With 2020 just around the corner, let’s take a look at what Sony’s game studios are up to. In the past year, quite a few games have been released as well as an additional team formed.
From recent to upcoming blockbusters like The Last of Us Part 2 and Ghost of Tsushima, we take a look at what Sony studios are developing.
Note, the article does not refer to third-party developers who decide to have exclusive rights to Sony.
Bend Studio
Latest games: After years of hiding, Bend Studio has finally released Days Gone, a post-apocalyptic game and motorcycle simulation. Taking place in the Pacific Northwest, Bend Studio’s open world takes you on a journey against massive zombie hordes.
Current/next project: Still… Days Gone. Bend Studio continues to support the game post-launch, from performance improvements to free weekly challenges and DLCs like the Death Stranding-themed vehicle.
Guerrilla Games
Latest games: Horizon Zero Dawn, 2017’s blockbuster brings PlayStation 4 gamers to a magical world to fight robot animals. Guerrilla released a major expansion for Horizon, The Frozen Wilds, in the same year.
Current/next project: While the studio is known as the creator of Killzone, the success of Horizon has allowed Guerrilla to continue with this new franchise. Sony has yet to officially confirm a sequel, but with millions of copies sold, it seems the question will be “when will the game come out” rather than “will the game be in development”. It should be noted that the former head of Guerrilla, Hermen Hulst, is now the head of Sony Worldwide Studios.
Insomniac Games
Latest games: Since becoming a studio owned by Sony, they haven’t released any games yet! Sony officially acquired longtime partner Insomniac Games in early 2019, following the great success of Marvel’s Spiderman exclusively on PS4. Sony and Insomniac have worked together for a long time, although Insomniac was still operating independently at the time. The studio is also responsible for many PlayStation exclusives, including the blockbuster Spyro and Ratchet & Clank.
Current/next project: Not clear! Insomniac has not officially announced the new game since returning to Sony. It is predictable that there will be a SpiderMan sequel, but also a new Ratchet & Clank game after the success of the reboot-remake in 2016.
Japan Studio
Latest games: Japan Studio is quite diverse, developing and co-developing many games. From Knack to The Last Guardian or PSVR game Astro Bot Rescue Mission, or latest co-developer Everybody’s Gold, Japan Studio is involved in many of Sony’s great titles.
Current/next project: We still don’t know what the studio is preparing next, but it will certainly vary between PS4, PS5 and PSVR. We know that Japan Studio’s Astro Bot has been demoed on PS5. That more or less shows that the team is testing on next-generation hardware.
London Studio
Latest games: London Studio continues to contribute to PS4 with SingStar Celebration and the PSVR PlayStation VR Worlds title for the current PlayStation generation. Recently, they have also launched a pretty good PSVR action adventure game called Blood & Truth.
Current/next project: London Studio continues to support Blood & Truth after the game’s release. We do not know what London Studio is developing after that, but with positive signals and Sony’s move with PSVR, it is possible that the studio will launch more VR games.
Manchester Studio
Sony founded Manchester Studio in 2015, formerly known as North West Studio, to develop PSVR. However, we have yet to see a finished product from them. But with PSVR being seen as Sony’s focus, hopefully the studio will announce its game soon.
Media Molecule
Latest games: Following the resounding LittleBigPlanet franchise on PS3, Media Molecule released Tearaway for PlayStation Vita (ported to PS4 in 2015). Most recently, the studio released Dreams in Early Access for PS4.
Current/next project: Dreams! This product from Media Molecule helps players create impressive games, music videos and short films, allowing you to unleash your creativity. Media Molecule continues to tweak Dreams in Early Access, with the full release expected on February 14, 2020.
Naughty Dog
Latest games: Naughty Dog has ported The Last of Us, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (latest game released in 2017) to PS4.
Current/next project: Chances are you already know about The Last of Us Part II being developed. After the surprise announcement at PSX 2017, Sony continued to promote the sequel. Finally, The Last of Us Part II has been set to release on May 29, later than the original schedule of February 20, 2020.
Pixelopus
Latest games: Concrete Genie, a beautiful action-adventure game that gives players a magic palm. The game was originally scheduled to release in the spring of 2019, but Concrete Genie pushed the time to the fall. In return, the game has an additional PSVR mode to play with the main campaign.
Current/next project: Not clear! Pixelopus is one of Sony’s smallest in-house studios. However, Concrete Genie shows creative ambition, with attractive graphics and storyline with unique gameplay ideas, which can be on par with Sony’s great products.
Polyphony
Latest games: The studio produced Gran Turismo Sport for PS4, and has been quite busy updating content and patches for the game since its launch in 2017.
Current/next project: For the time being, Polyphony is still working hard to update Gran Turismo Sport, but we can be sure that if the studio does announce a new game, “Gran Turismo” will most likely be in the title of this game.
San Diego Studio
Latest games: San Diego just launched MLB: The Show 19, the baseball game that comes out every year.
Current/next project: MLB: The Show 20 – sure, no surprises. Most especially, the next MLB: The Show seasons, as early as 2021, will likely launch on non-PlayStation consoles.
Sony Santa Monica
Latest games: God of War, the latest installment in Sony’s longstanding franchise.
Current/next project: No announcements have been made for the time being, but with so many of the year’s rewards for God of War, many are anticipating a God of War sequel.
Sucker Punch
Latest games: Sucker Punch ported to PS4 using the popular Infamous franchise. Infamous: Second Son and the Infamous: First Light expansion both came out in the early PS4 era.
Current/next project: Sucker Punch announced their latest project, a completely new franchise, at Paris Games Week 2017. Ghost of Tsushima will explore feudal Japan. Ghost of Tsushima is slated for a summer 2020 release.
Another studio
The full details are not known, but another Sony team is being formed. According to previous rumors, this new team is working with Naughty Dog to continue the Uncharted franchise, but Sony has not confirmed it yet.
According to IGN
Source link: What studios working for Sony PlayStation are developing
– https://emergenceingames.com/
