Another studio change is now official at PlayStation Studios and unlike Housemarque and Nixxes this is a rather sad story. It was no secret we’d seen the end of Japan Studio. We first heard this news earlier this year and led to some high-profile departures including Gavin Moore. He worked more recently with Bluepoint on Demon’s Souls, a studio linked with joining PlayStation Studios. When leaving he also left a poignant farewell on Twitter.
So what’s made this now official?
The official PlayStation Studios page even though not up to date with the addition of Housemarque and Nixxes gives a big clue. Japan Studio is no longer present on the website. What it reveals is Team Asobi has replaced them on the page. If you wonder who, they are, they developed Astro’s Playroom.
Japan Studio was one of the original PlayStation Studios teams. The studio made some fan-favorite titles such as the likes of Gravity Rush. However, in recent times some releases did not do as well as expected on the commercial side. The bigger recent successes appeared with collaborative titles. Examples are Bloodborne with FromSoftware and the Bluepoint remake of Shadow of the Colossus.
So where now?
Though some staff towards the end of the studio’s existence found other work or branched out on their own. Video game director and designer Keiichiro Toyama is one such individual. He worked on Gravity Rush for Japan Studio and also at the studio for just over 20 years. He left prior to the studio being officially shut down but was able to form Bokeh Game Studios. They are in the process of developing a horror action-adventure title but that has very little information at the moment.
But it’s a sad farewell to Japan Studio. A studio that brought us games with many memories.
