PlayStation Veteran Explains Why Sony Closed Japan Studio - Kotaku

What the report says

Kotaku reports that former Sony Interactive Entertainment president Shuhei Yoshida has offered a rare explanation for Sony’s April 2021 closure of Japan Studio, the long-running PlayStation developer associated with titles such as Ape Escape, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. According to Kotaku, Yoshida’s comments came from a speech at the Computer Entertainment Developers Conference on July 22 that was translated by GamesRadar.

Yoshida said players around the world still ask why Sony would shut down a studio known for creative games, and he described the decision as difficult to accept. His explanation, as reported by Kotaku, was that Japan Studio’s projects were often smaller in scope and better suited to what he characterized as AA development, while PlayStation’s strategy during the PS4 and PS5 era increasingly emphasized large AAA releases that could help sell hardware, naming franchises such as God of War and Uncharted.

Kotaku notes that Sony described the 2021 move as a reorganization in which Japan Studio was folded into Team Asobi, the group behind Astro Bot. The article also cites earlier reporting from VGC that most of Japan Studio’s staff had already departed before that shift, while notable developers including Demon’s Souls producer Teruyuki Toriyama and Gravity Rush director Keiichiro Toyama left around the same period.

The development matters because Japan Studio had been one of PlayStation’s most distinctive internal teams, known for unusual and Japan-led projects rather than the blockbuster model that now dominates many first-party console strategies. Yoshida’s remarks add context to a closure that remains controversial among fans who valued Sony’s smaller and more experimental games.