Don't Worry, Sony's Most Recognisable Studios Are Still Focused on Single Player PS5 Games

What is it mean for "partner studios" for Bluepoint? I thought they also working on single player games.

But this list really looks smaller after Japan Studio and London Studios got axed :/

@PuppetMaster Bluepoint are supposedly making an original game but they are also available for technical and development assistance.

They did support work on Ragnarok.

@LowDefAl I see. No wonder they've been silent for 4 years after Demon's Souls remake. But with GOW Ragnarok done, i hope they can go back on working their original game.

I hope at least one of the single player studios announce something today!

Interesting to see Bend in the multi genre, and I guess Guerilla is in there with all the horizon projects they're cooking

I’m guessing the bend open world game will have multiplayer elements. I believe that was part of the Days Gone 2 pitch as well.

Less tell and more show please

What in John Lennon's name is BluePoint up to? Nearly 4 years and not a peep. In fact, you could say that about half these studios.

I'm just gonna put it out there, Da Vinci painted the Sistine Chapel in four years. With a damn paintbrush, on pulleys. These lengthy release cycles are not cool. What even is that, two games per gen, per studio? What is going on around here?

I wanna talk to the manager lol.

Team ASOBI making a narrative driven story game surely confirms the Astro Bot rumours.

So Bluepoint aren't making their own games anymore?

While I'll always be down for Naughty Dog's next single player game it's a shame we probably won't see them do anything multiplayer related ever again or at least for the near future. Uncharted and TLOU have fantastic multiplayer modes but it seems like they just never got enough credit.

And after the whole TLOU Online debacle I don't think they are ever going to enter that arena ever again.

Horizon is a great tech demo. The characters are weak sauce. Please bring back the dark Killzone games! As among PS5 owners I know many don’t rave about Horizon. Not sure why Sony thinks it’s so desirable to have more of it. I think many would prefer to see more from the Mature last of us universe.

Well yeah didn't they shut down most of the live service/multiplatform games in development? That's one way to focus on single-player I guess.

@Korgon It's not even that they didn't get credit, it's just that a static multiplayer mode that doesn't refresh and update itself constantly, no matter how well-made, doesn't seem to be able to hold a playerbase nowadays.

This is good to know. I'm sure this drought/delay/ whatever we want to call it is at least partly due to Sony flailing about, but mostly it's simply due to video games taking so long to make.

@Ricky63
Yeah your definitely not wrong. It seems like if it isn't a live service title there just isn't room anymore for a static multiplayer game sadly.

@UnlimitedSevens Da Vinci didn’t paint the sistene chapel in four years, the ceiling was painted from 1508-1512 by renaissance painter Michelangelo.

@PSme

Well I just gotta take the L on this. But 4 years though right? That's what I get for going from my own memory and not pre-Googling that. Ninja Turtles ruined me... Well, at least I didn't say Donatello.

Hmm really hope that Bluepoints game hasn't been quietly cancelled and they're just a support studio now

Yes, they're all single player action adventure games, lots of various, almost becoming Ubisoft but not nearly as formulaic.

@UnlimitedSevens no L dude👍🏻, I just studied renaissance art and history at university. History is a bit sketchy on Da Vinci’s input with regards to the Sistine Chapel. Both artists knew and respected each other but didn’t get along with other. And you are quite correct in the time frame of four years.

If you ever get the chance to visit the chapel, I highly recommend it. Pictures do no justice. Has to be seen to appreciate it.

Take care 👍🏻

Yeah I do worry, because for example Naughty Dog were shifted into the live service scene, then they dropped it after years of development to the point where we may not see a tentpole single-player game from them in years, I guess the end of this gen at the earliest.

Moving on to the others: Guerilla, Santa Monica and Insomniac released their tentpole games not that long ago, so we're really left with Sucker Punch releasing their safe sequel to Ghost of Tsushima by the end of 2025. I expect something like how GoW: Ragnarok, HFW or Spooder-Man 2 were, not really moving the needle by much or be as impactful compared to the first installment (in the case of GoW I mean the 2018 game).

Rant over.

@UnlimitedSevens It was 2.5 years between SOTC and DS, and that was mostly replacing the art.

4 years to build a game from scratch, with 70 people, while helping another studio doesn't seem that unusual.

@Sacrosanctus it was reported naughty dog was also working on other games long with the multiplayer last of us game , so i think it might be sooner then you think.

Santa Monica studio next game should be interesting.and we will see how all the other games turn out to be.word up son

I wouldn't put blue point as a partner studio. They were bought to remake classics and they are making a new ip.

If thats the case santa monic would be in that list, they've helped many a studio.

Bloody hell. Sony are actually communicating.

Good news this though even though I would suspect future games are a way off it's good to know their brightest studios known for single player have been moved back to what they do best.

@UnlimitedSevens Yeah, but were Michelangelo (or Da Vinci) limited by 40 hrs/week anti-crunch labor laws? 😜
I’m kidding of course. Because we all know these studios don’t adhere to those rules anyways. 😅

But I love your post. Made me laugh. Mostly because I’ve been wondering the same thing. COVID notwithstanding it seems like game development progress is walking is quicksand lately.

@Vaako007 I think the last Killzone game sold well under a million copies and Horizon is Sony’s sixth best selling franchise. Killzone is deader than dead.

Huh... i wonder what this means for Bend Studio.
I am still hoping for a Syphon Filter revival of some sort.
There is a real hole in the market for espionage games now that MGS fell through the cracks.

