PlayStation is closing down developer Bluepoint Games. The Texas, USA-based team famed for the two excellent remakes (Shadow Of The Colossus by the now-defunct Team Ico and Demon’s Souls by FromSoftware) will close next month “following a recent business review,” as reported by Bloomberg.
The team also contributed in the development of God Of War Ragnarok, and at one time was working on an unannounced live service multiplayer God Of War game until it was cancelled in January 2025.
Per Gamesindustry.biz, an internal email by PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst said that “rising development costs, slowed industry growth, changing player behavior, and broader economic headwinds are making it harder to build games sustainably.”
PlayStation acquired Bluepoint in 2021, after the release of Demon’s Souls remake and during the height of the merger and acquisition craze that hit the games industry.
PlayStation may have backed down a bit from going all-in on live service multiplayer games with various cancellations (especially after the big miss that was Concord), but the publisher isn’t giving up on the idea entirely as they are still set to release a few. Marathon, developed by Bungie (which PlayStation also acquired during the M&A spree of the early 2020s) is coming out in two weeks’ time.
Meanwhile, Guerrilla is making a multiplayer Horizon game, Horizon Hunters Gathering, that was unceremoniously announced, days ahead and seperated of what fans consider a blockbuster of a State Of Play broadcast with exciting reveals and even a shadowdrop. The showender was the announcement of a God Of War Trilogy remake developed in-house by Santa Monica Studio and a new single-player God Of War game, God Of War: Sons Of Sparta.
Now with hindsight, this was the indication that the future of PlayStation is one without Bluepoint.