Layoffs & study closures: Sony's studio acquisitions have been problematic since 2019

20.02.26 - Sony has acquired a total of eleven studios since 2019, including Insomniac Games, Housemarque and Bluepoint Games. Sony thus pursued a stronger focus on live service games, but this largely failed. This is reported by Kotaku.

Yesterday, Bluepoint Games was finally shut down as well. Other studios such as Neon Koi and Firewalk Studios were also closed after a few years, while Fabrik Games and Valkyrie Entertainment have not released any new games for years.

Only a few acquisitions brought success: Housemarque delivers a PS5 game with Saros, Insomniac Games publishes Wolverine. Nixxes Software actively supports Sony on titles such as Horizon and Helldivers 2, Bungie will soon release Marathon after delays.

Firesprite experienced layoffs in February 2024, while Haven Studios is working on the live-service shooter Fairgames, the development of which is dragging on. Overall, it can be seen that the majority of acquisitions have so far delivered little new content. And even if a new game does launch, it may be discontinued shortly after release, as was the case with Concord (2024).

According to Kotaku, analysts attribute the problems to the failed switch to live service: Many teams had to cancel projects or were restructured - the PS5 era is therefore characterized by few new games and a number of layoffs, closures and project cancellations.

Midsummer Studios announces closure

20.02.26 - Midsummer Studios ceases operations. The studio was founded in May 2024 and was founded by experienced developers who had previously been involved in series such as Sid Meier's Civilization, XCOM and The Sims. Co-founder and creative director Jake Solomon announced the closure.

The Burbank project, which is described as a mixture of life simulation and the concept of "The Truman Show", was in development. According to Solomon, the team wanted to create a game that would give players space for their own stories and characters.

Elder Scrolls VI uses new version of the Creation Engine

02/19/26 - Todd Howard has given a few details about the development of the role-playing game The Elder Scrolls VI in an interview with Kinda Funny Games, as Kotaku reports.

The role-playing game is set to return to the classic open-world formula that Bethesda Game Studios is known for. Howard described Starfield and Fallout 76 as creative deviations from this approach. With the new game, the studio wants to focus more on exploration and the familiar gameplay of previous Elder Scrolls and Fallout games.

Technically, the project is based on an advanced engine. Bethesda has expanded Creation Engine 2, which powers Starfield, into Creation Engine 3 in recent years. This new version is intended to carry not only Elder Scrolls VI, but also future productions. According to Howard, development is currently on track; he did not name specific dates.

I woke up this morning with the Kirby's Dream Land (Gameboy) theme in my head, so I played the first couple levels before work. simple, straight forward platformers like these are still great fun.

Edit: Back in the day, I thought Kirby was a ghost:


He looked like a Boo!