Tag: Sony Interactive Entertainment

The Game Awards 2025 nominees include Clair Obscur, Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hades 2
We won’t have to wait too much longer to find out which game will follow the wonderful Astro Bot‘s triumph at last year’s edition of The Game Awards. The 2025 ceremony takes place on December 11 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. In between a cavalcade of video game trailers and announcements, the show will squeeze in some actual awards. We now know what the contenders for The Game Awards 2025 are after Monday’s announcement of the nominees.

Those vying for the top prize of game of the year are:
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive
- Death Stranding 2: On The Beach – Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Donkey Kong Bananza – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
- Hades II – Supergiant Games
- Hollow Knight: Silksong – Team Cherry
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II – Warhorse Studios/Deep Silver
Half of those are also up for game of the year at the Indie Game Awards. Those three games (Clair Obscur, Hades II and Hollow Knight: Silksong) are up for the best independent game award at this ceremony as well, alongside Absolum, Ball x Pit and Blue Prince.

With 12 nods in total — including three in the best performance category — Clair Obscur isn’t just the most-nominated game this year. It’s the most-nominated game in the 12-year history of the ceremony. Death Stranding 2 and Ghost of Yōtei have eight nods each, Hades II has seven and Silksong has five. Sony Interactive Entertainment leads the way among publishers with 19 nominations.

A whole bunch of high-profile games missed out on nominations for the main award. However, the likes of Arc Raiders, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Mario Kart World, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Elden Ring: Nightreign, Battlefield 6, Split Fiction, Monster Hunter Wilds and Silent Hill f have picked up nods in other categories. It’s neat to see games like Consume Me, Despelote, Rematch and Dispatch pick up nominations this year too. Meanwhile, Marvel’s Deadpool VR, a game that isn’t even out until tomorrow, picked up a nod.

Fan voting for this year’s edition of The Game Awards starts today on the TGA website. Public ballots account for 10 percent of the final vote, with a jury comprising dozens of media outlets accounting for the remaining 90 percent. The nominees for the players’ voice award — the only one determined entirely by fans — will be announced on December 1.

The Game Awards (which is under fire over its handling of the discontinued Future Class program) will be streaming across a wide variety of platforms, including Prime Video for the first time. As ever, we’ll be on top of all of the big news from the event, so stay tuned to Engadget for all the juicy details. Place your bets now on what will be announced. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll get a glimpse of Half-Life 3?
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November 17, 2025
Sony Closes Firewalk Studios After Shutting Down ‘Concord’ Video Game

Sony Interactive Entertainment has closed Firewalk Studios following the sunsetting of its live services game “Concord” in September, The PlayStation company has also decided to shutter studio Neon Koi.

“I know none of this is easy news to hear, particularly with colleagues and friends departing SIE,” PlayStation CEO of the studio business group Hermen Hulst said in a memo to staff Tuesday. “Both decisions were given serious thought, and ultimately, we feel they are the right ones to strengthen the organization. Neon Koi and Firewalk were home to many talented individuals, and we will work to find placement for some of those impacted within our global community of studios where possible.”

“While PlayStation took “Concord” offline Sept. 6, the company had indicated the possibility that the Firewalk-produced game could return in some form in the future. “While PlayStation took “Concord” offline Sept. 6, the company had indicated the possibility that the Firewalk-produced game could return in some form in the future.

Hulst said Tuesday “certain aspects of Concord were exceptional, but others did not land with enough players, and as a result we took the game offline.” “We have spent considerable time these past few months exploring all our options,” he continued. “After much thought, we have determined the best path forward is to permanently sunset the game and close the studio.   I want to thank all of Firewalk for their craftsmanship, creative spirit and dedication. The PvP first person shooter genre is a competitive space that’s continuously evolving, and unfortunately, we did not hit our targets with this title. We will take the lessons learned from Concord and continue to advance our live service capabilities to deliver future growth in this area.”

For the mobile game-focused Neon Koi, Hulst said “While mobile remains a priority growth area for the Studio Business, we are in the very early stage of our mobile efforts” and “to achieve success in this area we need to concentrate on titles that are in-line with PlayStation Studios’ pedigree and have the potential to reach more players globally.” “With this re-focused approach, Neon Koi will close, and its mobile action game will not be moving forward,” the PlayStation studio chief said.

See below for Hulst’s full letter to employees.

Dear Team,

Today, I want to share some important updates from Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Studio Business Group.

We consistently evaluate our games portfolio and status of our projects to ensure we are meeting near and long-term business priorities. As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen SIE’s Studio Business, we have had to make a difficult decision relating to two of our studios – Neon Koi and Firewalk Studios.

Expanding beyond PlayStation devices and crafting engaging online experiences alongside our single-player games are key focal areas for us as we evolve our revenue streams. We need to be strategic, though, in bringing our games to new platforms and recognize when our games fall short of meeting player expectations.

While mobile remains a priority growth area for the Studio Business, we are in the very early stage of our mobile efforts. To achieve success in this area we need to concentrate on titles that are in-line with PlayStation Studios’ pedigree and have the potential to reach more players globally.

With this re-focused approach, Neon Koi will close, and its mobile action game will not be moving forward. I want to express my gratitude to everyone at Neon Koi for their hard work and endless passion to innovate.

Regarding Firewalk, as announced in early September (An Important Update on Concord), certain aspects of Concord were exceptional, but others did not land with enough players, and as a result we took the game offline. We have spent considerable time these past few months exploring all our options.

After much thought, we have determined the best path forward is to permanently sunset the game and close the studio.   I want to thank all of Firewalk for their craftsmanship, creative spirit and dedication.

The PvP first person shooter genre is a competitive space that’s continuously evolving, and unfortunately, we did not hit our targets with this title. We will take the lessons learned from Concord and continue to advance our live service capabilities to deliver future growth in this area.

I know none of this is easy news to hear, particularly with colleagues and friends departing SIE. Both decisions were given serious thought, and ultimately, we feel they are the right ones to strengthen the organization. Neon Koi and Firewalk were home to many talented individuals, and we will work to find placement for some of those impacted within our global community of studios where possible.

I am a big believer in the benefits of embracing creative experimentation and developing new IP. However, growing through sustainable financials, especially in a challenged economic environment is critical.

