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[Kokoloko85]

As long as they keep the Astrobot team and the teams that support other studios to create games like Bloodborne, Shadow of Colossus, Demons Souls and Everybody‘s golf Im good.

Knack 1 and 2 were wastes of time Tbh. Resources could of been spent else where. Nothing really Lost.

It hasnt even been official they are closing teams down. Its not like Sony shy’s away from announcing closing teams down like Evolution and others.

Who knows whats happening but I doubt they get rid of the teams that have been successful recently.

I would like to see Japan Studios help with another studio to make that Rumoured Big JRPG though lol
Games like tokyo Jungle and Gravity rush will be missed though

 

[ShinraMiddleMananger]

99% of Japanese developers do not understand the market. They have zero confidence in their culture and think the western customer isn't intetested in their art. Thus, they hesitate to invest in AAA projects

 

[Harlock]

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Zeroing]

From about 2012 onwards Sony has had one of the most aggressive turn around in reputation and quality of their games development. As a whole they really managed to capitalise on PS4s success and make a name for themselves

Even smaller studios like Sony Bend and Suckerpunch managed to come out and make themselves big players in the AAA space

The one exception to this seemed to have been Japan Studio, whose output flat lined during the generation. Better associated now with attaching their name to projects from the likes of From Software and Bluepoint than creating games like Ape Escape or Siren

If you compare the output of studio Japan on PS3/PSP/Vita to now it is night and day. As fans we kind of sat around all gen wondering what they are working on. The biggest news to come from them this gen is that they went and lost their marquee man, Fumito Ueda

This is not to say they needed to copy the template of the Western studios or even be creating AAA games but they needed to do something to keep competitive with the ever improving Nintendo output in Japan. And when Sucker Punch goes and releases a game about Japan that outshines everything you’ve done this gen and is successful in Japan question marks should arise

I think

That’s what I’ve been saying! Since then there was multiple accounts on how the studio was having problems.

people get angry when Sony closes a studio or downsizes it but no other company would take so much time and money to make sure the studio would function well again!

evolution studios for example!

anyway I doubt Sony would ever close Japan studio! It was their first studio since the psone era if I am not mistaken.

they are posssibly downsizing and we will see more quirky little games! That is what I think the studio is know best for.

 

[Zeroing]

Wait they closed it? Ohhh

 

[EDMIX]

Which is not the case for this game.

Prove it by actually bring up the points man...

they would mainly sell and market this game in Japan, not for the entire world.

? They don't need to "mainly sell" in Japan to aim for that market.

Yakuza sells all over the world too.

The Last Of Us 2 sells all over the world too.

Clearly they are aiming for different markets, that doesn't mean in order to be focused on selling in Japan, they must NOT BE SELLING IT FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD. It doesn't even make sense, it tries to argue that it being absent from the rest of the world is the only way it could be seeking that target audience or something.

The reason why Sony is moving away from Japan is that it's not profitable for them. Simple as that

Yet a developer from Team Asobi got promoted?
Yet Sony bought Crunchy Roll?
Yet they fully funded Ghost Of Tsushima and a Demon Souls remake?

Yea that doesn't sound like they are moving away from Japan to me bud, that sounds like they have issues with SONY JAPAN IN GENERAL, NOT Japan as a country.

Sony compared their numbers and came to the conclusion that making games to a western audience was more profitable

Yea thats why they made Ghost Of Tsushima /s

they decided to sideline Japan.

Nah, they decided to restructure Sony Japan bud, thats it.... If they actually really wanted to "sideline Japan", you would have never saw something like Ghost Of Tsushima or Sony spending the money to buy Crunchy Roll (odd for a company that fucking hates Japan apparently) and you wouldn't see this...

'Astro Bot' Director Nicolas Doucet Takes Over as Head of Sony's JAPAN Studio

Nicolas Doucet, the Creative Director and Producer behind PSVR exclusive ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission (2018), has been promoted to Director of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s JAPAN Studio. As first reported by Gematsu, Doucet is said to continue his work as a creative director at SIE Japan Studio...

www.roadtovr.com

Sounds to me like the teams that did shit work got canned and the teams that did great work got promoted.

Thats it....

