With the closure ofPlayStation’s Japan Studio, the developer behind titles such asGravity Rush,Ape Escape,PaRappa the Rapper, andKnack, fans have criticized Sony’s decision to shut one of its most beloved, smaller internal game studios. With much controversy surrounding the decision and a recent report claiming that Sony is now focusing its efforts on games it deems “too big to fail,” including a remake of 2013’sThe Last of Us,PlayStation’s Head of Worldwide Studios Herman Hulst has reaffirmed Sony’s commitment to supporting “experimental” games.
At the end of 2020, many developers includingSilent HillandGravity Rushcreator Keiichiro Toyama announced that they would be leaving Japan Studio, with many moving to Toyama’s new team, Bokeh Game Studio. As departures continued into earlier this year, Sony announced at the beginning of this month that Japan Studio would be restructured tofocus entirely around Team ASOBI, the team responsible for PlayStation VR’sAstro Bot: Rescue Missionand the PlayStation 5’s built-in launch titleAstro’s Playroom.
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With the news that the iconic team responsible for some of PlayStation’s most beloved franchises would be essentially disbanded, fans have criticized Sony as not taking enough risks heading into the PlayStation 5 generation, instead focusing its efforts on major, “triple-A” releases that take years to develop with no smaller games to hold fans over in the meantime. A Bloomberg report also indicated that Sony was intent on taking less risks this generation,canceling a plannedDays Gonesequelin order to focus bigger mainstream successes such asUnchartedandThe Last of Us.
In an interview with Video Games Chronicle, Head of Worldwide Studios and ex-Guerilla Games managing director Hermen Hulst has responded to these criticisms, claiming “I think that the games that we make are as distinct and diverse as they can be. And you can bet that we will carry on making these games, because they are the heart and soul of what we do here at PlayStation studios. But at the same time, we are just as committed to making these quality experiences as we are toexperimentation and to coming up with fresh ideas.” Hulst continues, “I am very interested in creating a diverse slate of titles. Actually, the shape or form that they come in are less interesting to me than the fact that they are differentiated, diverse and distinctive,”
While there is a lot of speculation right now as to how Sony will focus its efforts on supporting smaller developers moving forward, especially in regards to creating exclusives, it seems Sony is still focused on assisting these teams and getting independent and “double-A” onto PlayStation platforms. For examples, one of the PlayStation 5’s most beloved launch exclusiveswas Young Horse’sBugsnax, which also released on PlayStation 4 and PC. Upcoming smaller third-party PS5 exclusives includeLittle Devil Inside,Goodbye Volcano High, andSolar Ash. With stiff competition from Nintendo and Xbox through internal teams such as Next Level Games and Double Fine Productions, Sony might be up for more competition this generation than ever before.
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