Japan Studio is known for some of PlayStation’s most iconic games.
Ape Escape, LocoRoco, Patapon, Gravity Rush, and even Bloodborne all fall under this umbrella. So, with such a remarkable legacy with the company’s brand, why did it eventually shut the developer’s doors?
Former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida weighs in on how exactly that decision was made.
Former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida discusses Japan Studio closure
In an interview on the Sacred Symbols PlayStation Podcast (reported by VGC), Yoshida was asked about the Japan Studio closure. The former boss claims the decline of the double-A market is what shut down the developer.
“During my time, people give me credit, but one of the things I was not successful at was having a successful service game, and the other thing is I was not able to have amazingly successful games made in Japan,” Yoshida explained.
“Other than Gran Turismo, we had many great products but didn’t really have many triple-A-level successful products,” said Yoshida. “That became more and more important as the big games became bigger – the indies filled the gap and the double-A market seems to have disappeared.”
“Most of the IPs that Japan Studio had were in that smaller double-A sized group and the market became really difficult for these kinds of games,” he claims. “For example, after Gravity Rush 2, [director Keiichiro Toyama] tried to come up with a new concept, but we were not able to greenlight any of his new concepts, even though they were really interesting.”
Sony confirmed it was reorganizing Japan Studio back in 2021 which saw many high-profile departures at the company.
“In an effort to further strengthen business operations, SIE can confirm PlayStation Studios JAPAN Studio will be re-organized into a new organization on April 1,” read Sony’s statement in 2021. “JAPAN Studio will be re-centered to Team ASOBI, the creative team behind Astro’s PLAYROOM, allowing the team to focus on a single vision and build on the popularity of Astro’s PLAYROOM.”