Would be like saying "Sony is sidelining racing games bro" cause Evolution gets closed (proceeds to ignore Wipeout omega collection, Destruction All Stars, GT Sport and GT7).

So no, they don't have a "racing" issue, they have a "Evolution studios" issue, no different then Sony Japan being the problem here and not Japan in general. Its hard to make that point when clearly another Japanese team UNDER SONY is getting promotions and moving huge units.

 

[Yoboman]

Building up individual teams like Asobi is the way forward for Sony Japan IMO

It’s more reminiscent of what they’ve done in the West. If they can build up 2 or 3 similar teams plus Polyphony then I think their Japan output will already be ahead of last gen

 

[packy34]

Hideo Kojima, derided the Battle Royale genre a year or two ago.

He doesn't understand the magic that Western developers do. He, and most of Japan, is a dinosaur.

Martin Scorcese derided the MCU too. Is Scorcese a dinosaur? Weird take.

"The market" is a complex animal that can sustain more than just a few key designs.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[EDMIX]

Already did, it's all there

Not really...

Yes they do. And it's why a lot of visual novels never got out of Japan

Nope. Some of the most popular games in Japan, still exist in the west like Pokemon, Mario, Zelda, Dragon quest etc. Mainly selling in Japan doesn't automatically mean it must ONLY sell in Japan. You are creating a limitation just to argue, now suddenly the game must NOT exist else where in order to really be focused on that market? smh. Ok pal...

And a lot of Japan Studio employees got fired.

Yea thats how that works, someone fucking being fired doesn't mean they have no interest in the country cause clearly someone fucking being promoted shows the issue was THAT TEAM IN GENERAL, not the entire region.

Unrelated to games. We're talking about Playstation.

Yet your statement is this...

Sony is moving away from Japan

Yet GT7 exist, Team Asobi is expanding, Ghost Of Tsushima exist, Demon Souls remake exist and they did a deal with Square for Final Fantasy, I'm sorry but none of those points sounds like a company even in regards to just PLAYSTATION doesn't care or have interest in Japan. You simply can't explain the existence of Ghost Of Tsushima, a AAA game literally about the very region you are claiming Sony is moving "away from".

Sounds to me like Sony is simply moving away from the actual TEAM "Sony Japan".

NOT JAPAN in general.

Sucker Punch and Bluepoint are not japanese developers

Crazy, its almost as if the talented developers got supported and funded to do those projects.....as if the fucking SUBJECT ABOUT JAPAN wasn't hte issue, but hmmmmm maybe a team in Japan that couldn't do those projects maybe? hmmmmmmm /s

I mean sir, you are literally proving my point. Nevermind they are not Japanese developers, they are NOT SONY JAPAN, it shows SONY HAS NO FUCKING ISSUE WITH Japanese titles, their issue clearly is with the team Sony Japan, to the point of actually even oking a project like Ghost to a team NOT SONY JAPAN. That should even show you JUST how much Sony didn't feel they could pull off such a concept

If it sells well it's good

Thats pretty much the point bud.... they sell well, their team got promoted, they are IN JAPAN. Clearly Sony had no fucking issue expanding their team cause their issue isn't with Japan, just like Sucker Punch got the funding and support for Ghost Of Tsushima....a fucking JAPANESE TITLE, cauuuuuuuuuuse they are NOT SONY JAPAN, they are a team that actually puts out successful titles often, thus got the funding.

You not seeing a pattern here or?

How come GT7 is being made? That doesn't fit your narrative or? I don't see anything in this that screams some master plan to "sideline Japan", all I see is the team Sony Japan struggling for several generations and being absorbed thru a team in Japan that actually has been successful in Team Asobi. If Sony truly felt that very japanese things wouldn't sell and are moving away from that, they would have never funded a team like Sucker Punch to do something like Ghost, clearly they feel nothing is wrong with the subject matter, simply that it needs a trusted, CAPABLE team to fucking do it. Thats not saying Sony won't support the east or is moving away from it, its simply saying they want trusted developers. As to why Team Asobi is expanding and not being shut down or something. You simply want to argue that narrative, but offer very little to support it.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Martin Scorcese derided the MCU too. Is Scorcese a dinosaur? Weird take.

