PlayStation Studios (formerly SCE Worldwide Studios and SIE Worldwide Studios) is an American division of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) that oversees the video game development at the studios owned by SIE. The division was established as SCE Worldwide Studios in September 2005 and rebranded as PlayStation Studios in 2020.
 | |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Division |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | September 1, 2005 |
| Headquarters | San Mateo, California |
Key people | Hermen Hulst (president) |
Number of employees | ≈4,000[1] (2022) |
| Parent | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| Divisions | PlayStation Studios Mobile |
| Subsidiaries | See § Studios |
| Website | playstation.com/en-us/corporate/playstation-studios/ |
History
On September 14, 2005, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE, now known as Sony Interactive Entertainment), the video game arm of Sony, announced the formation of SCE Worldwide Studios earlier that month, combining all studios SCE owned at the time. Phil Harrison was appointed as the division's president.[2] Shuhei Yoshida succeeded him in May 2008.[3] When Yoshida moved to lead the indie game development of SIE, Hermen Hulst, previously of SIE's Guerrilla Games studio, became the president of SIE Worldwide Studios in November 2019.[4] The studios productions are generally supported by the Visual Arts Services Group, founded in 2007 in San Diego.[5]
SIE announced the rebranding of the division to PlayStation Studios in May 2020 as part of the introduction of the PlayStation 5, which was released later that year. PlayStation Studios serves as the publishing brand for Sony's first-party development studios, as well as for games developed by studios brought in by Sony in work-for-hire situations.[6]
In 2022, Sony stated half of its first-party PlayStation Studios games will be on personal computers (PC) and mobile by 2025.[7] In August 2022, SIE announced the formation of the PlayStation Studios Mobile Division, alongside the acquisition of the company's first mobile development team, Savage Game Studios,[8] later renamed Neon Koi.[9]
In February 2024 Sony announced it would eliminate 900 jobs, or 8% of SIE and PlayStation Studios employees. These cuts included the proposed closure of London Studio.[10]
Studios
Former
| Name | Location | Founded | Acquired | Divested | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bigbig Studios | Leamington Spa | 2001[32] | 2007[33] | 2012[32] | Closed[32] |
| Evolution Studios | Runcorn | 1999[33] | 2007[33] | 2016[34] | Closed[34] |
| Guerrilla Cambridge | Cambridge | 1997[35] | — | 2017[35] | Closed[35] |
| Incognito Entertainment | Salt Lake City, Utah | 1999[36] | 2002[36] | 2009[37] | Closed[37] |
| Japan Studio | Tokyo | 1993[11] | — | 2021[38] | Reorganized within SIE, primarily to Team Asobi[28] |
| Manchester Studio | Manchester | 2015[11] | — | 2020[39] | Closed[39] |
| Pixelopus | San Mateo, California | 2014[11] | — | 2023 | Closed[40] |
| Studio Liverpool | Liverpool | 1984[33] | 1993[33] | 2012[41] | Closed[41] |
| Zipper Interactive | Redmond, Washington | 1995[42] | 2006[33] | 2012[42] | Closed[42] |
