Sony is close to shutting down first-party game development company Japan Studio. The game maker will be part of Team Asobi, another first-party studio from Sony. Several Japan Studio employees were reportedly laid off during this move.
Sony said the shutdown and partial merger is part of “ an effort to enhance Sony Interactive Entertainment’s commercial operations, ” the company said in response. To the Video Games Chronicle, among others. The new strategy will begin on April 1, the new year of work.
According to VGC sources, Japan Studio has been “not profitable enough” to the parent company in recent years. Moreover, Japan Studio wanted to make interesting games mainly for the Japanese market, while Sony wanted interesting games at an international level.
The Asobi Team started as a division in Japan Studio. Founded in 2021 and has The Playroom, The Playroom VR, Astro Bot Rescue Mission, and Astro’s Playroom to its name so far.
Japan Studio is Sony’s oldest studio; His first game was released in 1994. Those were crime crackers for the first PlayStation. This game, like many others, was made in collaboration with another game studio. Examples of notable games for which Japan Studio is partially responsible include Demon’s Souls, Bloodborne, Shadow of the Colossus, and The Last Guardian. Games I made from scratch include Knack II, LocoRoco, Kung Fu Rider and Ape Escape.