"The market" is a complex animal that can sustain more than just a few key designs.

But the market can not sustain further Japanese game development because that area has been a money loser for Sony.

Martin Scorsese films are profitable. Japan has been a sinking ship for years.

I also think Western developers understand the strengths of the medium more than the Japanese. Videogames are better suited for play rather than authorship.

 

[Keihart]

Blaming Japan Studios poor performance on the sales front as the reason for it's downsizing it's as saying that water it's too wet. The studio was never a power house churning sales hits after sales hits, they were first and foremost a dev doing wacky shit with a budget, there were a lot small teams inside with lots of different projects at the same time. But somehow, out of anywhere, when the company it's supposedly thriving in cash it becomes a problem? nah, it doesn't add up.

The studio had a problem with dev times since PS3 days because of the amount of teams inside it and the bad management, someone probably searching for ways to increase profits saw a problem with Japan Studio and said, let's down size it, free cash flow! Thus why every team but Asobi didn't get to produce any game since 2017.

Also, lets not forget that there is no more small coproductions with sony japan anymore, there is no third party or production team left there, everyone was sacked or left by now. I hope that Shuhei's indie efforts somehow canalizes small japanese dev stuff, but the official word it's that all of it will be managed by the western teams now.

 

[Perrott]

They blew their shot at creating an ambitious high-budget PS4 title with a game that didn't even managed to get revealed after years of teases because it had to be cancelled.

And if you combine that with the fact that the studio released several underperforming titles in a row (The Last Guardian, Gravity Rush 2, Knack 2, Everybody's Golf), then it is pretty easy to understand why Sony decided to shutdown Japan Studio.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[EDMIX]

But somehow, out of anywhere, when the company it's supposedly thriving in cash it becomes a problem? nah, it doesn't add up.

It makes perfect sense though... a company have lots of money doesn't mean they will continue to support a underperforming team. EA, MS, Ubisoft and even Sony regardless of how much money they have, close down teams that under perform all the time. So the Company is thriving, that doesn't mean ALL THE TEAMS are all performing well.

The studio was never a power house churning sales hits after sales hits

I mean sure, but that further supports they haven't been making hit after hit....that literally supports the point of the team being absorbed into Team Asobi.

first and foremost a dev doing wacky shit with a budget

After The Last Guardian's development hell, that might be why Sony was seeking to restructure. They are like you said a team that first and foremost does wacky shit. They can continue to do that wachy shit under Team Asobi vs bigger budgets like Gravity Rush, The Last Guardian etc

So the fact that Team Asobi literally exist shows the issue was clearly with Japan Studio, to even have the rest of those developers go to that team further shows like you stated

bad management,

likely has to do with many of the issues at Japan Studio, as to why Sony would rather have Team Asobi now in charge of that studio. So the downsizing, restructuring, putting Asobi in charge all make sense. The company making money doesn't automatically mean they will suddenly waste it either. Too many publishers have shown that the COMPANY making lots of money doesn't' mean tehy will just have teams around making failure after failure or something. Sony has no history of that, just the opposite. Many things have shown that Sony will close down a team if it under performs. (shit MOST publishers do this, this isn't some new idea)


SlimeGooGoo Yea, nothing in your post actually really supports Sony seeking to sideline Japan. All this talks about is Japan Studio's issues, not Japan's issues in general. ie why GT7 exist. So not sure how they are going to sideline Japan yet put out "their only racing game" from a Team in Japan. You don't think that maybe you might be reaching with this Sony sideling Japan theory considering?

So one team gets promoted and expanding and in charge of Japan Studios.
One team gets downsized and absorbed into another team
Another team is about to put out Sony's flagship racing game.......

Sound like Sony is sideling Japan or Japan Studio ITSELF is just having issues? Make it make sense.

 

[ReBurn]

99% of Japanese developers do not understand the market. They have zero confidence in their culture and think the western customer isn't intetested in their art. Thus, they hesitate to invest in AAA projects.

For the most part western audiences aren't interested in their art. The number of Japanese games that hit in the west is actually kind of limited. The problem is that the Japanese audience isn't as interested in them as they used to be, either. The question is why?

