SIE Japan Studio has seen its share of departures in months past, but a recent staff exodus seems to indicate that PlayStation may be close to closing down the 28 year old game development studio.
Sources speaking to VGC say that the end is likely right around the corner. According to a report from the publication, annual staff contracts are set to expire at the end of its 2021 fiscal year on March 31 and have not been renewed.
The reason for the pivot, according to those sources, is low profitability for Japan Studio projects and PlayStation’s desire to chase games with global appeal.
As captured in that article, a number of Japan Studio developers have tweeted their farewells just recently, following January and December departures of key figures like Bloodborne producer Teruyuki Toriyama and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama.
For Toyama, that earlier departure came with news that he and other Japan Studio alum would form a new game developer, Bokeh Game Studio. According to VGC’s sources, a number of the staff now leaving Japan Studio are joining up with Bokeh, while others are staying at Sony via a jump to Astrobot dev ASOBI, which is being upgraded from a team to its own studio.