- PlayStation confirms the closure of Bluepoint Games following an internal business review
- Around 70 employees will lose their jobs when the studio closes in March
- Bluepoint leaves a legacy of remakes and remasters such as Demon's Souls and Shadow of the Colossus
- The closure comes amid rising costs, cancelled projects, and a reorganization of Sony's studios.
PlayStation has decided to close Bluepoint Games, one of its studios most recognized for the quality of its remakesThis marks the end of nearly two decades of development, including five years under the Sony Interactive Entertainment umbrella. The move will take effect next March and will represent a significant blow to the company's development structure.
According to information reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by several specialized European media outlets, Around 70 developers will lose their jobs as a direct consequence of the closure. Sony justifies the decision based on an internal review of its business and an increasingly demanding industry context for the production of major video games, also impacting the European and Spanish markets, where Bluepoint's games enjoyed great popularity.
A decision following a “business review” and a sector under strain
The Japanese company explained that the closure of Bluepoint is due to “A recent business review” has already created a much more complicated development environment than a few years ago.In a message sent to Sony Interactive Entertainment staff, Hermen Hulst, head of the PlayStation studio group, explains that rising costs, slowing industry growth, and changes in player habits are making it difficult to sustain some projects long-term.
Hulst emphasizes that The video game industry is going through a delicate momentIn this environment, big-budget productions require ever-increasing investments, while the margin for error shrinks. This combination, coupled with general economic pressures, has led Sony to reassess which teams and projects fit into its roadmap for the coming years.
In that same internal message, the executive insists that The closure of Bluepoint was not decided lightly.He expressly thanks the studio for its contribution and speaks of its “creativity, craftsmanship, and commitment to quality.” He also assures that, whenever possible, they will try to relocate some of the affected professionals to other teams within the global PlayStation Studios network, although no specific positions or destinations have been announced yet.
The decision also comes at a time when Sony has presented upward financial forecastsWith a slight increase in revenue and profits in its video game division and notable year-on-year growth at the group level, this contrast between positive financial results and cuts in its studios has reignited the debate about the sustainability of the blockbuster model that dominates the console market, a topic also very much present in discussions within the gaming community in Spain and the rest of Europe.
Bluepoint Games: from port studio to cult remake benchmark
Founded in 2006 in Austin, Texas by Andy O'Neil and Marco Thrush, former members of Retro Studios, Bluepoint Games eventually became a specialist in remasters and remakes for PlayStationAfter their first original work, Blast Factor, the studio focused on updating key classics from Sony's console catalog.
Over nearly twenty years, the team released compilations and remastered versions such as God of War Collection, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection and Uncharted: The Nathan Drake CollectionThese collections helped bring great sagas closer to the European public who were debuting on PlayStation 3 and later on PlayStation 4, making it easier for many players in Spain and other countries to rediscover titles from previous eras with a more modern presentation.
The definitive leap in notoriety occurred with the remake of Shadow of the Colossus for PS4, released in 2018The new version of Fumito Ueda's classic was very well received by both critics and users worldwide, including in the Spanish market, where it became a common reference point when discussing how to create an update that was respectful of the original work but technically ambitious.
His most outstanding project, and ultimately the one that solidified his relationship with Sony, was The Demon's Souls remake for PlayStation 5, available since the console's launch in 2020Bluepoint's work was key to the PS5's European launch, which featured a visually stunning title that also revived one of the most influential games of recent years. The project's success reinforced the studio's reputation as a reliable choice for revisiting great classics.
Alongside this work, the team also collaborated on ports and adaptations of other projects such as Titanfall, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale or Flowerdemonstrating a technical versatility that made him a recurring partner within the PlayStation ecosystem. In Spain, his name was almost automatically associated with "reliable" remakes among the most attentive fans of the scene.
Acquisition by Sony, focus on original content, and a cancelled game-as-a-service project
The long collaboration between both parties resulted in Sony officially acquired Bluepoint Games in 2021integrating it into the PlayStation Studios structure. Since then, the studio has functioned not only as the developer of its own projects, but also as a support team for top-tier developments.
