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PlayStation Studios

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PlayStation Studios
Formerly
  • SCE Worldwide Studios (2005–2016)
  • SIE Worldwide Studios (2016–2020)
Company typeDivision
IndustryVideo games
FoundedSeptember 1, 2005; 19 years ago (2005-09-01)
Headquarters
San Mateo, California
Key people
Hermen Hulst (CEO, Studio Business Group)
Number of employees
≈4,000[1] (2022)
ParentSony Interactive Entertainment
SubsidiariesSee § Studios
Websiteplaystation.com/en-us/corporate/playstation-studios/

PlayStation Studios (formerly SCE Worldwide Studios and SIE Worldwide Studios) is a division of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) that oversees the video game development at the studios owned by SIE. The division was established as SCE Worldwide Studios in September 2005 and rebranded as PlayStation Studios in 2020.

History

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On September 14, 2005, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE, now known as Sony Interactive Entertainment), the video game arm of Sony, announced the formation of SCE Worldwide Studios earlier that month, combining all studios SCE owned at the time. Phil Harrison was appointed as the division's president.[2] Shuhei Yoshida succeeded him in May 2008.[3] When Yoshida moved to lead the indie game development of SIE, Hermen Hulst, previously of SIE's Guerrilla Games studio, became the president of SIE Worldwide Studios in November 2019.[4] The studios productions are generally supported by the Visual Arts Services Group, founded in 2007 in San Diego.[5]

SIE announced the rebranding of the division to PlayStation Studios in May 2020 as part of the introduction of the PlayStation 5, which was released later that year. PlayStation Studios serves as the publishing brand for Sony's first-party development studios, as well as for games developed by studios brought in by Sony in work-for-hire situations.[6]

In 2022, Sony stated half of its first-party PlayStation Studios games will be on personal computers (PC) and mobile by 2025.[7] In August 2022, SIE announced the formation of the PlayStation Studios Mobile Division, alongside the acquisition of the company's first mobile development team, Savage Game Studios,[8] later renamed Neon Koi.[9]

In February 2024, Sony announced it would eliminate 900 jobs, or 8% of SIE and PlayStation Studios employees. These cuts included the closure of London Studio.[10][11]

In July 2024, Sony and Bungie announced that as part of restructuring at Bungie, one of the studio's incubation projects would be spun out, with the team behind the game forming a new studio within PlayStation Studios.[12][13]

In October 2024, Sony announced the closure of Neon Koi and Firewalk Studios.[14][15]

Studios

[edit]
Name Location/s Founded Acquired Notes
Bend Studio Bend, Oregon 1993[16] 2000[16] Developer of the Syphon Filter series and Days Gone[16]
Bluepoint Games Austin, Texas 2006[17] 2021[18] The studio specializes in video game remasters and remakes, such as Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, Shadow of the Colossus and Demon's Souls[16]
Firesprite Liverpool 2012[19] 2021[20] Developer of virtual reality titles for PlayStation VR and titles outside of PlayStation Studios's main offerings[16]
Manchester
Guerrilla Games Amsterdam 2000[16] 2005[16] Developer of the Killzone, and Horizon series[16]
Haven Studios Montreal, Quebec 2021[21] 2022[21] Developer of Fairgame$[22]
Housemarque Helsinki 1995[23] 2021[24] Developer of Super Stardust HD, Resogun and Returnal[16]
Insomniac Games Burbank, California 1994[16] 2019[25] Developer of the Ratchet & Clank, Resistance, and Marvel's Spider-Man series[16]
Durham, North Carolina[26]
Malaysia Studio Kuala Lumpur 2020[27] — Support for first-party titles, such as The Last of Us Part I and MLB The Show 22[28]
Media Molecule Guildford 2006[16] 2010[16] Developer of LittleBigPlanet series and Dreams[16]
Naughty Dog Santa Monica, California 1984[16] 2001[16] Developer of Jak and Daxter series, Uncharted series and The Last of Us series[16]
Nixxes Software Utrecht 1999[16] 2021[29] Support studio known for porting games to Microsoft Windows, development support and game optimization[16]
Polyphony Digital Tokyo 1998[16] — Developer of Gran Turismo series[16]
San Diego Studio San Diego, California 2001[16] — Developer of the MLB: The Show series for multiple platforms[16]
San Mateo Studio San Mateo, California 1998[30] — Support studio for second-party developers[31]
Santa Monica Studio Los Angeles, California 1999[16] — Developer of God of War series[16]
Sucker Punch Productions Bellevue, Washington 1997[16] 2011[16] Developer of Sly Cooper series, Infamous series, Ghost of Tsushima, and Ghost of Yōtei[16]
Team Asobi Tokyo 2021[a] — Developer of The Playroom, Astro Bot Rescue Mission, Astro's Playroom and sequel Astro Bot[33]
Valkyrie Entertainment Seattle, Washington 2002[34] 2021[34] Support studio for various franchises such as Infamous, God of War and Twisted Metal[16]
XDev Liverpool 2000[35] — Works with external developers with third-party projects, such as Until Dawn, Detroit: Become Human, and Rise of the Ronin[35][36]
San Mateo, California [citation needed]
Tokyo

