Sony has officially confirmed that it will “reorganize” Japan Studio effective April 1. One of the oldest first-party teams within the platform holder stable will be restructured around Team ASOBI, the developer of the recent Astro’s Playroom, as well as Astro Bot Rescue Mission and The Playroom VR.
A statement shared with IGN explains: “In an effort to further strengthen its business, SIE can confirm that PlayStation Studios Japan Studio will be reorganized into a new organization on April 1. Japan Studio will be re-centered to Team ASOBI, the creative team behind Astro’s Playroom, allowing the team to focus on one vision and build on the popularity of Astro’s Playroom. “
More interestingly, the manufacturer has confirmed that all external production roles will be “concentrated within PlayStation Studios’ global functions.” In addition to internal projects, Japan Studio is perhaps best known for its collaborations, such as Bloodborne (which made it with FromSoftware) and Everybody’s Golf (which made it with Clap-Hanz).
It’s an interesting but not all surprising turn of events – especially with the high number of high-profile departures at the developer lately. It is perhaps worth noting that, in terms of purely in-house productions, Japan Studio’s output over the past five years has included a Knack sequel, two LocoRoco remasters, and the aforementioned Astro Bot titles.
However, the developer’s back catalog is much more compelling, with legendary franchises like Ape Escape and Shadow of the Colossus. It’s also true that franchises like Gravity Rush, while they may not have been big sellers, have added much-needed diversity to PlayStation’s first-party portfolio. It will be a shame to see that variety disappear.
Most curious of all, in an era where competitors are buying up studios like toilet paper during a pandemic, Sony is seemingly growing back are operations. Quality is clearly better than quantity, but in the here and now, this doesn’t feel like a particularly good example of the “organic growth” that PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has been talking about for the past year and a half.