 

[packy34]

But the market can not sustain further Japanese game development because that area has been a money loser for Sony.

Martin Scorsese films are profitable. Japan has been a sinking ship for years.

I also think Western developers understand the strengths of the medium more than the Japanese. Videogames are better suited for play rather than authorship.

I think you are either intentionally or unintentionally forgetting about Nintendo and their insane success with the Switch. Animal Crossing has crossed what, 30M sold? Zelda and SSB not far behind that number as well.

There are definitely *some* Japanese studios that have failed to meet evolving player expectations, but the same is also true for a lot of Western studios. Kojima is not someone I would lump in with the ones that are failing, either. DS was very successful (especially on PC), despite what you may read on here.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Aside from Nintendo games with Japanese flair (Pokemon, Monster Hunter, Zelda) and some fighting games like SF and more niche fighters like Guilty Gear or whatever, most Japanese games and franchises don't seem to do great overseas unless they seem westernized like RE, Gran Turismo etc... you know what I mean. More realistic and less quirky and anime.

Compare Japanese sales lists to US/Europe. The US/Europe top seller/top played lists are pretty similar. Europe skews a bit more to racing and soccer, US/Canada more to local sports (American football, NBA, hockey) and I think a bit more to shooters. But most of the stuff like GTA, COD, Assassin's Creed, Minecraft, etc.... all seem to be similarly popular. The Japanese best sellers lists are heavy anime, JRPG, quirky games you've never heard of and Nintendo.

Something happened starting the 360/PS3 era where it seemed that globally the regions used to have their share of common top played action and racing games. Sports is understandable as localized, but it seemed more balanced out for many other kinds of games like during the 16 bit days and PS1/PS2 eras.

What happened was western/Europe studios really changed to be more like PC-ish dev (big games with more complex controls, realism, open world, tons of online focus and competitive league play, and the social interaction of pissing each other off on head sets (LOL)). And NA/Europe gamers accepted it. Japanese gamers couldn't care less about something like Skyrim or blastathons like Doom or FIFA leagues.

So what you got are some Japanese studios struggling because the global market has shrunk liking their games (this isn't the PS2 era with shitloads of different games), and if you don't have it on mobile in Japan it's even worse because the Japanese console market fell through the toilet the past 10 years.

Now if Sony told their Japanese devs to cut the cord on console games and focus on mobile and tablet games, maybe it could have worked. But Sony doesn't want to do multiplats unless it's a 3 year old game on PC or touch mobile at all unless someone can stream PS Now on a different device.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Hideo Kojima, derided the Battle Royale genre a year or two ago.

He doesn't understand the magic that Western developers do. He, and most of Japan, is a dinosaur.

The problem with Japanese devs is mainly two fold IMO, which prevent them from global appeal:

1. They think in the modern age of gaming, their anime artistic flair or arcade roots gaming from generations ago is enough to draw people in. Maybe cute Nintendo games sell great and games like Hot Shots Golf and Ridge Racer did well 20 years ago, but not now

2. A lot of the success of modern games comes from the mish mash of [online/social/competitive/being your own custom character]. Whatever you want to classify these features, it makes western games played the most which also tags along mtx as people love interacting, competing and willingly spending extra $$$ to do it. The game doesn't even have to be ultra realistic like FIFA games with accurate player hair. Minecraft and Fortnite kinds of games do great.

Look at Japan's top selling games on Media Create lists. Totally skewed to Nintendo or local games nobody has heard of before. And if you dig into them they are weird games are total opposites of what mainstream rest of world plays.

So if any studio wants to be successful in Japan, you either got to be Nintendo with global appeal games, or focus on mobile (Japan hates consoles now) or those obscure local games. Sony asking Japan studios to make Japanese flavour games hoping to have mass appeal is a tough goal to give those employees.

 

[longdi]

Imo once jimbo signed up Jade Raymond, the OP thesis goes out of the window.

SCEJ got the axe because they didnt play nice with the type of games jimbo deem desirable.

