RIP Sony Japan Studio

[lestat]

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/new ... an-studio/

Sony is winding down original game development at its oldest first-party developer, Japan Studio, multiple sources have told VGC.

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.

[lestat]

https://www.ign.com/articles/playstatio ... pan-studio" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In an effort to further strengthen business operations, SIE can confirm PlayStation Studios JAPAN Studio will be re-organized into a new organization on April 1. JAPAN Studio will be re-centered to Team ASOBI, the creative team behind Astro's PLAYROOM, allowing the team to focus on a single vision and build on the popularity of Astro’s PLAYROOM.

In addition, the roles of external production, software localization, and IP management of JAPAN Studio titles will be concentrated within the global functions of PlayStation Studios.

[klee123]

My biggest disappointment with Sony so far.

Pretty much no difference with MS at this point and they rely on paying third parties to keep games off competing consoles.

[BOOMY]

Ape escape and gravity rush, ok. Then there is Knack. What a loss for the industry.

[klee123]

They were also responsible for Team Ico's stuff and also getting From to do Bloodborne.

That said, I do agree, their relevance has dropped significantly since the PS3 days, but still, in the age of Western games after another, it's sad to see Sony's own Japanese team bite the dust.

Guess, there's still Nintendo.....

[BOOMY]

Yea ok fair play, I just wanted to be a big man.