- PlayStation recently shut down Bluepoint Games despite the studio’s prestige and quality releases.
- The closure comes across as unfair because the studio was forced to pursue a live-service project outside of its usual expertise.
- The team could have been vital to PlayStation for its remakes in the coming years, especially with IPs like Infamous and Killzone lying dormant.
Studio closures, layoffs, and cancellations have unfortunately become the norm in the gaming industry today. The latest team to be buried under the load of gaming’s never-ending challenges is Bluepoint Games, Sony’s talented team acquired in 2021.
This studio, credited for Demon’s Souls Remakes and various other re-releases, was suddenly shut down earlier today. After a botched live-service attempt at a God of War title that the studio likely never wanted to work on to begin with, Sony has decided to completely seal the team’s fate.
Like many others, this decision has left me gutted and heartbroken. After all, Bluepoint Games was among Sony’s best first-party teams, and it had a clear purpose moving forward. In my opinion, this decision will eventually come back to bite Sony.
Why it matters: PlayStation already wasted the team’s true potential when it assigned a live-service project to the studio. The current decision means that Bluepoint Games will never be able to bounce back from this misstep.
Bluepoint Games’ Remasters and Remakes
As a quick recap, Bluepoint Games most recently worked on Demon’s Souls Remake, the divisive yet popular remake of FromSoftware’s first Souls-like hit.
Before this remake, the team brought Shadow of the Colossus to life with a PS4 remake, and going even further back, this studio worked on remasters of the Uncharted trilogy and the first two God of War titles.
Not that it needs to be proven, but Bluepoint Games’ pedigree for re-releases is highlighted further in its work on the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for the PS3. As such, the team’s work speaks for itself.
Very few teams have the experience that Bluepoint Games has with remakes and remasters today. The developer also had a long relationship with PlayStation, dating back over two decades, which was why the acquisition felt like a natural progression.
The Current Era of Remakes
The modern gaming landscape has popularized remakes to a point where practically everyone is trying to get in on the action. Whether it be Capcom’s fantastic Resident Evil remakes or Konami’s recent work on Silent Hill 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3, big-budget re-releases are everywhere.
Even EA remade Dead Space, and Xbox is gearing up to launch Halo: Campaign Evolved later this year. As for PlayStation, the gaming giant clearly understands the demand for remakes, leading to the announcement of the God of War Trilogy remake.
What baffles me about Bluepoint Games’ closure, then, is the fact that this very team would have been a perfect fit for PlayStation’s remake strategy. No other studio under PlayStation understands remakes quite like Bluepoint Games.
Moreover, the team has experience working with all sorts of legacy Sony IPs already. It’s also worth noting that Bluepoint Games’ technical finesse is almost in a league of its own, with Demon’s Souls Remake still being one of this generation’s best-looking titles.
PlayStation already has a backlog of IPs like Infamous, Motorstorm, and Killzone. What better studio to bring these franchises back with the remake treatment than Bluepoint Games?
In my opinion, what happened to this team is a true shame, and PlayStation has practically handicapped its own remake potential with this decision.
The Consequences of Live-Service
The truth is that Bluepoint Games’ closure is a reflection of Sony’s failure itself. What began as an ambitious push for live-service games from PlayStation has led to the industry losing one of its best teams.
It also reflects poorly on the current management within Sony, with the executives offering nothing but generic excuses to cover for their failure.
Perhaps the developers from Bluepoint Games will come together under a different name in the future. It would truly be a shame to see them being disbanded so soon, especially with the passion and excitement around remakes being as high as it is today.
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[Senior News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than 5 years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.
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