Last week, Shuhei Yoshida, the former head of PlayStation Studios who retired at the end of last year, granted interviews to various gaming media outlets, shedding light on the decision-making process behind many of Sony’s choices and outcomes.
Yoshida acknowledged the credit given to him by people for the success of PlayStation but admitted his own failures in two areas: developing live service games and creating successful Japanese-made games.
One intriguing point he raised was the closure of Japan Studios, the Japanese development studio, due to the changing landscape of the gaming industry. While Sony’s Japanese games like Gran Turismo are highly successful AAA titles, other Japanese games are considered smaller AA games. With the shift towards high-budget AAA games and low-budget indie games, medium-sized AA games struggled to find a place, leading to the closure of Japan Studios. Keiichiro Toyama, head of the Siren team, left to establish his own independent studio, Bokeh Game Studio, in 2020.
Yoshida also revealed that he had the opportunity to play The Last of Us Online, a game that was ultimately cancelled. However, Naughty Dog learned from Bungie (developer of Destiny) that successful live service games require specific elements. This knowledge influenced Naughty Dog’s decision to focus solely on Intergalactic, abandoning The Last of Us Online due to resource constraints.
Source – Sacred Symbols+ Podcast, VGC, Push Square
TLDR: Shuhei Yoshida discusses the challenges faced by Sony in the gaming industry, including the closure of Japan Studios and the cancellation of The Last of Us Online, shedding light on the complexities of game development and decision-making processes.
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