Silent Hill and Gravity Rush creator Keiichiro Toyama has informed VGC that Sony wished its now-defunct Japan Studio to maneuver in the direction of massive funds video games. Japan Studio was PlayStation’s oldest first-party builders, and its closure / reorganization in 2021 — after 30 years of operation — took followers unexpectedly.
Sony’s Japan Studio was behind a few of PlayStation’s most inventive video games
In a brand new interview with VGC, Toyama mentioned that he personally wished to make “unique,” inventive video games somewhat than be sure by huge budgets, however that’s not the route Sony wished to go in. Toyama departed Japan Studio shortly earlier than its closure, and ended up founding Bokeh Recreation Studio, the place he’s making upcoming title Slitterhead.
“With Sony, there was an growing motive to make extra extremely budgeted video games, and it wished to go that approach with the Japan Studio model,” Toyama mentioned. “My motive was all the time to create unique video games. I really feel I can do that with out a huge funds.”
Japan Studio was behind a few of PlayStation’s most beloved IPs, however in the direction of the top of its life, it struggled to make commercially profitable titles with a number of exceptions like Astro. A few of its inventive endeavors, like Gravity Rush, didn’t fairly make their mark regardless of constructive reception.