While today is a difficult day, there is much to look forward to in the months ahead from the Studio Business Group and our teams. I remain confident that we are building a resilient and capable organization driven by creating unforgettable entertainment experiences for our players.  

Thank you for your continued support.

More to come.

Jennifer Maas

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October 29, 2024
30th Anniversary PS5 Pre-Orders Sold Out Fast And In The Most Frustrating Way Possible

Everyone saw this coming but it was still disappointing to see. Fans were salivating over the 30th Anniversary PlayStation 5 collection, a one-two punch of nostalgia and neat aesthetics, when it was revealed earlier this month. Today many of them stared blankly at PlayStation Direct pre-order screens as they watched them sellout while they waited in confusing online queues and battled glitched website buttons.

This Cool New Retro Console Is A Great Gift For Atari Fans

The 30th Anniversary collection went up for pre-order earlier today and it turns out the limited edition PS5 Pro bundle, only 12,300 of which were manufactured, wasn’t the only thing that felt impossible to get. Pre-orders for the PS1-style PS5 slim bundle, PS Portal, and DualSense controller also disappeared almost immediately, begging the eternal question of why Sony doesn’t just manufacture as many of these items as people want.

Panic began overnight when anecdotes began pouring in from Australia and the UK that pre-orders, which became available at 10:00 a.m. local time in each region, began to immediately disappear followed by reseller listings popping up on eBay for anywhere from five to 10 times the suggested retail price. As the 30th Anniversary pre-order hour approached in the U.S., people tried to load the PlayStation Direct page early only to be thrown into a queue with estimated wait times of over an hour.

The initial confusion was compounded by the fact that Sony never really gave fans a clear idea of what to expect from the pre-order process. After unveiling the 30th Anniversary PS5 collection it just said they would be available to buy starting September 26 with no advance notice of an official start time or even the prices. Essentially how it worked is that people who tried to order from PlayStation Direct were put in a waiting room to get a random spot in line at which point they could order whatever was still left, which for most people, including myself, seemed to be nothing.

Was that because I didn’t get into the waiting room sooner? Or did I just get a bad place in the queue? Was there a better way to go about this whole thing? There were anecdotal reports of people getting to the store only to be tossed back into the waiting room. Once they were in the store, it was still confusing trying to buy stuff. Even items that didn’t show as sold out, like the PS1 DualSense controller, couldn’t be purchased when clicking “add to cart.”

It seems like people who just wanted the $80 controller actually had more luck going through retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop, whose pre-orders for the PS5 controllers when up at the same time as PlayStation Direct. Those sold out fairly quickly as well, however. It’s possible that additional stock will be released in waves, as Sony did when demand blew supply out of the water with the original launch of the PS5. But I’m also not sure why Sony doesn’t just try to sell as many of the PS1-style controllers as possible, at least for those who order in the next couple of months.

It’s the cheapest option for fans wanting to be a part of the anniversary hype, or just really love the idea of channeling all those nights they spent in front of their original PS1 in the modern era. Maybe Sony was just testing the initial demand and will come back later with a bottomless Santa Claus bag of 30th Anniversary PS5 stuff come the holiday. If not, 30th Anniversary PS5 DualSense controllers are already going for up to $200 on eBay.

Ethan Gach

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September 26, 2024
Looks Like Sony Just Sneakily Confirmed Those PS5 Pro Leaks

The icons from the banner (left) and the rumored PS5 Pro design.
Image: Sony / Kotaku

Sony is beginning to ramp up celebrations for the upcoming 30th anniversary of the PlayStation brand. And new images posted by the company seem to include an icon of a console that looks a lot like the alleged leaked PS5 Pro design. Hmmm…

The Best Reveals From The Game Awards 2023

The original PlayStation console launched in Japan in December 1994, so technically the 30th anniversary isn’t for a few more months. But Sony isn’t waiting until December to start celebrating its big 3-O birthday. On September 5, the company posted some announcements and plans to kick off the anniversary celebration. But the most interesting bit of news wasn’t located in the blog post. Instead, eagle-eyed fans spotted what appears to be a new PlayStation console in the 30th anniversary banner.

Check it out below. The left image is from the blog post the right image is from Instagram.

Image: Sony / Kotaku

Both of these images include a PS5 console with three lines across it. This perfectly matches a report last month about the still-unconfirmed PS5 Pro, which claimed that the console would feature three black lines across its front and that Sony was planning to officially announce the powerful new product “in the coming weeks.”

The Verge reports that all PS5 games released after September 16 need to support the PS5 Pro, which seems to suggest it’s going to be announced soon.

So is this banner image Sony playfully teasing its most hardcore fans with the first confirmed acknowledgment of a PS5 Pro? That’s what it seems like on Instagram, with Sony posting the banner containing the Easter egg and adding “Your first look 👀” as a caption. It’s also possible this is a really big mistake, though considering how many people had to look at and approve these images and the fact that they have remained up for hours, I’m leaning toward this being a teaser and not a screw-up.

Now we just have to wait for Sony to actually, officially, for real, announce the PS5 Pro, which is rumored to be launching later this year.

.

Zack Zwiezen

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September 5, 2024
Star Wars Outlaws Preview, Destiny 2’s Future, And More Hot Takes

Screenshot: Aspyr / Lucasfilm

In 2002, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter launched on PS2 and GameCube. The third-person action-adventure game let players hop into the bounty-hunting boots of Jango Fett aka Boba Fett’s clone dad from Attack of The Clones. It wasn’t great, but was a fun prequel to Episode II. Now, 20 years later, it’s been remastered, improved, and ported to new consoles, and while it looks and plays better than ever, it’s still mostly the same not-great PS2-era action game, but now with a flashlight. – Zack Zwiezen Read More

Kotaku Staff

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August 3, 2024
A Stunning Zelda Lego Set, A Rocky Return For MultiVersus, And More Of The Week’s Top News

Image: Warner Bros.

Multiversus, the Warner Bros. crossover platform fighter starring Batman, Shaggy, Arya Stark and more, is out for real this time after going into a year-long hibernation. Now that it’s back and out of beta, the fighting game community is assessing if it could have the longevity of fighting games like Super Smash Bros. And some have already realized that smaller local tournaments, which often keep the game’s scene alive, could have trouble running Multiversus. That’s because, one significant change to the free-to-play model may make it prohibitively expensive to host Multiversus tournaments. – Kenneth Shepard Read More

Kotaku Staff

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June 1, 2024
Everything We Saw At PlayStation’s May 2024 State Of Play

On May 30, 2024, Sony treated PlayStation fans to a brief-yet-packed showing of some games it has around the corner. Some of these titles are expected to arrive this year on PS5 (as well as PC), while a few others are likely to arrive next year.