Following the release of Demon's Souls, Bluepoint provided assistance on God of War Ragnarök, one of the key titles of the current generation and with enormous commercial and media impact in Europe. At the same time, the team began working on new ideas with a view to shedding the label of a studio exclusively focused on remakes.
According to various reports, including several from Bloomberg, The main focus shifted to a game-as-a-service set in the God of War universe.The project, conceived as part of Sony's strategy to expand into the multiplayer and long-duration game segment, has reportedly consumed a significant portion of the studio's resources in recent years.
However, That game-as-a-service model was canceled in January 2025.This coincided with the cancellation of a similar project at Bend Studio, the developers of Days Gone. From that moment on, Bluepoint's future was uncertain, and throughout 2025 the team reportedly presented new proposals to PlayStation management without officially launching a large-scale development.
Several Sony spokespeople have indicated that The evaluation of the “business model” and the viability of these projects was decisive. when deciding to close. In practice, the end of the games-as-a-service model and the absence of a new approved title left the studio without a clear direction, which facilitated the internal review that resulted in its demise.
Impact of the closure, affected workforce and restructuring context at PlayStation
The announcement indicates that Approximately seventy people will be directly affected by the closure. from Bluepoint. Although Sony states that it will try to relocate some of these professionals to other teams, it has not yet specified how many alternative positions will be offered or in which specific studios, creating uncertainty among the workers.
Bluepoint thus joins a series of recent closures within the PlayStation Studios environmentIn recent years, other teams such as Firesprite, Neon Koi, and Firewalk Studios have also closed down, reforms that are part of a broader movement to contain costs and redefine priorities in Sony's games division.
This restructuring process has awakened Concerns about the future of other studios, especially Bend StudioSony also saw a "as-a-service" project canceled, and no clear details have been given about new developments. Doubts are growing within the European and Spanish communities about whether Sony will maintain its current number of internal teams or if further cuts and restructuring will occur.
The news comes at a time when, on the other hand, PlayStation boasts a “robust roadmap” for the coming fiscal yearsWith upcoming releases that, according to Hulst, reinforce the company's commitment to narrative experiences and large-scale productions, the closure of Bluepoint, however, leaves the impression that even studios with a proven track record of success are not immune to corporate restructuring.
For many players in Spain and the rest of Europe, The disappearance of Bluepoint means losing one of the teams that best understood how to update a classic without betraying its essence.His remakes of Demon's Souls and Shadow of the Colossus have become constant references when discussing the preservation of video game legacy on consoles, a debate that is especially alive in a region where physical formats are losing ground to digital ones.
A legacy of remakes that shaped how the PlayStation catalog was understood
Beyond the figures and internal reports, The mark that Bluepoint Games leaves on the PlayStation catalog is hard to ignore.Their work has allowed new generations to access titles that, otherwise, would have remained stuck on consoles that are now discontinued or with increasingly limited access in Europe.
The God of War, Metal Gear Solid, and Uncharted collections, along with the remasters of Gravity Rush or the revisions of Ico and Shadow of the ColossusThese developments helped reinforce the message that the PlayStation ecosystem cherishes its history. This idea has been especially relevant in countries like Spain, where a large part of the audience has remained loyal to the brand since the first PlayStation and appreciates the opportunity to revisit classic games under improved technical conditions.
In the case of Demon's Souls, The PlayStation 5 remake became a technological calling card for the new generationThe game served to showcase the console's hardware capabilities in terms of lighting, level detail, and loading times, while also bringing back into the spotlight a title that was the seed of the massive popularity of the soulslike genre in Europe.
The closure of Bluepoint raises questions about What role will remasters and remakes play in Sony's future strategy?Although other internal teams and external partners can take on work of this kind, the bar of quality set by the Austin studio was very high, and its absence may be felt in the way major franchise update projects are planned in the coming years.
Ultimately, The closure of Bluepoint Games symbolizes the current tensions in the video game industry.It's a sector that continues to generate high revenues, including in Europe, but where business decisions can lead to the demise of studios with impeccable track records. Despite the promise to relocate some of the staff and Sony's insistence that its creative direction remains firm, many European gamers are left with the feeling of having lost one of the teams that best preserved the PlayStation legacy.
