This has also led to the closure of many great studios, including Japan Studio. Talking about it in a recent interview, former SIE Worldwide Studios’ president Shuhei Yoshida stated that the studio was closed because PlayStation was more focused on releasing AAA games and didn’t want AA titles.
Shuhei Yoshida Explains Japan Studio Closure
He said, “The company wanted such things, and while we had to make them, the scale of development and the sales required were getting bigger and bigger.”
He further stated that while Japan Studios were still coming out with interesting and creative ideas, they were still AA titles, which led to the studio’s closure soon after Yoshida stepped down from his president position. “At the time Japan Studio was a ‘team that was good at making AA titles’. In that case it probably didn’t match with what the company and first-party wanted..”
Although the studio produced some of the best and most beloved titles for PlayStation, including Ape Escape, Gravity Rush, and more, many of these may eventually fade into the history books. It’s disappointing to see a studio full of creative and unique ideas shut down simply because they wanted to focus on AA-sized games.
In other news, Shuhei Yoshida says the launch of Xbox games on PS5 is a “victory” for PlayStation owners. He states that PlayStation owners will now have access to games they previously couldn’t play due to Microsoft’s new approach.