In Eternights You Press R2 To Hold Hands Just Like IRL

So let’s dive into everything Sony showed off today.

Concord

PlayStation

Concord, the upcoming online first-person hero shooter, got its debut showing today with a highlight on its unique characters as well as in-engine gameplay. It’s definitely giving some witty banter, sci-fi, Marvel-esque vibes to my ears and eyes. Concord comes out on August 23, 2024.

God of War Ragnarok comes to PC on September 19, 2024

PlayStation

God of War Ragnarok is coming to PC! I’m sure you already suspected that, but we got a look at daddy Kratos smashing up baddies with some previews of its PC features, such as ultrawide support and all the major super sampling tech, and it comes with the game’s great Valhalla DLC too! Kratos’ latest adventure arrives on PC on September 19, 2024.

Dynasty Warriors Origins

DYNASTY WARRIORS: Origins – Announcement Trailer | PS5 Games

With epic melee weapon skirmishes against massive amounts of foes, Dynasty Warriors Origins looks like it’s going all in on totally unrealistic yet fully badass combat.

Infinity Nikki

Infinity Nikki – Gameplay Trailer | PS5 Games

Are you ready to walk the path of a stylist? That’s what Infinity Nikki promises, with cute outfits, fantasy vistas, platforming, and the ability to shoot little cats out of cannons!

Ballad of Antara

Ballad of Antara – Announcement Trailer | PS5 Games

With moody color themes, epic dark fantasy vibes, and some very satisfying melee weapon sound effects, Ballad of Antara is definitely worth keeping an eye on if you’re into brawls against mythic creatures in a magical realm. Ballad of Antara is expected to arrive in 2025.

Skydance’s Behemoth

Skydance’s BEHEMOTH – First Gameplay | PS VR 2 Games

Hey, remember the PS VR2? Sorry, but hey, it’s nice to see some new games coming out for Sony’s somewhat struggling headset. With both first-person sword battles and some neat mechanics with a rope weapon you can use to pull enemies and weapons around, this could prove to be a very satisfying VR experience.

Alien Rogue Incursion

Alien Rogue Incursion – First Gameplay | PS VR 2 Games

Alien Rogue Incursion aims to bring its HR Giger-inspired horror vibes to a PlayStation VR headset near you…you know, if you feel you won’t die of absolute fraking terror.

Marvel Rivals

Marvel Rivals – PlayStation Closed Beta Announce Trailer | PS5 Games

It’s like third-person Overwatch but you know, with a Marvel license or something! Joking aside, Rivals may set itself apart with its third-person action and good use of its source material.

Where Winds Meet

Where Winds Meet – Announce Trailer | PS5 Games

With a trailer focusing on some tense and speedy-lookin’ one-on-one showdowns, Where Winds Meet is currently in development for PS5.

Until Dawn

Until Dawn – Gameplay Trailer | PS5 Games

Supermassive’s 2015 interactive teen horror movie is being rebuilt and upgraded for current hardware. Until Dawn’s PS5 and PC trailer at this month’s State of Play wasn’t short on gruesome contraptions and hellish ways to see its characters murdered.

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2 – Console Announcement Trailer | PS5 Games

Grinding Gear Games’ Path of Exile 2 is set to arrive on PS5 in 2024. Cast into a dark fantasy world tortured by monsters and disease, players will have to take on the role of fearless warriors seeking victory and, of course, better and better loot. Keep this one on your radar if Diablo 4 hasn’t been doing it for you. Path of Exile 2 arrives on PS5 via Early Access in late 2024.

Silent Hill 2

Silent Hill 2 – Release Date Trailer | PS5 Games

Today we got a closer look at the upcoming remake of horror classic Silent Hill 2. Complete with a very Resident Evil 4-inspired camera set up and gruesome beasts, time will tell if this remake lives up to the hype when it launches on October 8, 2024.

Monster Hunter Wilds

Monster Hunter Wilds – 1st Trailer | PS5 Games

We finally got a real look at the next entry in the beloved Monster Hunter franchise. Yes, there are cute Palicos as well as menacing beasts. Tonight’s trailer showed off some of the game’s world too, which sports sandstorms and plenty of open space to engage in battle with creatures while riding aboard your bird mount. The game is expected to arrive in 2025.

Astro Bot

ASTRO BOT – Announcement Trailer | PS5 Games

Hope you weren’t tired of our pal Astro! Looking far more ambitious and elaborate than the delightful PS5 pack-in game Astro’s Playroom and absolutely packed with cameos from throughout PlayStation history to trigger your brand nostalgia, this definitely looks like it’ll rise above the status of novelty to be something rather interesting. Astro Bot arrives on September 6.

And that wraps everything we saw at tonight’s State of Play. It was a short but sweet showing of some neat-looking games coming to the PS5.

Claire Jackson

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May 30, 2024
Sony Names PlayStation’s New Bosses

Image: Sony

Sony has named existing company veterans Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino as the new heads of PlayStation. Hulst will take over and run a new Studio Business Group while Nishino is in charge of the Platform Business Group. The division of roles replaces former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Jim Ryan, who retired earlier this year, and comes as Sony searches for its next PlayStation 5 blockbusters amid cost-cutting and cancellations.

Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger

“Sony Interactive Entertainment is a dynamic and growing business that delivers incredible entertainment experiences through the connection of content and technology,” interim SIE CEO Hiroki Totoki said in a press release. “These two leaders will have clear responsibilities and will manage strategic direction to ensure the focus remains on deepening engagement with existing PlayStation users and expanding experiences to new audiences.” Both will continue reporting to Totoki who is also Sony’s President, COO and CFO.

Originally the head of Guerrilla Games, maker of Killzone and Horizon Zero Dawn, Hulst was promoted to head of PlayStation Studios in 2019 following the departure of Shawn Layden. He’s responsible for overseeing Sony’s first-party game development, including hits like Spider-Man 2 and God of War Ragnarök. Nishino was previously in charge of PlayStation platform technology and experiences, which he will continue to lead, in addition to now being in charge of third-party relations and commercial operations. Both men take over their new roles on June 1.

