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By Dom Peppiatt
July 5, 2021 15:43 GMT
Japan Studio has been removed from Sony’s studio list on its website, seemingly sealing the developer’s fate as the company focuses on more Western developers.
The suppression of the company is recent. PushSquare spotted the fact that just last month the page featured references to the studio as well as a description that called it “the longtime talent behind some of PlayStation’s most original titles.”
The fact that Japan Studio has been discontinued now, then, stings. We already knew the studio had been dissolved and that the staff had left Sony, but seeing the fate of developer Knack, LocoRoco and Patapon finally sealed is sad.
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Localization and sales staff have been retained, but it appears the vast majority of development talent has been laid off from the longtime Sony studio. It seems some key studio talents – such as Keiichiro Toyama, known to have worked on Silent Hill, Siren, and Gravity Rush – managed to get off the ship before being pushed. Toyama formed Bokeh Game Studios last year, and the studio plans to release its first game in 2023.
The Asobi team, the people behind the hugely popular Astro Bot games, replaced Japan Studio on the site. We previously reported that this team had been quartered and would continue to make games as a full-fledged studio. Soon after, the Tokyo-based developer became an official PlayStation Studio.
PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst recently said the Asobi team is currently working on an all-ages franchise.