 

[Virt McPolygon]

From about 2012 onwards Sony has had one of the most aggressive turn around in reputation and quality of their games development. As a whole they really managed to capitalise on PS4s success and make a name for themselves

Even smaller studios like Sony Bend and Suckerpunch managed to come out and make themselves big players in the AAA space

The one exception to this seemed to have been Japan Studio, whose output flat lined during the generation. Better associated now with attaching their name to projects from the likes of From Software and Bluepoint than creating games like Ape Escape or Siren

If you compare the output of studio Japan on PS3/PSP/Vita to now it is night and day. As fans we kind of sat around all gen wondering what they are working on. The biggest news to come from them this gen is that they went and lost their marquee man, Fumito Ueda

This is not to say they needed to copy the template of the Western studios or even be creating AAA games but they needed to do something to keep competitive with the ever improving Nintendo output in Japan. And when Sucker Punch goes and releases a game about Japan that outshines everything you’ve done this gen and is successful in Japan question marks should arise

I think Sony should be expanding and improving their Japanese output. But the previous leadership of Japan Studios were lethargic, resting on their laurels and needed replacing and expanding around that group would have been pissing away money

You have no idea what you're talking about. Japan Studio doesn't get to call shots.

They pitched many projects that were rejected by higher ups. Do some work in the industry before you create topics for your Hot Takes, blaming small divisions of a company. This is as ignorant as when people blame the QA department when a game releases with bugs.

 

[Yoboman]

You have no idea what you're talking about. Japan Studio doesn't get to call shots.

They pitched many projects that were rejected by higher ups. Do some work in the industry before you create topics for your Hot Takes, blaming small divisions of a company. This is as ignorant as when people blame the QA department when a game releases with bugs.

If Naughty dog spent a decade pissing around with pet projects that never get off the ground, cancelled games and really had nothing to their resume for that time period I would be critical of Naughty Dog, not Sony

Why does Studio Japan get a free pass on their inactivity?

 

[Keihart]

If Naughty dog spent a decade pissing around with pet projects that never get off the ground, cancelled games and really had nothing to their resume for that time period I would be critical of Naughty Dog, not Sony

Why does Studio Japan get a free pass on their inactivity?

Because expectations of what was the mission of the studio to begin with. They were not tasked to create blockbusters or to follow mainstream appeal.

 

[Blond]

Hot take? It's the entirely correct take.

To add to the points you made, Japan Studio were allowed to make a potential AAA franchise in Gravity Rush, forming Team Gravity to do so. After a promising start, they delivered one of the worst first party Sony games of the decade in Gravity Rush 2, and it bombed as a result. Bad sales could be excused if the team had promise, but the game was just rotten, so poorly designed and programmed - a ton of art and music talent supporting nothing from a game design standpoint.

From that point on they had blown their shot and were doomed.

Thank god I’m not the only one who was let down with Gravity Rush 2, especially considering it didn’t look better than the remastered game and ran at half the frame rate.

 

[Virt McPolygon]

If Naughty dog spent a decade pissing around with pet projects that never get off the ground, cancelled games and really had nothing to their resume for that time period I would be critical of Naughty Dog, not Sony

Why does Studio Japan get a free pass on their inactivity?

Naughty Dog and Japan Studio?

Apples and oranges both in terms of design philosophies, budget histories and marketability. You can't hold two totally different entities to the same standard. Wtf is this?

 

[Heisenberg007]

Excellent point. I can't remember the last time Japan Studio (internally) developed and published a game that was a commercial and critical success.

I kept waiting for Rayspace, and it never came. Games like The Last Guardian took 6-8 years to develop and release. Games like Gravity Rush couldn't resonate with most gamers. The only bright spot was Astrobot VR and Astrobot PS5. It's not surprising that that's the only team left there now, and the studio will grow around that team and leadership.

Japan Studio was huge and must have been costing Sony a fortune. If Sony can save and invest that money elsewhere (in an EU, US, or even a Chinese/Korean studio), we'd likely get 2-4 additional games this generation than we'd have got with Japan Studio.

 

[Yoboman]

Naughty Dog and Japan Studio?

Apples and oranges both in terms of design philosophies, budget histories and marketability. You can't hold two totally different entities to the same standard. Wtf is this?