Read More: What Hacked Files Tell Us About The Studio Behind Spider-Man 2

Ryan announced he was stepping down from PlayStation after decades with the company last fall. Earlier this year, Sony announced a series of cost-cutting measures, including hundreds of layoffs and project cancellations at its studios, and the closure of London Studio. The changes come as big-budget game makers try to negotiate spiraling development costs and a stagnating console gaming market. Sony’s big annual spring PlayStation Showcase is rumored to be happening later this month, though the company previously confirmed that no major new sequels were planned to release in the current fiscal year.

“I am thrilled to lead the Studio business group and continue to build on our success with PlayStation 5, while preparing for the future,” Hulst said in a press release. “The video game industry is one of the largest entertainment industries in the world and has been built on the marriage of content and technology, and I look forward to continuing to push the boundaries of play and entertainment.”

Ethan Gach

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May 13, 2024
Destiny Might Have Lost Its Chance to Become a TV Show

There’s a lot of video games set to get TV or film adaptations in the next few years, and even more that seem like they’d be ripe for the picking. Bungie’s Destiny franchise seemed like a viable candidate, especially after the studio was acquired by PlayStation in 2022, but it sounds like any plans to bring the games to a new medium are have currently been dashed.

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According to Forbes’ Paul Tassi earlier in the week, Bungie was reportedly “tossing around” ideas for an animated Destiny series on Netflix before things fell apart.. Allegedly, this was in development prior to the aforementioned PlayStation acquisition, during which Sony said it would help Bungie “nurture the IP they have in a multi-dimensional manner.” (For extra context, this statement was made a few weeks before the Uncharted movie released and became a decent box-office success.) In regards to why it didn’t go forward, Tassi wasn’t sure, though he did say it just may not have gone farther than the scripting phase.

Destiny 2: Is There Any Way A Destiny Show Is Still Happening At This Point?

Before Sony bought Bungie, the developer brought on Derrick Tsai as its transmedia head. Tsai was a producer and director at Riot who helped pave the way for Arcane to get made and become a hit over at Netflix. He departed around this time last year, after which the studio hired Warner Bros. alum Gabriel VanHuss to serve as the Destiny’s head of linear media. VanHuss holds that position to this day, and his duties involve expanding the franchise in TV, comics (which it’s previously done), movies, and so on. It’s hard to know where this hypothetical show currently stands: Bungie’s currently focused on the Final Shape expansion dropping in June, its new Marathon game, and still reeling from its highly publicized layoffs (to say nothing of possibly working on Destiny 3). According to Tassi, if the hypothetical show isn’t fully dead, it’s not coming “anytime remotely soon.”

The idea of Destiny getting a TV show seemed like a cool idea two years ago, but it’s a little more dicey now. Bungie’s hoping to turn things around for both Destiny 2 and the company at large with Final Shape, and revealing a TV show weeks after the expansion drops could easily take things from “we’re so back” to “oh, it’s over” in a heartbeat. The series certainly has the potential to thrive in other mediums, but it’ll unfortunately have to be a waiting game until the smoke clears around The Final Shape.

[via Eurogamer]

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Justin Carter

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April 20, 2024
Biden Announces Plans For Extra PlayStation 5 Controller In Case Someone Visits Nation

Read more…

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January 8, 2024
The Last Of Us Online Is Officially Canceled

The Last of Us Online is dead. Naughty Dog announced today that the multiplayer spin-off of the hit series is no longer in development, citing concerns about managing ongoing content for a live-service game while still trying to produce the single-player blockbusters the PlayStation studio is famous for.

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“We realize many of you have been anticipating news around the project that we’ve been calling The Last of Us Online,” Naughty Dog wrote in a December 14 update. “There’s no easy way to say this: We’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to stop development on that game.”

The studio said that as production on the project ramped up, it became clear that “we’d have to put all our studio resources behind supporting post launch content for years to come, severely impacting development on future single-player games.” The choices were apparently between becoming a “solely live-service games studio” in the mold of modern day Bungie, which makes Destiny 2, or “continue to focus on single-player narrative games that have defined Naughty Dog’s heritage.”

The Last Of Us Online, which many many fans previously referred to as Factions after the multiplayer mode from the original 2013 PlayStation 3 game, was first announced during Summer Game Fest 2022. The spin-off was billed as the studio’s “biggest online experience” ever, and as large as any of its single-player games.

But Naughty Dog never showed the game beyond vague statements and concept art. Then in May of this year, Bloomberg reported that the production team on the game had be scaled back following negative feedback from an internal review by Bungie, which Sony acquired last year. At the time, the studio posted a statement on Twitter saying that while things were progressing well, the game required more time. By October, however, Kotaku reported that the project had been “put on ice” amid some internal reshuffling and dozens of contracted developers being laid off.

The Last of Us Online was one of a number of new multiplayer projects in development across Sony’s studios as the PlayStation 5 maker invested in a massive shift toward more live-service games. In November, Sony revealed during an earnings call that half of the roughly dozen online games it was working on would be delayed past 2025.

In the meantime, Naughty Dog is still working on a “brand-new single-player game” it plans to reveal sometime in the future.

Here’s Naughty Dog’s full blog post:

We realize many of you have been anticipating news around the project that we’ve been calling The Last of Us Online. There’s no easy way to say this: We’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to stop development on that game.

We know this news will be tough for many, especially our dedicated The Last of Us Factions community, who have been following our multiplayer ambitions ardently. We’re equally crushed at the studio as we were looking forward to putting it in your hands. We wanted to share with you some background of how we came to this decision.

The multiplayer team has been in pre-production with this game since we were working on The Last of Us Part II – crafting an experience we felt was unique and had tremendous potential. As the multiplayer team iterated on their concept for The Last of Us Online during this time, their vision crystalized, the gameplay got more refined and satisfying, and we were enthusiastic about the direction in which we were headed.

In ramping up to full production, the massive scope of our ambition became clear. To release and support The Last of Us Online we’d have to put all our studio resources behind supporting post launch content for years to come, severely impacting development on future single-player games. So, we had two paths in front of us: become a solely live service games studio or continue to focus on single-player narrative games that have defined Naughty Dog’s heritage.