@Bez87 Think of it more like they are going to be supplemental to other teams in terms of remakes potentially. Like how nixxes is the pc port team.

Do find it very interesting that bungie is included in this listing considering they were supposed to be a different vertical more so

Surprised about Bluepoint. I'm assuming that means one of the cancelled projects from Feb is actually that Bluepoint new IP and they're back on their traditional remake duty.

Not sure what to make of the "evolving an multi" genre with Polyphony and Guerilla in there.

@Fishmasterflex96 I’d wager Sony is hoping Marathon can pull PC players into the PS environment, and could see franchise collaboration of Sony titles with Marathon’s content. Bungie, yes, is meant to provide guidance on Live Service development as you say, but Sony still reaps the revenue on their future projects. I could see them (Sony) using this opportunity to glamorize their own IPs within the game if it really takes off.

@Enriesto Sony is stupid if they think pc players are going to leave their platform. Like you said of course they are going to greatly benefit if marathon blows up and does well

Sorry, but I would still prefer to see double that in the single player narrative section (with less in the others obviously) - thats a key reason why i have bought PS consoles.

So umm has anyone heard from Firesprite? They seem to be making a game but are nowhere to be found.

Is Neo Koi new? Never heard of this acquisition

@Th3solution

I'm sure - because most companies are taking massive time on these AAA projects - there is of course something to it. More complex, bigger, something like that. A few are more efficient with things, like Capcom and Insomniac so it's not every single one, but most.

But I swear video game development is becoming like the construction industry with the delays and inflated project times. It's really hard to get excited about anything when about 1/12 of your life elapses between each release.

All we can do is joke I guess. Or find something else to do with our precious time. Like maybe a trip to the Sistine Chapel.

@Nem

Another entry in the stealth genre wouldn't go unappreciated. Only one still around outside of indies is the Hitman franchise, of all things. I'd have lost a bet between on that one.

RIP Metal Gear Solid. Ah, better times...

@UnlimitedSevens You’re speaking my language there, buddy. I agree. And I like that analogy about construction projects. It sounds like you’ve dealt with building construction contractors and subcontractors and all the layers of people who never communicate or do anything correctly the first time around and take 3-4 times longer to complete a project compared to the estimate. Or any sort of road construction crew who take years to fix a stretch of road and every time you drive by there’s 10 guys standing around watching one guy work. 😂

But I’m sure the game development industry is delayed for other reasons and I know someone who works in the industry is highly offended by my comparison to a road crew right now 😅. I’m sure they all work hard, as I’m sure the road crew is also. But project management is often the Achilles heel to these things and the rank-and-file are spinning their wheels whilst management keeps messing everything up. Look no further than the canceled Naughty Dog multiplayer project to know that was completely a management screw-up and all that wasted time wasn’t the creators’ fault. It’s like a contractor getting their crew to build a road and then canceling it in the middle and trying to change it to a house.

I’m no expert but AI is probably the only hope — Selling our creative souls to AI. Computers don’t need time off and develop things in seconds as opposed to hours, and don’t care if you change their project midstream. 1-2 year game development timeframes will be back, but at the cost of the project’s humanity. Or to return to your original metaphor, we’ll get a replica of the Sistine Chapel, but will we be able to tell? 😄

@Th3solution

This is put more eloquently that I could've said it!

I've had some limited interactions with jobs (like construction) that were constrained by production bottlenecks in complicated, multi-phase projects. I suspect you are right it's a managerial issue, and the bottlenecks of game development are not being anticipated or planned for properly, causing progress to slow to a crawl here and there. This is just my guess though, I'm no game dev.

The solution was normally to have multiple teams working on separate aspects of the project in tandem and move them around as needed when the bottlenecks popped up, but communication breaks down or one team finishes ahead or behind. The goal changes, the timeline is moved up, it just becomes a mess. That's why this should all be mapped out in advance and have a production manager keep people on task and on time. When the company structure gets too big though, you start getting meetings about having another meeting to discuss something that needs to be approved by x person. And it just becomes a nightmare and the bureaucracy takes away the ability of the manager to keep people on assignment, and removes the mobility and adaptability needed to navigate unexpected production problems.

Let's just say, it's not a job I'd want or personally feel I could do any better in myself in these behemoth dev companies. I just blow smoke in comment sections just as a form of therapy.

@NEStalgia My exact thoughts about Polyphony. I'm not sure about what "evolving" means, and I kinda don't like the sound of it. Because the last term that would define that studio is "multi-genre".

But maybe that is just a generic/wildcard category, as GT has single player, multiplayer and even live service components.

@PSme 100% agree, the chapel is incredible. The ceiling is just insane.

@pharos_haven Firesprite made Horizon: Call of the Mountain VR that was released last year. But the rumor also said they're working on a new survival horror game.

@Art_Vandelay Polyphony also made Omega Boost, a shoot em up mecha game before they made GT 1. So probably that's the reason why they had "multi genre" label.

@UnlimitedSevens 😄 Haha, yes, spot on. I’ve lived through those bottlenecks in other industries. Cheers 🍻 and here’s to meetings about meetings!

@PuppetMaster Oh maybe that's why I missed it then I don't have VR

perhaps it was premature to give bluepoint free reign to create a new IP huh? there aren't many developers that can do what bluepoint does at such a high level. with the way things are going, remakes are going to play an important role in the AAA space for many, many years to come. having a studio that is entirely focused on this one task isn't such a bad idea so long as there is interest internally. i just cannot shake the idea that bluepoint is positioned for the best remake of all time if given the opportunity. and that game would be metal gear solid remake.