Sony may be in the process of creating a new big-budget studio in Japan dedicated to creating triple-A titles capable of appealing to a worldwide audience, insiders say. The rumor comes from a source who previously correctly predicted that Sony would acquire Returnal dev studio Housemarque back in June.
Specifically, several sources indicate that Sony is interested in creating a new IP on the same level as Capcom’s blockbuster hits like Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, and Devil May Cry, and Konami’s Metal Gear Solid. All of the said games appeal not only to Japanese audiences but Western ones as well, garnering a large fanbase across the world over the course of several decades. The source compares Sony’s studio to Microsoft’s new studio The Initiative which was founded in 2018 to create “quadruple-A” video games.
Furthermore, sources reveal that Sony is hiring veteran developers from Capcom’s Resident Evil team, as well as veteran Square Enix and Konami developers. According to the rumor, the unnamed studio has also been working on a new game since 2020. This also implies that Sony had plans to create the studio even before the company restructured the former Japan Studios around Team ASOBI earlier this year. Another source indicates that Sony plans to announce both the new studio and project in the “coming months”.
PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst has previously mentioned that Sony is continuing to invest in Japanese game studios, revealing that it is “investing in [their] external development studio out of Tokyo.” Whether or not the statement is related to the rumored new studio is not confirmed. However, the statement lines up with Sony’s recent push for games from Japanese studios.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many details to go off of and the source did not provide any form of evidence proving the existence of the new Sony studio in Japan. As with all rumors, take this one with a grain of salt.
[Source: Reddit]