We are immensely proud of everyone at the studio that touched this project. The learnings and investments in technology from this game will carry into how we develop our projects and will be invaluable in the direction we are headed as a studio. We have more than one ambitious, brand new single player game that we’re working on here at Naughty Dog, and we cannot wait to share more about what comes next when we’re ready.

Until then, we’re incredibly thankful to our community for your support throughout the years.

Ethan Gach

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December 14, 2023
The Last Of Us Part II Remastered Is Real, Out Next Year [Update: Full Details]
Update 11/17/2023 7:55 p.m. ET: Naughty Dog’s officially confirmed the existence of The Last of Us Part II Remastered, releasing a barrage of information about the upcoming re-release of its 2020 PlayStation 4 game in a post on its website, complete with an announcement trailer.

Here’s the trailer:

PlayStation / Naughty Dog

Perhaps the most intriguing part of the remaster will be the new roguelike “No Return” mode, which sounds very involved. You choose a character and then try to survive in “randomized encounters”—it’s not clear if actual maps are randomized—and surviving lets you win meta-progression to enhance your character’s abilities, unlock cosmetics, and compete on global daily challenge leaderboards.

How Alan Wake 2 Builds Upon The ‘Remedy-Verse’

“Remastered” implies improved A/V aspects. The new release will indeed take advantage of the PlayStation 5’s enhanced capabilities, giving you the usual choice of a 4K “Fidelity” mode or a 1440p-upscaled-to-4K “Performance” mode that runs at 60fps. Whichever mode you choose, the game will look better in general thanks to variable refresh rate support, improved LoD settings, sharper textures, smoother animation rates, and so on. DualSense controller features like adaptive triggers will be leveraged, too.

As is its tendency, Naughty Dog is also going big on behind-the-scenes features, with a wild-sounding amount of commentary from various creatives, including voice actors, and several new “lost levels” that will let you play through areas that were cut from the original Part II release.

You can also expect an array of smaller additions, including a speedrun challenge mode, improved photo-taking functionality, bonus skins for various characters, and expanded guitar playing that will expand the sound possibilities and let you stage impromptu little concerts in different venues.

Image: Naughty Dog

Pre-orders open December 5. If you’d like to spend more money, a pricier The Last of Us Part II Remastered W.L.F. Edition will come in a SteelBook case and include four enamel pins, a clothing patch, and physical versions of 47 trading cards from inside the game. And in nice news for existing PS4 Part II owners, you can upgrade to the digital version of Remastered for $10.

Original story continues below.

The existence of The Last of Us Part II Remastered has leaked via a PlayStation Store listing that was spotted by fans online. A trailer has also leaked, which includes a release date of January 19, 2024.

On November 17, a reputed listing for the yet-to-be-confirmed remaster was leaked online. The new remastered The Last of Us sequel will seemingly feature “native PS5 enhancements,” including a “a host of graphical improvements” and faster loading times.

The store listing also mentions “No Return” which is described as a “roguelike survival mode experience.” Here’s the full description of that apparent new mode:

Survive as long as you can in each run, as you choose your path through a series of randomized encounters. Play as a host of different unlockable characters, some never-before playable in The Last of Us franchise, each with unique gameplay traits. The variety of challenges feature different foes and memorable locations from throughout Part II, all culminating in tense boss battles.

This remastered edition of The Last of Us Part II will also feature “Lost Levels” that will let players explore “early-development versions” of levels not seen in the main game. Some other interesting tidbits from the store listing include:
- Hours of new developer commentary.
- A new mode that lets you play the famous guitar minigame freely.
- A speedrun-focused mode
- New unlockable weapon and character skins for Abby and Ellie.
This new remaster will seemingly be exclusive to PS5 and launches on January 19, 2024. The leaked trailer and store listing didn’t make mention of a PC port.

This leak seemingly confirms rumors and reports from earlier this year about a The Last of Us Part II remaster or PS5 upgrade. Back in July 2023, Last of Us composer Gustavo Santaolalla suggested during an interview that an upgraded port of some kind was in the works.

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Zack Zwiezen

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November 17, 2023
PlayStation Is Losing The Reason Its Share Button Exists

Image: Dimitrios Kambouris / Sony / Kotaku (Getty Images)

PlayStation 5 is ditching its integration with Twitter, the social media platform recently rebranded as “X” after Elon Musk bought it for $44 billion and then promptly crashed it into a brick wall like a dad coming home from a mid-life crisis bender in his brand-new Ferrari. Nintendo Switch will soon be the only gaming console you can still tweet from.

Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger

Sony announced the change in a new notification to PS5 users today. “As of November 13, 2023, interaction with X (formerly known as Twitter) will no longer function on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 consoles,” the company wrote. “This includes the ability to view any content published on X on PS5/PS4, and the ability to post and view content, trophies, and other gameplay related activities on X directly from PS5/PS4 (or line an X account to do so).”

Twitter was one of three main social media platforms alongside Facebook and YouTube that the PS4 directly connected to when its new sharing feature first debuted back in 2013. There was an entirely new button on the DualShock 4 dedicated just to capturing images and quickly flinging them across the internet. The ease with which secrets, spoilers, exploits, glitches, and all kinds of other gameplay discoveries could be instantly shared completely changed how people played games and talked about them.

It won’t be impossible to keep sharing game moments to social media when Twitter integration ends later this month, but it’s another reminder that the current internet is dying. YouTube is a pain and Facebook is, well, Facebook. Neither facilitate the constantly updating wire service-like feed Twitter once embodied. The best way to get images of your PS5 and PS4 now is to have them automatically sync with Sony’s dedicated PlayStation app. From there you can repost them to one of Twitter’s many new clones, make a video on TikTok, or send them to your favorite Discord server.

Read More: PS4’s Share Button Was So Great Everyone Copied It

Microsoft bailed on Twitter back in April, shortly after Musk announced he would start charging companies to have access to the platform’s API, the tool needed to make two programs work together. The tech billionaire accused the trillion dollar tech company of stealing Twitter’s idea to train its AI products. In the months since, celebrities, brands, and average users have all continued to abandon the dying platform. It lost roughly 13 percent of its users from a year ago, half its ad revenue, and is now apparently worth over $20 billion less than what Musk originally paid for it.

