If you’re a diehard PlayStation fan, you’re probably still a bit sad about the demise of Japan Studio.
It was once one of the company’s most creative development teams, it was ultimately dissolved in 2021, and now, Astro Bot developer Team Asobi is all that remains of what was previously a larger operation.
In a recent talk at Computer Entertainment Developers Conference, Shuhei Yoshida — former president of PlayStation Studios — spoke about this studio and its fate, including its struggle to measure up to Sony’s scaling up of first-party games.
“Global users often tell me it was unforgivable to shut down Japan Studio,” Yoshida says in translation provided by YouTube. “They say Japan Studio released so many great, creative games. Whenever I hear that, I explain what I was struggling with as the head of [first-party] development at the time, regarding creators like [Gravity Rush creator Keiichiro Toyama] and the rest of the team.”
He explains that staff at the studio “would come up with very creative ideas” but the games were never “large-scale projects”, describing them as AA size. While these “fit perfectly” for systems like PSP and PS Vita, Japan Studio struggled when Sony wanted to ramp things up for its home consoles.
“…As we shifted toward AAA titles for PS4 and PS5, scaling became quite difficult,” Yoshida says. “As a company, PlayStation needed games that would drive hardware sales, titles like God of War or Uncharted, so it was hard for Japan Studio to launch new console series.”
Apparently, Toyama “proposed many ideas”, but nothing that was able to “get the green light” before the studio was closed.
The silver lining, according to Yoshida, is that some of Japan Studio’s talent has been able to continue its work outside of Sony. For example, Toyama formed Bokeh Game Studio, which brought us Slitterhead. Likewise, Hiroyuki Kotani, best known for Patapon, has gone on to make a spiritual successor, Ratatan, with his own team.
“Because Japan Studio is gone and everyone has become an indie developer, they can now release new games on multiple platforms,” Yoshida says. “PlayStation users can play them, and I tell them, since Japan Studio closed, you can finally play Toyama’s new work, you can play Kotani’s new work.”
While it’s a shame to see first-party teams close their doors, it is nice to see some creators able to continue their work elsewhere.
