Sony’s shuttered Japan Studio, a much-loved team by PlayStation enthusiasts, was not a hit factory when it closed. The developer worked on numerous fan-favourite franchises – like Gravity Rush and Ape Escape – but many of these failed to resonate commercially, and the department was infamously chaotic on the inside. Santa Monica Studio’s Allan Becker was drafted in to help smooth things out, but it was too little too late.
Now former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden, who held roles in Japan and within the upper-echelons of the PS Studios hierarchy, has chimed in on the team’s closure.
“It wasn't necessarily a surprise [to see Japan Studio shutdown],” he told IGN Japan, as spotted by Eurogamer.net. “I love Allan [Becker], and he worked really hard, but there was so much legacy malaise. It’s tough when a studio hasn't had a hit for a while, then they forget how that feels. You know, if you have a hit once it’s like a drug, man, you're chasing the next one, right? And then if you don't have that for a while, you forget what it felt like, and then you start to forget how to get there.”