Ethan Gach

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November 6, 2023
Devolver Digital Just Set A Precedent More Studios Should Follow

Image: Devolver Digital

Occasionally, in times of crisis, gaming studios and publishers have worked to raise funds for people in dire need of humanitarian aid. Last year, for instance, Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red contributed to a fund for victims of the war in Ukraine, and Fortnite publisher Epic Games funneled the proceeds of all purchases made in the popular battle royale for a two-week period to humanitarian relief for the region as well. Now, Cult of the Lamb publisher Devolver Digital is donating funds to aid Palestinians affected by Israel’s attacks on Gaza, and it is encouraging others to follow suit.

In Eternights You Press R2 To Hold Hands Just Like IRL

On October 18, Devolver Digital announced that it was supporting relief efforts in Gaza on its official Twitter account, saying:

We’ve donated to United Nations Relief and Works Agency who are providing humanitarian aid to Palestinian families, we ask you to consider donating if you’re able.

While much of the gaming industry has thus far remained silent on recent events in Israel and Palestine, Game Developer notes that the organization Work with Indies has pledged to donate 100 percent of its October revenue to relief organizations like Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and World Food Program. Meanwhile, Oak Grove Games founder Esther Wallace is working on an itch.io-based Games For Gaza bundle benefitting Medical Aid For Palestinians.

As protests and rallies in support of Palestinians continue around the world, many others are also raising money for relief efforts. Political commentator and occasional gamer Hasan “Hasanabi” Piker and his Twitch community have raised over a million dollars to help Palestinians in less than a week. Hopefully, other companies will follow Devolver Digital in issuing their own call to action.

Isaiah Colbert

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October 19, 2023
PS5 Finally Gets Cloud Gaming Later This Month
Image: Insomniac Games / Sony
Sony’s cloud gaming efforts are starting to ramp up. PS Plus subscribers will be able to start streaming big-name games like Spider-Man: Miles Morales and the Resident Evil 4 remake directly to their PlayStation 5s in the coming weeks. The company also hints that PS5 cloud gaming might be coming to other devices, like smartphones, at some point in the future.

Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger

“Starting this month, we will begin launching cloud streaming access for supported PS5 digital titles within the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog and Game Trials, as well as supported titles in the PS5 game library that PlayStation Plus Premium members own,” the company wrote over on the PlayStation Blog today. This new feature goes live in North America around October 30, and will be exclusive to the Premium tier of PlayStation Plus, which is now $18 a month or $160 a year (Sony raised the price last month).

Though remote play, which allows PS5 owners to stream games from their console to smartphones and PCs, has been around for a while, this new cloud gaming feature will let paying subscribers stream games to their PS5s from Sony’s servers and play them without downloading. Here are some of the games Sony said will support cloud gaming at launch, with more being added later on:

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Horizon Forbidden West

Ghost of Tsushima

Mortal Kombat 11

Saints Row IV

Resident Evil 4

Dead Island 2

Genshin Impact

Fall Guys

Fortnite

Game trials will also be available to stream, including Hogwarts Legacy, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and The Callisto Protocol. Streamed games will support resolutions ranging from 720p up to 4K, as well as 60fps and HDR output where applicable. Players can also take screenshots and record video clips up to three minutes long.

While the quality of game streaming still varies a lot, especially based on the speed of your home internet, it can be a major convenience when it comes to trying games out before starting a lengthy install process or quickly dipping into a live-service game like Destiny 2 to finish a daily or weekly challenge. As blockbuster game file sizes have ballooned to over 100GB, juggling installs has become an annoying minigame in and of itself. Cloud streaming is one way to alleviate some of the frustration.

Cloud gaming of most of the Game Pass library has been widely available on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One for years now, and competing services like Nvidia’s GeForce Now provide the same functionality on PC. It’s nice to see Sony finally catching up in that regard. As The Verge reported earlier this year, the company’s job listings point to a major new push to invest in and grow its cloud gaming capabilities. PS5 owners appear to finally be seeing some of the benefit of that.
Ethan Gach

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October 11, 2023
PlayStation Boss Jim Ryan Is Retiring

The head of PlayStation is stepping down, Sony announced in a press release today. Jim Ryan, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s CEO, is retiring after just four years on the job. The massive shakeup in leadership comes as the PlayStation 5 breaks sales records and as Sony has doubled-down on prestige blockbuster games like The Last of Us Part 1 and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger

“After 30 years, I have made the decision to retire from SIE in March 2024,” Ryan said in a statement. “I’ve relished the opportunity to have a job I love in a very special company, working with great people and incredible partners. But I’ve found it increasingly difficult to reconcile living in Europe and working in North America.”

Ryan will officially leave the position in April, 2024. Hiroki Totoki, Sony Group Corporation President, COO and CFO, will help with the transition and take on the role of interim CEO of PlayStation once Ryan leaves, and will help with the search for his successor. The news was first reported by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier.

A 30-year veteran of Sony, Ryan was promoted to the top PlayStation job in 2019 after a re-organization saw head of CEO of Worldwide Studios, Shawn Layden, step down, and President of Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, transition into a more background role working with indie game developers.

As head of PlayStation, Ryan oversaw the launch of the PS5, which despite pandemic-era shortages, is now on pace to break sales records thanks to an ongoing lineup of first-party exclusive blockbusters like Horizon Forbidden West and God of War Ragnarök. His tenure also included the launch of PS VR2, as well as a major pivot by the subscription service PS Plus to more directly compete with Xbox Game Pass’ Netflix-like library of games.

The unexpected departure comes just a couple months after Sony signed a 10-year agreement with Microsoft to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the tech giant’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Despite a vicious regulatory fight in the U.S. with the Federal Trade Commission and in the UK with the Competition and Markets Authority, both of which included testimony by Ryan, the historic deal is likely set to close beginning in October.

Here’s the full press release:

Sony Group Corporation and Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) today announced that SIE President and CEO Jim Ryan has made the decision to retire in March 2024 after almost thirty years with the PlayStation business. To support Mr. Ryan in his transition, Sony Group Corporation President, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki will assume the role of Chairman of SIE effective October 2023. Effective April 1, 2024, Mr. Totoki will be appointed Interim CEO of SIE while he continues his current role at Sony Group Corporation. Mr. Totoki will work closely with Sony Group Corporation Chairman and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida and the management team of SIE to help define the next chapter of PlayStation’s future, including the succession of the SIE CEO role.

