To the surprise of fans across the globe, Sony has made the decision to shut down Bluepoint Games.
VIEW GALLERY – 2 IMAGES
Sony Interactive Entertainment has closed the operations at Austin, Texas-based Bluepoint Games, new reports from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier indicate. The studio closure was made “following a recent business review” from higher-ups, and 70 people will lose employment at the PlayStation branch.
“Bluepoint Games is an incredibly talented team and their technical expertise has delivered exceptional experiences for the PlayStation community. We thank them for their passion, creativity and craftsmanship,” a Sony spokesperson tells Bloomberg.
Bluepoint was responsible for a number of remakes at Sony, but its closure may be the result of a cancelled live service project. Reports indicate that Bluepoint had previously been working on a God of War online game, but it was scrapped, and it’s possible that this cancellation (among others) resulted in a write-down at PlayStation that helped drive down operating profits.
Bluepoint was founded in 2006, releasing its first game, Blast Factor, the same year. Sony has had a long-standing relationship with Bluepoint through the years, publishing nearly all of their projects.
The group went on to work on a number of PlayStation games, including the God of War and Ico/Shadow of the Colossus collections on PS3. The studio then worked on the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for Konami, moving to multiple PS4 games in the next generation like Gravity Rush Remastered and Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection.
Shadow of the Colossus released in 2018, and then the PS5 launch game Demon’s Souls two years after. A year later in 2021, Sony officially acquired Bluepoint.
Bluepoint Games is the latest of multiple studio closures, including Firewalk Studios, London Studio, and Japan Studio.