Japan Studio wasn’t even succeeding in their own philosophy, nor within their own budgets if that is the standard we are holding them to

 

[Le Big Mac]

It's a bit of both. Sony closed down Liverpool Studio (wipeout vita) and Evolution studio (motorstorm apocalypse) over middling sales on their latest product.

It's brutal but they released games in markets or at times where they didn't stand a chance which smacks of mismanagement by Sony. I feel a similar case has happened with Sony Japan studio.

 

[Redlancet]

Thats not a hot take, thats reality

 

[HE1NZ]

Japan just couldn't make a cinematic over the shoulder template Sony game. They had to go.

 

[Team Andromeda]

I thought SONY were the best ever at running studios?. I like the Irony just how it's only MS or EA that closed down or sell off studios. Letting America call the shots isn't the best move for SONY IMO.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

The best game Japan Studio made in the last 8 years is Astro Bot Rescue Mission. Team Asobi made it in 18 months. Only like 25 devs. It has a 90 metacritic, sold well, and is Sony's best VR game. Then they made Astro's Playroom quickly and everyone who's played it on PS5 enjoyed that one too. Astro Bot has become a new popular PlayStation character. Nothing else made by Japan Studio in the last 8 years has actually been made on time, and sold well, and got good reviews, and also created a new successful character / franchise worldwide. That's why Sony is just focusing on Team Asobi now. They're talented, profitable, and produce.

PS4 lifecycle was series of failures for Japan Studio (other than Asobi):
- Knack 1/2 - bad reviews, medicore sales
- Gravity Rush 1/2 - poor sales (and this team has made nothing new since 2014)
- Last Guardian - 10 year dev cycle, over budget, low sales, dev hell so bad they fired Ueda and hired outside help to finish it

Everything else to come out of Japan Studio was only co-developed with other studios doing most of the work: Bloodborne was From Software, Everybody's Golf was Clap Hanz, Shadow of the Colossus and Demon's Souls Remakes were Bluepoint, etc. Japan Studio were just XDev really, helping external devs make 1st party games.

Sony are smart to focus on Team Asobi. They have a bright future with Astro Bot on PS5 & PSVR2.

They make one of the best of all time... so Nothing is not a good answer of your part.


They were to blame for not marketing their wonderful games

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Of course it is, their output was terribly low and their titles sold very little compared to the investment. I love japanese games and it's what I mainly play, but Japan Studios needed to be doing games of the quality and sell potential of something like RE2 Remake rather than artsy games that took forever to do like The Last Guardian that don't sell, terrible games like Knack 1 and 2 or games of middling quality like Gravity Rush that don't sell. It just didn't make sense to keep them around for that kind of output.

you are wrong.

Gravity rush is a game of a lot of quality and I can show it to you

 

[Panajev2001a]

From about 2012 onwards Sony has had one of the most aggressive turn around in reputation and quality of their games development. As a whole they really managed to capitalise on PS4s success and make a name for themselves

Even smaller studios like Sony Bend and Suckerpunch managed to come out and make themselves big players in the AAA space

The one exception to this seemed to have been Japan Studio, whose output flat lined during the generation. Better associated now with attaching their name to projects from the likes of From Software and Bluepoint than creating games like Ape Escape or Siren

If you compare the output of studio Japan on PS3/PSP/Vita to now it is night and day. As fans we kind of sat around all gen wondering what they are working on. The biggest news to come from them this gen is that they went and lost their marquee man, Fumito Ueda

This is not to say they needed to copy the template of the Western studios or even be creating AAA games but they needed to do something to keep competitive with the ever improving Nintendo output in Japan. And when Sucker Punch goes and releases a game about Japan that outshines everything you’ve done this gen and is successful in Japan question marks should arise

I think Sony should be expanding and improving their Japanese output. But the previous leadership of Japan Studios were lethargic, resting on their laurels and needed replacing and expanding around that group would have been pissing away money

Not sure what happened without any real insider reports, but superficially they were chaotic and a bit over committing in the PS2/PS3/PSP generations and then Alan Becker from Sony SM became GM/Studio Head for Japan Studio and started to butt head trying to make it into a normal Western Studio with fixed teams and reduced priorities... fast forward a few years and they are closing the studio (it sounds like a rushed / forced corporate Agile transformation gone... well... wrong/as expected depending on how cynic you are):