Jim Ryan joined Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Europe-based legal entity, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe (SIEE) — which was then Sony Computer Entertainment Europe — in 1994. Since then, he has held a number of senior positions at the company including President of SIEE, Head of Global Sales and Marketing at SIE and Deputy President of SIE since January 2018, before being appointed SIE President and CEO.

Comment from Kenichiro Yoshida

“Jim Ryan has been an inspirational leader throughout his entire period with us, but never more so than in overseeing the launch of PlayStation 5 in the midst of the global COVID pandemic. That extraordinary achievement made by the entire SIE team has been steadily built on and PlayStation 5 is on track to become SIE’s most successful console yet. I’m immensely grateful to Jim for all his achievements. Respecting Jim’s decision to finish his long career at Sony leaves me with an important decision regarding his succession given the significance of the Game & Network Services business. We have discussed intensively and have determined the new management structure. We aim to achieve Sony Group’s further evolution and growth through bringing even greater success to the Game & Network Services Business.”

Comment from Jim Ryan

“After 30 years, I have made the decision to retire from SIE in March 2024. I’ve relished the opportunity to have a job I love in a very special company, working with great people and incredible partners. But I’ve found it increasingly difficult to reconcile living in Europe and working in North America. I will leave having been privileged to work on products that have touched millions of lives across the world; PlayStation will always be part of my life, and I feel more optimistic than ever about the future of SIE. I want to thank Yoshida-san for placing so much trust in me and being an incredibly sensitive and supportive leader.”

Comment from Hiroki Totoki

“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Jim Ryan for his outstanding achievements and contributions over his 30-year career at Sony, including the great success of launching the PlayStation 5. The PlayStation business managed by SIE is an essential part of Sony Group’s entire business portfolio. I will work with Jim and the senior management team closely to ensure our continued success and further growth. I am also looking forward to creating the exciting future of PlayStation and the game industry together with everyone at SIE and its business partners.”

This story is developing.

Ethan Gach

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September 27, 2023
Let’s Get Really Nostalgic About The Early Days Of PlayStation

“There was a sense that video games were toys. And Sony is not a toy company.” That’s how a new mini-oral history about PlayStation revolutionizing console gaming begins over at IGN. The words belong to former head of Sony Worldwide Studios, Shawn Layden, and they ring true for anyone who grew up with an NES or SNES.…

Read more…

Ethan Gach

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August 4, 2023
Microsoft And Sony Finally Reach Deal For The Future Of Call Of Duty On PlayStation

Photo: Barone Firenze / Activision / Kotaku (Shutterstock)

Microsoft and Sony have finally reached a deal for keeping Call of Duty on PlayStation once the Activision Blizzard merger goes through. The surprise agreement comes after months of fighting between the two companies and is a sign the acquisition is all but inevitable.

Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger

“We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer tweeted on July 16. “We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favorite games.”

It’s not immediately clear what the terms of that agreement are, and whether they are similar to proposals Microsoft recently signed with Nintendo and other cloud gaming providers. In the past, Sony has paid Activision for special benefits relating to Call of Duty, including timed-exclusive content and special marketing rights. It was also revealed during the recent court battle over the deal that Activision had leveraged its partnership with Sony to negotiate better commission rates for the franchise on Xbox.

Read More: Sony Won’t Share PS6 Info With Call Of Duty Devs If Owned By Microsoft

Sony had been vigorously contesting Microsoft’s planned acquisition of the publisher in regulatory proceedings across Europe, the UK, and the U.S. After the recent legal defeat of the Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to block the deal, however, the PlayStation 5 maker seems to have decided it’s time to settle. Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan had reportedly said in the past that his only interest was in blocking the deal.

Sony’s current agreement with Activision wasn’t set to expire until 2025, and the new agreement seems likely to carry through for at least the rest of the PS5’s life. Microosft has claimed all along that it’s not in its financial interest to make the series exclusive as the games generate billions in revenue on the competing platform.

Microsoft declined to comment. Sony did not immediately respond.

Ethan Gach

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July 16, 2023
9 Things We Just Learned About Sony’s Big Playstation Plans

With the wind at their back, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan and head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst recently presented the state of the PlayStation 5 ecosystem to investors and hinted at what’s coming in the near future. Among other things, the company promised new IPs, more live-service games, and a big push behind cloud gaming.

Type S: Chiaki’s Journey II Volume 4

While Sony’s big gaming showcase will offer specific details on new game announcements, release dates, and potential hardware refreshes, the investor presentation was a broader look at the current state of the PlayStation business and where it’s headed next. We got a pretty granular breakdown of some interesting sales data as well as cryptic teases of upcoming initiatives, like Sony’s rumored cloud gaming handheld, Q Lite [Update 5/25/2023 11:07 a.m. ET: the devices was revealed in the showcase and it’s wild looking]. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the company’s latest business meeting.

PS VR2 is already outselling the first virtual reality headset

Sony’s new virtual reality headset is a comfortable but pricey bundle that requires users to already own a PS5, but initial sales numbers show it’s actually tracking ahead of the first PS VR headset. PS VR2 sold 600,000 units in its first six weeks, while the PS VR1 sold closer to 550,000. Whether that momentum will build the platform into something more than an expensive accessory for enthusiasts remains to be seen.

Image: Sony / Kotaku

Analysts previously called for a price cut to fuel sales, and it’s unclear if big new games will arrive without a larger install base, especially as companies like Meta lay off VR developers amid cutbacks.

Sony plans to invest a ton in new franchises

Since the PS5 launched, fans have been waiting to see what new IPs would grow out of the latest console generation. So far it’s been mostly sequels to series that already existed or got their start on the PS4 like God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Spider-Man. But Sony revealed that new franchises are planned. PlayStation Studios’ investment in new IP will hit 50 percent in 2025, compared to only 20 percent in 2019. However the lag in production means we might not end up seeing the results of that spending until late in the PS5’s life cycle.

Live-service games will be over half of that spending

Sony’s first-party single-player games have been setting the bar for story-driven blockbusters for years now, from The Last of Us to Ghost of Tsushima. It’s clear the company now wants to do the same for live-service multiplayer games as well, and will be leveraging its recent acquisition of Destiny 2 maker Bungie to achieve that.

