In a frankly bewildering move, Sony has shut down Bluepoint Games, the makers of such games as the 2020 remake of Demon’s Souls.
The shocking news was broken by Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, who posted on BlueSky, saying, “PlayStation is shutting down Bluepoint Games, the studio responsible for modern remakes of classic games such as Demon’s Souls and Shadow of the Colossus, Bloomberg News has learned.”
Schrier goes on to say that 70 people will be affected by the closure of the studio, which Sony purchased in 2021 after a lengthy relationship in which BluePoint made several PlayStation-exclusive remasters/remakes, including Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and a remake of Shadow of the Colossus.
Sony themselves has confirmed the closure in a statement. The studio will officially shut its doors next month.
The team was hailed as a smart purchase by Sony in 2021, as it had built a strong reputation as both a support studio (they worked on God of War: Ragnarok) and as masters of resurrecting older games.
However, we learned late last year that it had also apparently been tasked with creating a God of War live-service spin-off, going against everything the team was good at and built around. That project was cancelled, seemingly leaving Bluepoint with nothing to do.
“The studio then spent the last year pitching and trying to determine what it would do next,” said Schreier.
The move is even weirder when you consider the timing: Sony Santa Monica just announced a remake of the original God of War trilogy, the kind of project that Bluepoint would have been perfect for. Instead, the game will be developed in-house and with partner studios.
At this point, we do not know Sony’s reasoning behind their decision. Presumably, it comes down purely to money and being a victim of Sony’s heavy push into live-service territory.
I assume Sony is now calmy loading another bullet so it can proceed to shoot itself in the other foot, too.
WGB 