Behind the Scenes at JAPAN Studio with Allan Becker

Earlier today we unveiled a trio of new PS Vita titles coming out of our JAPAN Studio over in Tokyo: Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines, Soul Sacrifice Delta and Freedom Wars. For those unfamiliar with the studio and its heritage, it’s one of Sony Worldwide Studios most interesting assets, responsible...

blog.playstation.com

Reaction: Japan Studio's Disbandment Is Disappointing, But Not Surprising

Sammy argues the writing was on the wall

www.pushsquare.com

More shake-ups at Sony occur, as SIE Japan Studio gets a new Studio Director - KitGuru

In the lead up to the PlayStation 5’s release, Sony appears to be going through a great deal of corp

www.kitguru.net

IMHO, JAPAN Studio should have been kept for A and AA titles (provide variety, auteur titles, pad release schedule without costing hundreds of millions) and as a support studio for the region.

So, either Alan Becker tried to save something which was already doomed (see Push Square’s article) or tried to convert the Studio into an AAA churning publisher like Santa Monica/ND/Guerrilla Games/Square-Enix but quickly and without as much budget maybe.

A detailed post-mortem would be nice, but losing the quirky, fun, non AAA Japanese authors made games that JAPAN Studio made over the years is a BIG loss for me as a gamer.

 

[Panajev2001a]

This audience is not Japan

Ghost of Tsushima devs to be made permanent ambassadors of the real island | VGC

Creative leads to be honoured for spreading “the name and history” of Tsushima…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Ghost Of Tsushima Is Being Praised By Japanese Critics

So far, the critical consensus is that Ghost of Tsushima does an admirable job of bringing 13th century Japan to life.

kotaku.com

Yakuza Director Heaps Praise on Ghost of Tsushima, Laments Restrictions of Japanese Game Development

"To be honest, we were beaten"

www.pushsquare.com

... yeah... clearly not .

 

[Azurro]

you are wrong.

Gravity rush is a game of a lot of quality and I can show it to you

Man, and I don't want to kink shame, you do you, but just because you want to have sexual intercourse with the anime protagonist doesn't mean the game is great.

Already did, it's all there Yes they do. And it's why a lot of visual novels never got out of Japan, it doesn't sell as well for outside markets. And a lot of Japan Studio employees got fired.

Sucker Punch and Bluepoint are not japanese developers, and we all know how they "westernized" Demon's Souls

If it sells well it's good, otherwise it's "shit work".
Marketing and millionary investments plays no part in that, got it.

You haven't proven your point, your criteria for games aimed at japan is too reductive, you are saying only games that only perform well in Japan count which is silly because then Mario, Pokemon, Persona, Dark Souls, Bloodborne suddenly are not japanese games.

Japan Studio is getting restructured because it didn't perform, it was not capable of offering titles in time, with appeal that sold. That's literally it, there's no movement to move away from Japan.

 

[Hypereides]

Of course it is, their output was terribly low and their titles sold very little compared to the investment. I love japanese games and it's what I mainly play, but Japan Studios needed to be doing games of the quality and sell potential of something like RE2 Remake rather than artsy games that took forever to do like The Last Guardian that don't sell, terrible games like Knack 1 and 2 or games of middling quality like Gravity Rush that don't sell. It just didn't make sense to keep them around for that kind of output.

Hol' up.

...and this is just from their two most recent generations.

Are you telling me this is low?

 

[Carter Burke]

I don't understand why they didn't keep at least a team to continue porting PS legacy games like Parappa The Rapper. I don't like LocoRoco and Patapon too much but there are a lot of games that I would love to play again. Sony doesn't respect its legacy. No BC console with at least PS1/PS2, they shut down its japan studios...

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Man, and I don't want to kink shame, you do you, but just because you want to have sexual intercourse with the anime protagonist doesn't mean the game is great.

Like when you insult even though I write to you with respect?

If you are going to give an opinion, you have the right, but im critical when things that are wrong.

And your opinión is wrong

 

[Azurro]

Like when you insult even though I write to you with respect?