Image: Sony / Kotaku

The breakdown of total spending on content this year will be 55 percent on live-service business models vs 45 percent on “traditional” ones. The difference will be even more stark by 2025, when live-service spending will reach 60 percent of seemingly all production costs. It’s possible some of those games will still have a traditional single-player emphasis and just include cosmetic shops, like Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Others are sure to be multiplayer-focused affairs more like Destiny 2.

PS5 owners spend a ton on microtransactions

Prestigious exclusives might help sell consoles, but it’s not what makes the most money once players are locked in. Sony revealed that PS5 players are spending over $100 more than PS4 players were at a similar point in the console cycle. That extra money isn’t coming from more games sold, however. It’s coming from spending on add-on content, meaning paid DLC and microtransactions.

Full game sales actually dropped by 10 percent on the PS5, while add-on content grew by 210 percent. Although Sony collects a 30 percent commission on all in-game purchases in Fortnite, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, and Apex Legends on the platform, it would stand to make a ton more if those purchases were made inside its own first-party exclusives.

Spider-Man sold great on PC while The Last of Us Part I is off to a slower start

2018’s Spider-Man didn’t arrive on PC until last year. In the eight months since it hit PC, the game sold an additional 1.5 million copies on the platform. The Last of Us Part I, meanwhile, has sold 368,000 copies since it arrived on Steam in March. That’s not bad considering it’s a remaster of a decade-old game many people have already played on PS3, PS4, and PS5. But it’s not exactly God of War numbers, which sold nearly a million copies in its first two and a half months on PC.

Image: Sony / Kotaku

It’s not clear how much The Last of Us Part I’s rough performance and poor optimization at launch hurt its initial momentum, compared to the overall increase in sales of the game across all platforms following the success of the hit HBO adaptation. It seems like the port was in part a learning exercise for Naughty Dog, potentially as Sony eyes bringing the rest of its games to PC.

Half of all game releases won’t just be on PS5 by 2025

In the past Sony seemed afraid to cannibalize console sales by releasing its games on PC. Now it’s clear the company is ready to do just the opposite, porting its exclusives and investing in potential mobile spin-offs. The company plans for 50 percent of its releases in 2025 to be either PC or mobile games.

A lot of players are paying for the more expensive PlayStation Plus subscriptions

When Sony unveiled its overhauled PS Plus program, creating three separate tiers and folding its PlayStation Now streaming service into the priciest one, it seemed needlessly complicated. The highest tier, Premium, also didn’t seem worth the extra price in exchange for a slim selection of PlayStation Classics and cloud gaming features that are still a work-in-progress.

Image: Sony / Kotaku

It turns out a lot of people were willing to upgrade, however. Sony says 14.1 million subscribers joined the higher tiers in the first 10 months, which now represent 30 percent of all PS Plus users. And Premium actually accounts for the majority of those with 17 percent of total subscribers, while the middle-tier, Extra, only has 13 percent.

The first PlayStation mobile game will arrive as early as 2023

Sony said it’s currently “partnered with established teams on games,” and “bringing some of our most celebrated IP to mobile,” with the first set to release in fiscal year 2023. The company acquired mobile maker Savage Game Studios last August and Bungie has also long been rumored to be working on a mobile version of Destiny 2. According to Sony’s charts, the mobile gaming market is already bigger than console and PC gaming combined, and it only projects that gap to widen in the coming years.

Sony’s doubling-down on cloud gaming

In the most cryptic part of the presentation, CEO Jim Ryan said the company has “some fairly interesting and quite aggressive plans to accelerate our initiatives in the space of the cloud.” He didn’t elaborate on what those are, but made the comment in the context of mobile gaming and portability. It certainly raises eyebrows since Sony has also now revealed a cloud gaming handheld codenamed Project Q that would be a remote play accessory for the PS5.

PS Plus also doesn’t currently support cloud gaming on smartphones either, requiring you to use a PS4, PS5, or PC. We do know that Sony has been developing a number of patents to decrease latency while streaming games, and The Verge previously reported that the company is hiring for a number of roles to build out its cloud gaming infrastructure. Cloud gaming has been at the center of the regulatory fight over Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard, and it seems like whatever the outcome of that proposed merger, Sony wants to take back some of the video game streaming market share it previously ceded to Game Pass and xCloud.

Ethan Gach

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May 25, 2023
PlayStation Shuts Down Concrete Genie Dev Amidst Continued Pivot To Prestige

Image: PixelOpus

Sony has quietly closed down PixelOpus, one of its first-party PlayStation Studios. Based in San Mateo, California, the studio was responsible for 2014’s Entwined and 2019’s Concrete Genie.

This Wacky Magical Girl Anime Is Studio Trigger-Coded To Perfection

News of this first broke through a Twitter post from the studio, which expressed the team’s gratitude to the players who have enjoyed their games.

“Dear friends, our PixelOpus adventure has come to an end. As we look to new futures, we wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to the millions of passionate players who have supported us, and our mission to make beautiful, imaginative games with heart. We are so grateful!”

Sony didn’t immediately comment on the closure publicly but has since confirmed in a statement to IGN that PixelOpus is, in fact, shuttering on June 2.

“PlayStation Studios regularly evaluates its portfolio and the status of studio projects to ensure they meet the organization’s short and long-term strategic objectives,” the company told IGN. “As part of a recent review process, it has been decided that PixelOpus will close on June 2.”

PixelOpus was a small team within the hulking giant that is PlayStation Studios, having less than 20 employees as of 2019. The studio’s breakout game was 2019’s Concrete Genie on PS4, which was gorgeous to look at and had cool painting mechanics, but its pacing felt a bit plodding, even with a brisk run time of five or so hours. Before the closure, Pixelopus was working on a project with Sony Pictures Animation, but we don’t know yet if that game is still in the works with another team or has been canceled entirely.

It’s a sad end for a talented studio, but feels pretty in line with Sony’s hard pivot to prestige blockbusters at all costs. On top of closing PixelOpus, the company shuttered Japan Studio in 2021, which was putting out some of the more experimental work within the PlayStation first-party ecosystem. It’s a shame, and while there are still some studios doing cool things at places like Media Molecule, there’s certainly a gap within Sony’s catalog without it.

Kenneth Shepard

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May 5, 2023