SIE Worldwide Studios

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SIE Worldwide Studios
FormerlySCE Worldwide Studios (2005–2016)
TypeDivision
IndustryVideo games
FoundedSeptember 14, 2005; 16 years ago (2005-09-14)
Key people
Hermen Hulst (president)
Number of employees
2,700+[1] (2011)
ParentSony Interactive Entertainment
SubsidiariesSee § Studios
Websiteplaystation.com/en-us/corporate/playstation-studios/

Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SIE Worldwide Studios) is a group of video game developers founded in September 2005 by Sony Interactive Entertainment.[2]

It is a single internal entity overseeing all wholly owned development studios within SIE. It is responsible for the creative and strategic direction of development and production of all computer entertainment software by all SIE–owned studios, all of which is typically produced exclusively for the PlayStation family of consoles.

SIE announced the formation of PlayStation Studios in May 2020 as a brand to be formally introduced alongside the PlayStation 5 later in 2020. PlayStation Studios will serve as the brand for its first-party game development studios, including Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Santa Monica Studio, Media Molecule and Guerrilla Games, as well as used for branding on games developed by studios brought in by Sony in work-for-hire situations. Sony plans to use the "PlayStation Studios" branding on both PlayStation 5 and new PlayStation 4 games to help with consumer recognition.[3]

History[]

Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE Worldwide Studios) was established on September 14, 2005, with Phil Harrison being appointed as president.[4] On May 16, 2008, Shuhei Yoshida became president.[5] In April 2016, Sony's Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI) divisions merged, creating SIE Worldwide Studios.[5] Hermen Hulst succeeded Shuhei Yoshida as president of SIE Worldwide Studios on November 7, 2019, with Yoshida being delegated to lead Sony's indie development.[6]

Studios[]

Name Location Founded Acquired
Bend Studio Bend, Oregon 1993[7] 2000[7]
Firesprite Liverpool 2012[8] 2021[9]
Guerrilla Games Amsterdam 2000[7] 2005[7]
Housemarque Helsinki 1995[10] 2021[11]
Insomniac Games Burbank, California 1994[7] 2019[12]
London Studio London 2002[7]
Malaysia Studio Kuala Lumpur 2020[13]
Media Molecule Guildford 2006[7] 2010[7]
Naughty Dog Santa Monica, California 1984[7] 2001[7]
Nixxes Software Utrecht 1999[14] 2021[15]
Pixelopus San Mateo, California 2014[7]
Polyphony Digital Tokyo 1998[7]
San Diego Studio San Diego 2001[7]
San Mateo Studio San Mateo, California 1998[16]
Santa Monica Studio Los Angeles 1999[7]
Sucker Punch Productions Bellevue, Washington 1997[7] 2011[7]
Team Asobi Tokyo 2021[17][a]
XDev Liverpool 2000[7]
  1. ^ Team Asobi was first established in 2012 as an internal team of Japan Studio, and was spun off as its own independent studio in 2021.

Former[]

Name Location Founded Acquired Divested Fate
Bigbig Studios Leamington Spa 2001[18] 2007[19] 2012[18] Closed[18]
Evolution Studios Runcorn 1999[19] 2007[19] 2016[20] Closed[20]
Guerrilla Cambridge Cambridge 1997[21] 2017[21] Closed[21]
Incognito Entertainment Salt Lake City 1999[22] 2002[22] 2009[23] Closed[23]
Japan Studio Tokyo 1993[7] 2021[24] Reorganized within SIE, primarily to Team Asobi[17]
Manchester Studio Manchester 2015[7] 2020[25] Closed[25]
Studio Liverpool Liverpool 1984[19] 1993[19] 2012[26] Closed[26]
Zipper Interactive Redmond, Washington 1995[27] 2006[19] 2012[27] Closed[27]

XDev[]

