain in place and ASOBI Team – the group responsible for the Astro Bot games – will continue as a standalone studio within Sony Japan, it's claimed.

Some Japan Studio staff will join ASOBI, we were told, while others have followed Silent Hill and Gravity Rush director Keiichiro Toyama – who left Japan Studio last year – to his new studio Bokeh.

It's not entirely clear if the restructure has affected the studio's External Development Department, which collaborated on games such as last year's Demon's Souls, but one person VGC spoke to suggested it would continue.

Click to shrink...

Sources: PlayStation is winding down Sony Japan Studio | VGC

Majority of development staff have been let go, but ASOBI Team remains…

www.videogameschronicle.com

But Sony is not neglecting their Japanese playerbase! /s

 

[dex3108]

The iconic developer behind Ape Escape, Gravity Rush and Knack has seen the vast majority of its development staff let go, the sources said, after their annual contracts were not renewed ahead of the company's next business year, which begins April 1.

Localisation and business staff will remain in place and ASOBI Team – the group responsible for the Astro Bot games – will continue as a standalone studio within Sony Japan, it's claimed.

Some Japan Studio staff will join ASOBI, we were told, while others have followed Silent Hill and Gravity Rush director Keiichiro Toyama – who left Japan Studio last year – to his new studio Bokeh.

It's not entirely clear if the restructure has affected the studio's External Development Department, which collaborated on games such as last year's Demon's Souls, but one person VGC spoke to suggested it would continue.

Click to shrink...

Sources: PlayStation is winding down Sony Japan Studio | VGC

Majority of development staff have been let go, but ASOBI Team remains…

www.videogameschronicle.com

 

[shanew21]

Poor Knack

 

[cdm00]

what the fuck nononono

 

[Arubedo]

RIP Japan Studio, thanks for all the great games you brought to us :'(

 

[Uzupedro]

🤷Honestly what do you do in this situation?

People with knowledge of the matter told VGC that Sony Japan Studio simply hasn't been profitable enough in recent years; the developer wanted to create games that appealed to the Japanese market first with hopes of having global appeal, while PlayStation wants the kind of global hits that its other first-party studios produce

Click to shrink...

 

[Dest]

Welp, my interest in this generations exclusives has died down a lot. This lines up with the prolific departures in the last few months.

 

[wwm0nkey]

This sucks :(

 

[Trago]

The Japan Studio JRPG dream is dead.

 

[Kill3r7]

The writing was on the wall which is a shame given the history.

 

[Herb Alpert]

To the surprise of no one

 

[SunBroDave]

Hopefully everyone there lands on their feet, and good to see ASOBI continue on

 

[Raigor]

Not surprised after seeing high profile departures.

They are going to be a support studio and nothing else then, now I wonder if Silent Hill is indeed in development at Japan Studio.

 

[Serene]

A damn shame

 

[JayCB64]

Knacks dead, baby.

 

[TheInfinityGauntlet]

A waste of immense talent, makes sense from a business perspective but art is more important than profit

 

[Dizastah]

Sucks man....

 

[Mass_Pincup]

We tried to tell y'all.

Sony doesn't care about Japan Stufio and this is the logical conclusion.

 

[Uzupedro]

They are not closing, please put this in the title because this is the conclusion everyone will jump to.

 

[BrickArts295]

Welp...

 

[Nolbertos]

Wow saw on my twittter feed and went to ERA and lo and behold. Don't know if its good or terrible news for Sony

 

[capnjazz]

Damn, it's slim pickings on Playstation consoles for me already. This is awful news.

 

[nolifebr]

So the studio will practically continue as it had been operating for some years? Astro + Support for second/third titles

 

[alr1ght]

🤷Honestly what do you do in this situation?

Click to shrink...

"Please make more Ubisoft open world games."

Terrible.

 

[Deleted member 5491]

Not surprised after all these departures.
And yes, this is all Sonys fault for basically abandoning the JP market

 

[Mass Effect]

Microsoft out here buying studios left and right while Sony is closing one of their most prolific ones.

Wonder how the end of this generation is going to look.

 

[Shrennin]

But... Legend of Dragoon remake... Q_Q

 

[Anth0ny]

wooooooooooow

 

[ToadPacShakur]

Welp, Phil, you know what to do

 

[Deleted member 364]

God damn Sony sucks.

 

[kodax_shc]

Massive shame. So many wonderful IPs.

 

[Deleted member 9584]

So Sony is sidelining Japan.... Studio....

 

[Chumunga64]

not enough sad dads, crafting mechanics, and third person shootings

 

[TrojanAg]

Sony, what the hell are you doing!?

 

[Xando]

People with knowledge of the matter told VGC that Sony Japan Studio simply hasn't been profitable enough in recent years; the developer wanted to create games that appealed to the Japanese market first with hopes of having global appeal, while PlayStation wants the kind of global hits that its other first-party studios produce

Click to shrink...

That's the problem with a lot of japanese games. No one outside ERA and Japan buys them

 

[Dougieflesh]

Well that sucks

 

[Poldino]

Thank you Jim Ryan, another great step in killing the Playstation brand we always loved

 

[cvbas]

Not surprising but still disappointing. PlayStation's JP exclusives are the main reason I like the platform as I usually don't really care for their western AAA output. I know they're still getting some 3rd party exclusives but...meh. This shift in focus sucks.

 

[Barbarossa]

Microsoft out here buying studios left and right while Sony is closing one of their most prolific ones.

Wonder how the end of this generation is going to look.

Click to shrink...

Microsoft bought one Japanese studio by accident. Neither seem interested in expanding internal development in Japan.

 

[Mark]

Go get 'em, Phil

 

[morningbus]

Visited by Sony

 

[Zalman]

They will instead spend this money on securing timed exclusivity for all future Final Fantasy titles.

 

[Diabolique Veridis]

ASOBI gotta take over Ape Escape man I still need it

 

[Simon-chan]

My favorite Sony Studio by far.
Heartbreaking.

 

[Giant Panda]

Does Sony realize it will need more exclusive content for its services going forward, not less? They have shut down so many studios that I don't think they do. Honestly reminds me of Microsoft before Phil Spencer.

 

[Soap]

Not really shocking when you look at their output and sales, but I will miss the weird stuff that they make.

 

[Empyrean Cocytus]

How well did Last Guardian sell? I know reviews-wise it was a far cry from SOTC and Ico.

 

[Kingasta]

Oh please no no no no

 

[Shopolic]

That's really sad. :(
At least it seems Asobi Team is still alive and maybe it'll become even more important for Sony.

 

[Glio]

I'm scared for Media Molecule :/