PlayStation Shuts Down One of Its Best Studios – What the Hell Just Happened?

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Layoffs are unfortunately common in the video game industry, but some studio closures feel particularly upsetting. The recent news about Monolith Productions, known for the Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and War games, and Tango Gameworks (which was thankfully revived by Krafton after initially closing, along with their Hi-Fi Rush game) is especially disheartening. Today, I want to focus specifically on the closure of Bluepoint Games.

The studio behind the critically acclaimed Demon’s Souls Remake for PlayStation 5, Bluepoint Games, is closing its doors in March. Sony announced the decision after a recent business review. Around 70 employees will be affected, though the company expressed gratitude for their dedication and skill.

I’m incredibly frustrated, to say the least, and like many other fans, I just keep wondering: why did this happen?

According to PlayStation Studios CEO Hermen Hulst, the gaming industry is facing growing difficulties. In a message to staff, reported by Kotaku, Hulst acknowledged the studio’s achievements but also highlighted rising development costs, slower growth in the industry, shifts in how players behave, and a tough economic climate – all of which are making it harder to create games in a sustainable way.

The world is constantly changing, so we’re always working to improve and prepare for what’s next. After carefully reviewing our business, we’ve made the difficult decision to close Bluepoint Games in March. This wasn’t an easy choice. The team at Bluepoint is exceptionally skilled and has created amazing games for PlayStation fans. We’re grateful for their dedication, artistry, and commitment to quality, and we’ll do our best to find new roles for affected employees within our other studios.

Do you remember last year when Sony cancelled a bunch of online games and closed down SIE London Studio? Both Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games had their new projects scrapped – and we didn’t even know Bluepoint was working on something new, let alone that it was based on a surprising choice of game. Many of us were probably shocked to learn that this was what Sony had Bluepoint working on after they bought the studio in 2021.

This studio has a fantastic track record, having created stunning remakes of games like Demon’s Souls and Shadow of the Colossus, both of which were highly praised. They also successfully brought Gravity Rush to a wider audience with a PS4 remaster in 2015, and developed four well-received collections for franchises like Uncharted and Metal Gear Solid. I’m still amazed by the technical skill they showed when they ported Titanfall to the Xbox 360 in 2014, and they were also part of the team that worked on Ragnarok.

Given the studio’s strong track record and Sony’s recognition of their technical skill in creating great PlayStation games, it’s surprising they were assigned a live-service project. It feels like we’re repeating the mistakes made with the game Anthem.

It’s easy to point fingers at Jim Ryan, the previous CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, who first pushed for these ongoing service-based games that aren’t doing well. However, current Sony leadership is still determined to make this strategy work. They’re really hoping to repeat the success of Helldivers 2, and seem willing to keep launching new projects and even sacrificing studios if it means finding another hit, regardless of the cost or potential layoffs.

Despite receiving consistent positive feedback, Bluepoint Games likely couldn’t find a project that fit its strengths. The studio previously had a live-service game cancelled by a former manager, and according to reports, it spent the last year pitching new ideas that Sony didn’t accept. Even if Bluepoint didn’t want to work on more remakes – which is a big assumption, given Sony’s control over its projects – it seems odd that Sony couldn’t find any other suitable work for the team.

Did poor sales of Demon’s Souls prevent Sony from commissioning a Bloodborne remake? Does Sony only prioritize remakes for popular franchises like The Last of Us, especially when a TV show is involved? The reasons behind these decisions remain a mystery.

It all seems like the company is making small cuts wherever it can to boost profits, even if it’s just a little bit. Someone likely looked at the number of developers at Bluepoint and decided maintaining that team wasn’t worth the cost, especially with everything else going on. We don’t know the details of these decisions, but this feels particularly disconnected from reality.

It’s hard not to question the company’s strong focus on games as a continuous service. While it’s normal to try again after a failure, Sony’s approach seems extreme: they’ve closed studios, cancelled projects, and laid off staff before attempting this model again. Their strategy seems to be based on the idea that it has to work eventually, after all this effort.

What’s going on with Sony’s game projects? Consider Horizon Hunters Gathering, which seems to be Guerrilla Games’ primary focus, meaning a new single-player Horizon game is likely years away. Then there’s 4:Loop from Bad Robot Games, which hasn’t generated much excitement despite multiple showings. While Marathon might make sense given the demand for extraction shooters, it’s still risky considering Bungie’s mixed track record. And it’s hard to believe Sony would shut down Bluepoint Games while continuing to develop Fairgame$ – a project that’s shrouded in secrecy and doesn’t seem to be gaining traction.

It’s especially strange considering Sony really needs more single-player games. They promised to release big, story-driven games every year after the release of Ghost of Yōtei, but that year only had one major title. Last year saw two – Yōtei and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach – though the latter was developed by Kojima Productions, not directly by Sony. This year looks similar with Saros and Marvel’s Wolverine planned, alongside the more multiplayer-focused Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. It doesn’t make sense to me that Sony would have fewer studios capable of creating these highly-rated, single-player experiences.

Wasn’t the main idea to make more money from existing PlayStation 5 owners by selling more games and online services? Does Sony doubt Bluepoint Games’ ability to create a compelling single-player game, leading them to close the studio instead of working through challenges? And does this mean Bend Studio might be next, considering we haven’t heard about their next project in over a year? Is Sony planning to continue this pattern, shrinking its studios down to only the most well-known names, before eventually buying up new ones again?

It’s really strange to me that a studio with so much talent has been overlooked for years, while less-requested games get all the attention. I personally love a lot of what they’ve done – like creating the best Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, introducing Titanfall to a wider audience, and beautifully remastering Demon’s Souls for a new generation. It feels like a huge loss to see them dismissed so quickly and casually, almost as if they didn’t matter.

The opinions shared in this article are the author’s own and don’t reflect the official stance of GamingBolt.

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2026-02-20 21:43