XDev, established in 2000 and based in Liverpool, England,[7] collaborates with independent development studios to publish content to PlayStation platforms all over the world. XDev has helped to create and publish, titles such as the LittleBigPlanet, Buzz!, MotorStorm and Invizimals series, Super Stardust HD, Heavenly Sword, Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, Tearaway and Resogun. Partners include independent developers such as Quantic Dream, Magenta Software, Climax Studios, Novarama, Supermassive Games and Sumo Digital, as well as SIE Worldwide Studios such as Media Molecule and Guerrilla Games. In addition to funding projects, XDev offer full production, project management and game design support. Titles are also supported with community management, online production and dedicated outsourcing management facilities. XDev work directly with marketing and PR teams in all Sony territories to promote and publish games worldwide.[28][29]

References[]

  1. ^ "Sony Computer Entertainment Acquires Sucker Punch Productions, Developer of Top Selling Infamous Franchise". Sony Interactive Entertainment. August 2, 2011.
  2. ^ "SCE Establishes SCE Worldwide Studios" (PDF) (Press release). Sony Computer Entertainment. September 14, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 5, 2005. Retrieved September 14, 2005.
  3. ^ Dring, Christopher (May 12, 2020). "Sony unveils PlayStation Studios brand to launch alongside PS5". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  4. ^ "SCE Establishes SCE Worldwide Studios" (PDF) (Press release). Sony Computer Entertainment. September 14, 2005. Retrieved September 14, 2005.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "Bitsummit". bitsummit.org. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  6. ^ "Sony appoints Guerrilla Games' Hermen Hulst new head of PlayStation worldwide studios". Washington Post. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Barker, Sammy (August 28, 2019). "Guide: All Sony First-Party Studios and What They're Working On". Push Square. Archived from the original on September 29, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  8. ^ "Careers". firesprite.com. September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  9. ^ "Why PlayStation is buying Firesprite, one of the UK's fastest growing studios". Gamesindustry.biz. September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
  10. ^ Schreier, Jason. "Sony Buys Game Developer of PlayStation Bestseller Returnal". Bloomberg. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  11. ^ Leedham, Robert (June 29, 2021). "Why PlayStation bought Returnal developer Housemarque: the inside story". British GQ. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  12. ^ "Quarterly Securities Report For the three months ended December 31, 2019" (PDF). Sony. p. 39.
  13. ^ "PlayStation to open development studio in Malaysia". Gamesindustry.biz. November 8, 2019. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  14. ^ "About us". nixxes.com. July 1, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  15. ^ Makuch, Eddie (July 1, 2021). "Sony Buys Another Game Studio, Avengers And Rise Of The Tomb Raider's Nixxes Software". GameSpot. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  16. ^ Varela, Ramón (January 16, 2020). "PlayStation: Todos sus estudios y los juegos en desarrollo" [PlayStation: All your studios and games in development]. Vandal (in Spanish). Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b LeBlanc, Wesley (June 2, 2021). "Team Asobi Officially Announced as a PlayStation Studio, Reveals New Logo". IGN. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  18. ^ Jump up to: a b c Yoon, Andrew (January 10, 2012). "Sony shuts down Little Deviants, Pursuit Force dev". Shacknews. Archived from the original on November 23, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f MCV Staff (August 2, 2011). "IN DETAIL: Sony's sixteen first-party studios". MCV.
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b Brightman, James (March 22, 2016). "Sony confirms closure of Evolution Studios". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b c Frank, Allegra (January 12, 2017). "Sony shuts down 20-year-old studio in European restructuring". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 8, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  22. ^ Jump up to: a b Cifaldi, Frank (May 13, 2011). "How Moving To Austin Energized Starhawk". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  23. ^ Jump up to: a b Plunkett, Luke (January 16, 2012). "Every Game Studio That's Closed Down Since 2006". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  24. ^ Robinson, Andy; Calvin, Alex (February 25, 2021). "Sources: PlayStation is winding down Sony Japan Studio". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b Dring, Christopher (February 4, 2020). "PlayStation to close Manchester VR studio". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  26. ^ Jump up to: a b Yin-Poole, Wesley (July 21, 2015). "WipEout: The rise and fall of Sony Studio Liverpool". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on September 14, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  27. ^ Jump up to: a b c Moriarty, Colin (March 31, 2012). "Confirmed: Sony Closes Zipper Interactive". IGN. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  28. ^ Sony XDev Europe Archived September 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Official Site
  29. ^ Worldwide Studios/XDev Archived June 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. XDev on Worldwidestudios.net

External links[]

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