If you are going to give an opinion, you have the right, but im critical when things that are wrong.

And your opinión is wrong

You do have a bit of a weird fascination with the protagonist, I don't mean to insult you, but that's the impression you give.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

You do have a bit of a weird fascination with the protagonist, I don't mean to insult you, but that's the impression you give.

I don't see that it is wrong to show my passion and fanaticism in a game of excellent quality.

I do not criticize your opinion. But why do you have to come and insult me when I don't do it with you?

 

[Rean no Kiseki]

...and this is just from their two most recent generations.

Are you telling me this is low?

-Bloodborne was developed by Fromsoftware JS only produced as noted by the credits.
-The Tomorrow Children was developed by Q-Games JS was again only producing/doing logistic stuff.
-The Last Guardian was developed by GenDesign (Ueda's studio) with support by JS.
-PaRappa the Rapper was developed by NanaOn-Sha (the original PS1 release) and by ePix (PSP/PS4 remaster) again JS did the logistics.
And on and on and on you get the point.

All of these games were made by external studios with JS producing AKA not really developing shit!

There were 3 teams inside JS that developed internally (Team Ico, Team Gravity/Siren, and Team ASOBI).

JS was a bloated studio that mostly worked as a support studio, mainly handling logistics (pitching the ideas and getting the money/budget from the higher ups) and doing localization for western titles like GoT.

 

[Onironauta]

Quality does not pay-off. They developed and produced some of the most innovative games on the market.
Is it their fault if the average player prefers some Battle Royale turd over something like The Last Guardian?

 

[SkylineRKR]

More of a focus on Asobi is the only right thing to do. The rest of Japan studio has proven to be fairly useless over the last decade. Astrobot games are of EAD quality. This isn't a hyperbole. They're really well done and there isn't much like it on the Playstation platform.

 

[kyliethicc]

-Bloodborne was developed by Fromsoftware JS only produced as noted by the credits.
-The Tomorrow Children was developed by Q-Games JS was again only producing/doing logistic stuff.
-The Last Guardian was developed by GenDesign (Ueda's studio) with support by JS.
-PaRappa the Rapper was developed by NanaOn-Sha (the original PS1 release) and by ePix (PSP/PS4 remaster) again JS did the logistics.
And on and on and on you get the point.

All of these games were made by external studios with JS producing AKA not really developing shit!

There were 3 teams inside JS that developed internally (Team Ico, Team Gravity/Siren, and Team ASOBI).

JS was a bloated studio that mostly worked as a support studio, mainly handling logistics (pitching the ideas and getting the money/budget from the higher ups) and doing localization for western titles like GoT.

Just a heads up. Japan Studio themselves (Team Ico) made The Last Guardian, that was Ueda's team.

The issue was The Last Guardian was in such bad development hell that Sony fired Ueda and had to hire new people to finish the game, keeping Ueda on as an external contractor to let him help finish his Ico, Shadow, Guardian trilogy. GenDesign was only created because Sony fired him back in 2011. They had let him make his game for 5 years and he still had nothing. It then took 5 more years to ship.

So really Team Ico died in 2011. Then once TLG shipped in 2016, Ueda (and Team Ico) were completely done at Japan Studio. Some of those same devs made Knack and Knack 2, btw.

So after Last Guardian, Knack 2, and Gravity Rush 2 all flopped, Sony clearly shifted Japan Studio to just doing ports/support work while letting Team Asobi making Astro Bot games. It was a smart move.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Aquanaut for example was done by Artdink. I should know, I sold it last year and bought a PS5 for it. Good (hidden) memories. Didn't even have a PS3 anymore anyway and the game kinda sucks.

And Knack, I know its a meme but its a piece of shit game that should've been replaced by Astrobot in terms of 2 full retail releases which is a 100 times better franchise (also for kids). For some very weird reason Sony had more faith in Knack apparently.

 

[SilentUser]

You are not wrong, but I will miss the quirky games they produced, GR2 remains one of my favorite PS4 exclusive.

But, perhaps what Sony is doing will improve the way the studio works and make them produce more, their output was way too low considering how big they were (going by what people are saying here).

 

[Kokoloko85]

Ummm when was this taken and who are they?