Former

[edit]
Name Location Founded Acquired Divested Fate
Bigbig Studios Leamington Spa 2001[37] 2007[38] 2012[37] Closed[37]
Evolution Studios Runcorn 1999[38] 2007[38] 2016[39] Closed[39]
Firewalk Studios Bellevue, Washington 2018[40] 2023[40] 2024[41] Closed[41]
Guerrilla Cambridge Cambridge 1997[42] — 2017[42] Closed[42]
Incognito Entertainment Salt Lake City, Utah 1999[43] 2002[43] 2009[44] Closed[44]
Japan Studio Tokyo 1993[16] — 2021[45] Reorganized within SIE, primarily to Team Asobi[32]
London Studio London 2002[16] — 2024 Closed[11]
Manchester Studio Manchester 2015[16] — 2020[46] Closed[46]
Neon Koi Berlin 2020[8] 2022[8] 2024[41] Closed[41]
Helsinki
Pixelopus San Mateo, California 2014[16] — 2023 Closed[47]
Studio Liverpool Liverpool 1984[38] 1993[38] 2012[48] Closed[48]
Zipper Interactive Redmond, Washington 1995[49] 2006[38] 2012[49] Closed[49]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Team Asobi was first established in 2012 as an internal team of Japan Studio, and was spun off as its own independent studio in 2021.[32]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Totilo, Stephen (October 4, 2022). "PlayStation to broaden line-up, but won't abandon roots, studio chief says". Axios. Archived from the original on October 13, 2022. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  2. ^ Choi, Daniel (September 14, 2005). "Phil Harrison to head up SCE Worldwide Studios for Sony". Joystiq. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  3. ^ Dobson, Jason (May 16, 2008). "Sony finds Harrison's replacement in Shuhei Yoshida". Joystiq. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  4. ^ Favis, Elise (November 7, 2019). "Sony appoints Guerrilla Games' Hermen Hulst new head of PlayStation worldwide studios". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  5. ^ Scullion, Chris (October 26, 2022). "Sony is building a new dev team to work with Visual Arts and Naughty Dog on a 'AAA' title". Video Games Chronicle. Archived from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  6. ^ Dring, Christopher (May 12, 2020). "Sony unveils PlayStation Studios brand to launch alongside PS5". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on May 12, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  7. ^ Bonthuys, Darryn (May 26, 2022). "Half Of PlayStation Releases Will Be On PC And Mobile By 2025, Sony Says". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Good, Owen S. (August 29, 2022). "Sony spins up PlayStation Mobile division, plans major push to phones". Polygon. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  9. ^ Tailby, Stephen (November 21, 2023). "PlayStation's Mobile Games Studio Rebrands Following Multiple Departures". Push Square. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  10. ^ Gerken, Tom (February 27, 2024). "PlayStation to axe 900 jobs and close London studio". Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  11. ^ a b Yin-Poole, Wesley (May 21, 2024). "PlayStation London Studio Issues Heartfelt Goodbye After Sony Studio Closure". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  12. ^ "Destiny 2 dev Bungie laying off 220 devs and handing new game to Sony". July 31, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  13. ^ "The New Path for Bungie" (Press release). July 31, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  14. ^ Communications, S. I. E. (October 29, 2024). "An Update from PlayStation Studios". Sony Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  15. ^ Contributor, Vikki Blake (October 29, 2024). "Sony shuts Neon Koi and Firewalk Studios". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved November 8, 2024. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
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  17. ^ Dyer, Mitch (January 28, 2014). "Who Is Bluepoint Games?". IGN. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
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  19. ^ Scullion, Chris (June 10, 2022). "Sony's Firesprite is moving to an office more than 20 times larger than its current one". Video Games Chronicle. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  20. ^ "Why PlayStation is buying Firesprite, one of the UK's fastest growing studios". Gamesindustry.biz. September 8, 2021. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  21. ^ a b Dring, Christopher (July 11, 2022). "Jade Raymond's Haven Studio is already inspiring other PlayStation studios - and not just with its game". Gamesindustry.biz. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  22. ^ "Fairgame$ Is the First Game From Jade Raymond's Haven Studios". May 24, 2023. Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  23. ^ Schreier, Jason (June 29, 2021). "Sony Buys Game Developer of PlayStation Bestseller Returnal". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  24. ^ Leedham, Robert (June 29, 2021). "Why PlayStation bought Returnal developer Housemarque: the inside story". British GQ. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  25. ^ McAloon, Alissa (February 10, 2020). "Sony's 2019 acquisition of Insomniac Games priced at $229 million". Game Developer. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  26. ^ Remo, Chris (June 4, 2008). "In-Depth: Insomniac Talks New North Carolina Studio". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  27. ^ "PlayStation to open development studio in Malaysia". November 8, 2019.
  28. ^ "How PlayStation Studios Malaysia is Playing a Growing Role in Sony's Most Important Franchises". October 13, 2022.
  29. ^ Makuch, Eddie (July 1, 2021). "Sony Buys Another Game Studio, Avengers And Rise Of The Tomb Raider's Nixxes Software". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  30. ^ Varela, Ramón (January 16, 2020). "PlayStation: Todos sus estudios y los juegos en desarrollo" [PlayStation: All your studios and games in development]. Vandal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on November 24, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  31. ^ Tolbert, Samuel (December 16, 2021). "PlayStation Studios: Everything we know Sony Worldwide Studios is working on in 2021 for PS5". Android Central. Archived from the original on December 25, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  32. ^ a b LeBlanc, Wesley (June 2, 2021). "Team Asobi Officially Announced as a PlayStation Studio, Reveals New Logo". IGN. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  33. ^ "Astro Bot Sequel Announced For PS5, Coming September 6". May 30, 2024.
  34. ^ a b Reiner, Andrew (December 10, 2021). "Sony To Acquire Developer Valkyrie Entertainment". Game Informer. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  35. ^ a b Barker, Sammy (August 28, 2019). "Guide: All Sony First-Party Studios and What They're Working On". Push Square. Archived from the original on September 29, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  36. ^ Barker, Sammy (September 19, 2022). "Sony XDEV's Japan Division Assisting with PS5's Rise of the Ronin". Push Square. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
  37. ^ a b c Yoon, Andrew (January 10, 2012). "Sony shuts down Little Deviants, Pursuit Force dev". Shacknews. Archived from the original on November 23, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  38. ^ a b c d e f "IN DETAIL: Sony's sixteen first-party studios". MCV/Develop. August 2, 2011. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  39. ^ a b Brightman, James (March 22, 2016). "Sony confirms closure of Evolution Studios". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  40. ^ a b "PlayStation to acquire AAA multiplayer developer Firewalk Studios". April 20, 2023. Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  41. ^ a b c d "An Update from PlayStation Studios". Sony Interactive. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  42. ^ a b c Frank, Allegra (January 12, 2017). "Sony shuts down 20-year-old studio in European restructuring". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 8, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  43. ^ a b Cifaldi, Frank (May 13, 2011). "How Moving To Austin Energized Starhawk". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  44. ^ a b Plunkett, Luke (January 16, 2012). "Every Game Studio That's Closed Down Since 2006". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  45. ^ Robinson, Andy; Calvin, Alex (February 25, 2021). "Sources: PlayStation is winding down Sony Japan Studio". Video Games Chronicle. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  46. ^ a b Dring, Christopher (February 4, 2020). "PlayStation to close Manchester VR studio". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  47. ^ "Concrete Genie Developer PixelOpus Is Shutting Down". May 5, 2023. Archived from the original on May 12, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  48. ^ a b Yin-Poole, Wesley (July 21, 2015). "WipEout: The rise and fall of Sony Studio Liverpool". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on September 14, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  49. ^ a b c Moriarty, Colin (March 31, 2012). "Confirmed: Sony Closes Zipper Interactive". IGN. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
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