More than five years have passed since the launch of the PlayStation 5. During this period, numerous video games have been released, along with various hardware and accessories. However, it has also seen the cancellation of many games and, notably, the closure of several development teams within PlayStation Studios.
Sony has made the decision to shut down numerous studios over the years, and in light of recent developments, it’s beneficial to review the situation to understand the broader context of current events.
PlayStation Studios Teams
Here is a list of the studios that have been closed, along with the year of their closure:
- 2020 – Manchester Studio
- 2021 – Japan Studio
- 2023 – PixelOpus
- 2024 – London Studio
- 2024 – Firewalk Studios
- 2024 – Neon Koi
- 2026 – Bluepoint Games
- 2026 – Dark Outlaw Games
As evident from the list, the series of closures began with Manchester Studio, established in 2015 and primarily focused on VR content. Japan Studio was the next loss, with the team subsequently restructuring around Team ASOBI (known for Astro Bot). Japan Studio was renowned for developing titles such as Ape Escape and Shadow of the Colossus through its various internal teams.
PixelOpus, one of Sony’s smaller studios responsible for Concrete Genie, evidently struggled to find its niche within a company increasingly focused on large-scale projects. London Studio (known for SingStar, Blood & Truth, etc.) was dissolved in 2024, a particularly challenging year for PlayStation. This period also saw significant layoffs at major teams like Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games, and Guerrilla Games, alongside the closure of Firewalk Studios (following the failure of Concord) and Neon Koi (acquired in 2022 as Savage Game Studios). Neon Koi was intended to concentrate on mobile titles but ultimately did not release any games.
Looking ahead to 2026, these initial months reportedly marked the end for Bluepoint Games (a studio known for high-quality remakes and remasters). For some time, Bluepoint was reportedly working on an unannounced God of War live service game, details of which surfaced through various reports.
Finally, the most recent news involves the closure of Dark Outlaw Games, an incubation team led by Jason Blundell, a Treyarch (Call of Duty) veteran. Blundell previously headed Deviation Games, a studio that was never officially part of PlayStation but collaborated with the company until its closure in 2024.
This represents a somber overview, as each closure inevitably led to the layoffs of dozens, if not hundreds, of developers who were forced to seek new employment. We hope that similar news will not need to be reported again in the near future.