Feature: What PS4 Exclusives Are Sony's First-Party Studios Making?

Sony has, without question, the largest pool of first-party developers in the industry. Worldwide Studios consists of 12 developers at the time of typing, each with their own identity, production ethos, and PlayStation 4 projects in the works. Given that we're still a few weeks away from E3, we thought that it would be entertaining to tour the globe and take a look at just what each team is up to. In this article you'll find everything from information on announced exclusives all the way through to rumours regarding unannounced releases. And if you can't be bothered with all of the text, do check out the video embedded above as well.

Japan Studio

Announced Projects: Gravity Rush 2, New Hot Shots Golf, The Last Guardian
Rumoured Projects: Bloodborne 2, Knack 2

Despite being one of Sony's biggest developers, Japan Studio was in disarray up until recently. Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida specially recruited Sony Santa Monica founder Allan Becker to steady the ship, and he's slowly turning the Tokyo-based outfit into a powerhouse. The team's currently working on Gravity Rush 2 and The Last Guardian internally, while it'll no doubt be lending support to Clap Hanz on New Hot Shots Golf. But that's not all: a Chinese animator recently indicated that the platform holder may be prepping a Knack sequel, and we have to imagine that it will be eager to work with From Software again on a Bloodborne successor of some kind.

Polyphony Digital

Announced Projects: Gran Turismo Sport

Kazunori Yamauchi and crew have gone eerily quiet since the announcement of Gran Turismo Sport at Paris Games Week last year, but we're sure that the simulation racer will re-emerge at E3 later in the year. This e-sports-esque spin on the world's most famous virtual automotive adaptation is set to get a beta in 2016, so we're certain that we'll be hearing a lot more about it soon.

Guerrilla Games

Announced Projects: Horizon: Zero Dawn

Whether it will actually make it out in 2016 or not, there's no question that Guerrilla Games may have struck gold with Horizon: Zero Dawn – now it just has to meet expectations. Easily winning our Game of the Show at last year's E3, this post-post-apocalyptic role-playing game has all of the ingredients of a smash hit: robo-dinosaurs, beautiful vistas, and high-octane arrow-based combat. After a decade or so staring into the orange eyes of the Helghast, we just want the Amsterdam-based outfit to take its time on this title and get it right.

Guerrilla Cambridge

Announced Projects: RIGS: Mechanized Combat League

Guerrilla Cambridge is one of several first-party Sony developers pouring all of its resources into PlayStation VR right now, with RIGS: Mechanized Combat League shaping up to be the standout launch title when it arrives alongside the manufacturer's magical mask in October. The game – a fusion of Rocket League-esque future sports and mechs – plays like an arena-based first-person shooter with a basketball twist, as you must steer your supercharged suit through a ring in the centre of the screen in order to score for your team.

London Studio

Announced Projects: PlayStation VR Worlds

Singstar maker London Studio has been riding the PlayStation VR hype train since the moment that the headset was announced, and it's probably spent a little too much money on tech demos in the interim. PlayStation VR Worlds, then, seems like an odd project: a compilation of mini-experiences that it's spent the past few years making, all rolled into one conspicuously inconsistent package. This will certainly be a showpiece, but we're concerned as to whether it will have any longevity at all.

Media Molecule

Announced Projects: Dreams

What is Dreams? We've got to be honest, we still haven't got a clue what Media Molecule has spent the past five or so years making – and it's already appeared at multiple trade shows. The game seems to represent the next generation of Play Create Share, packing mind-bogglingly powerful sculpting mechanics and more. The worry is that this title doesn't have the immediately obvious hook of a LittleBigPlanet, and so the Guildford-based studio's going to have to work incredibly hard explaining exactly what this game is before the year is out.

North West Studio

Rumoured Projects: PlayStation VR Game

The newest addition to Sony's Worldwide Studios, we don't really know anything about North West Studio yet – well, aside from the fact that it's based in Manchester. The studio's been hiring for a virtual reality project for a while, so it's safe to assume that it will be focusing on PlayStation VR. What will it actually be making, though? We genuinely don't have a clue – and given the recent formation of the firm, we doubt that we'll be learning anything any time soon.

Sony San Diego

Announced Projects: Drawn to Death, Killstrain
Rumoured Projects: MLB 17: The Show

The most recent developer in Sony's stable to actually ship a game, it's safe to assume that Sony San Diego will start work on MLB 17: The Show any day now. However, the sports-based developer is starting to spread its wings a little, helping bring free-to-play projects like Killstrain and Drawn to Death to market. We expect it to continue this experimentation phase, while the bulk of its team focuses on its uber-popular baseball brand.

Sony Bend

Rumoured Projects: Dead Don't Ride

Sony Bend's been the source of speculation for many years now, with the persistent rumour suggesting that the Syphon Filter developer is making an open world horror game. We recently reported on some more rumours regarding that, with the name purported to be Dead Don't Ride. According to shaky sources, it will see motorcycle gangs facing off against the undead, which is an unusual premise – but could be cool. This one will surely show up at E3 later in the year.

Sucker Punch

Rumoured Projects: Open World Action Game

All we really know about Sucker Punch is that it's working on an open world action game, with either an inFAMOUS sequel or an all-new intellectual property being the likeliest candidates. However, there has been the smallest sliver of speculation just lately that Sony may be working on an exclusive Spider-Man project, and the Seattle-based studio would be a superb fit for that. Could it happen? It's certainly possible – but our Spider-Senses aren't tingling just yet. Let's wait and see.

Sony Santa Monica

Announced Projects: Bound, The Modern Zombie Taxi Co., Wattam, What Remains of Edith Finch
Rumoured Projects: God of War IV

Given its fruitful external development department, Sony Santa Monica may just be the most industrious studio in the Japanese giant's portfolio. However, while the likes of Bound and What Remains of Edith Finch look spectacular, it's the developer's internal project that has the industry's attention piqued. This is, of course, almost certain to be God of War IV, with recent rumours suggesting that Kratos will be whisked away to Norse mythology in order to damage a dozen or so more deities. We're yet to be convinced by the premise, but you can rest assured that this is going to look ridiculously good.

Naughty Dog

Announced Projects: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Rumoured Projects: The Last of Us 2

We know what Naughty Dog's working on because it's out in a matter of days now: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. It's more interesting, then, to consider what it may tackle next. We know that it's going to create one single player add-on for Nathan Drake's latest escapade, but beyond that, it's said that it was at one point prototyping a possible The Last of Us sequel. Given the ginormous success of the survival horror, we genuinely can't envision the Californian company making anything else at this point. The question is: will Joel and Ellie return?

Our tour of Sony's Worldwide Studios is complete, then – but which projects are you excited for and which couldn't you care less about? Board the hype train and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.