PlayStation Studios

PlayStation Studios (formerly SCE Worldwide Studios and SIE Worldwide Studios) is a division of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) that oversees the video game development at the studios owned by SIE. The division was established as SCE Worldwide Studios in September 2005 and rebranded as PlayStation Studios in 2020.

PlayStation Studios
Formerly
  • SCE Worldwide Studios (2005–2016)
  • SIE Worldwide Studios (2016–2020)
TypeDivision
IndustryVideo games
FoundedSeptember 14, 2005 (2005-09-14)
Headquarters
San Mateo, California
Key people
Hermen Hulst (president)
Number of employees
≈4,000[1] (2022)
ParentSony Interactive Entertainment
SubsidiariesSee § Studios
Websiteplaystation.com/en-us/corporate/playstation-studios/

History

On September 14, 2005, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE, now known as Sony Interactive Entertainment), the video game arm of Sony, announced the formation of SCE Worldwide Studios, combining all studios SCE owned at the time. Phil Harrison was appointed as the division's president.[2] Shuhei Yoshida succeeded him in May 2008.[3] When Yoshida moved to lead the indie game development of SIE, Hermen Hulst, previously of SIE's Guerrilla Games studio, became the president of SIE Worldwide Studios in November 2019.[4] The studios productions are generally supported by the Visual Arts Services Group, founded in 2007 in San Diego.[5]

SIE announced the rebranding of the division to PlayStation Studios in May 2020 as part of the introduction of the PlayStation 5, which was released later that year. PlayStation Studios serves as the publishing brand for Sony's first-party development studios, as well as for games developed by studios brought in by Sony in work-for-hire situations.[6]

In 2022, Sony stated half of its first-party PlayStation Studios games will be on personal computers (PC) and mobile by 2025.[7] In August 2022, SIE announced the formation of the PlayStation Studios Mobile Division, alongside the acquisition of the company's first mobile development team, Savage Game Studios.[8]

Studios
Name Location/s Founded Acquired Notes
Bend Studio Bend, Oregon 1993[9] 2000[9] Developer of the Syphon Filter series and Days Gone[9]
Bluepoint Games Austin, Texas 2006[10] 2021[11] The studio specializes in video game remasters and remakes, such as Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, Shadow of the Colossus and Demon's Souls[9]
Fabrik Games Manchester 2014[12] 2021[lower-alpha 1] Support studio of Firesprite[12]
Firesprite Liverpool 2012[13] 2021[14] Developer of virtual reality titles for PlayStation VR and titles outside of PlayStation Studios's main offerings[9]
Firewalk Studios Bellevue, Washington 2018[15] 2023[15] Developer of Concord[16]
Guerrilla Games Amsterdam 2000[9] 2005[9] Developer of the Killzone, and Horizon series[9]
Haven Studios Montreal, Quebec 2021[17] 2022[17] Developer of Fairgame$[18]
Housemarque Helsinki 1995[19] 2021[20] Developer of Super Stardust HD, Resogun and Returnal[9]
Insomniac Games Burbank, California & Durham, North Carolina[21] 1994[9] 2019[22] Developer of the Ratchet & Clank, Resistance, and Marvel's Spider-Man series[9]
London Studio London 2002[9] — Developer of the SingStar series, EyePet and virtual reality titles such as PlayStation VR Worlds and Blood & Truth[9]
Media Molecule Guildford 2006[9] 2010[9] Developer of LittleBigPlanet series and Dreams[9]
Naughty Dog Santa Monica, California 1984[9] 2001[9] Developer of Jak and Daxter series, Uncharted series and The Last of Us series[9]
Nixxes Software Utrecht 1999[9] 2021[23] Support studio known for porting games to Microsoft Windows, development support and game optimization[9]
Polyphony Digital Tokyo 1998[9] — Developer of Gran Turismo series[9]
San Diego Studio San Diego, California 2001[9] — Developer of the MLB: The Show series for multiple platforms[9]
San Mateo Studio San Mateo, California 1998[24] — Support studio for second-party developers[25]
Santa Monica Studio Los Angeles, California 1999[9] — Developer of God of War series[9]
Savage Game Studios Berlin & Helsinki 2020[8] 2022[8] Mobile video game developer[8]
Sucker Punch Productions Bellevue, Washington 1997[9] 2011[9] Developer of Sly Cooper series, Infamous series, and Ghost of Tsushima[9]
Team Asobi Tokyo 2021[lower-alpha 2] — Developer of The Playroom, Astro Bot Rescue Mission and Astro's Playroom[9]
Valkyrie Entertainment Seattle, Washington 2002[27] 2021[27] Support studio for various franchises such as Infamous, God of War and Twisted Metal[9]
XDev Liverpool 2000[9] — Works with external developers with third-party projects, such as Until Dawn and Detroit: Become Human[9]

Former
Name Location Founded Acquired Divested Fate
Bigbig Studios Leamington Spa 2001[28] 2007[29] 2012[28] Closed[28]
Evolution Studios Runcorn 1999[29] 2007[29] 2016[30] Closed[30]
Guerrilla Cambridge Cambridge 1997[31] — 2017[31] Closed[31]
Incognito Entertainment Salt Lake City, Utah 1999[32] 2002[32] 2009[33] Closed[33]
Japan Studio Tokyo 1993[9] — 2021[34] Reorganized within SIE, primarily to Team Asobi[26]
Manchester Studio Manchester 2015[9] — 2020[35] Closed[35]
Pixelopus San Mateo, California 2014[9] — 2023 Closed[36]
Studio Liverpool Liverpool 1984[29] 1993[29] 2012[37] Closed[37]
Zipper Interactive Redmond, Washington 1995[38] 2006[29] 2012[38] Closed[38]

Notable studios

Firewalk Studios
Firewalk Studios logo

Firewalk Studios is an American video game developer based in Bellevue, Washington. The studio was founded in 2018 by former Bungie CEO Harold Ryan and was part of ProbablyMonster until Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired the studio in 2023.[39][40]

On September 3, 2021, Firewalk Studios announced they are working on a live-service multiplayer game with ProbablyMonsters for PlayStation 5 and Windows, to be published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.[41] On April 20, 2023, ProbablyMonsters sold the studio to Sony Interactive Entertainment.[42]

XDev

XDev, established in 2000 and based in Liverpool,[9] collaborates with independent development studios to publish content for PlayStation platforms. XDev has helped to create and publish titles such as the LittleBigPlanet, Buzz!, MotorStorm and Invizimals series, Super Stardust HD, Heavenly Sword, Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, Tearaway and Resogun. Partners include Quantic Dream, Magenta Software, Climax Studios, Novarama, Supermassive Games and Sumo Digital. In addition to funding projects, XDev offers production, project management and game design support. Games are supported by community management, online production and outsourcing management facilities. XDev works with marketing and public relations teams to promote and publish games worldwide.[43][44]

Notes
  1. Acquired by Firesprite, making Fabrik Games an indirect subsidiary of PlayStation Studios[12]
  2. Team Asobi was first established in 2012 as an internal team of Japan Studio, and was spun off as its own independent studio in 2021.[26]

References
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