Bluepoint Is Yet Another PlayStation Acquisition Horror Story

Bluepoint Games' doors are closed. Five years aft Sony stepped done them to invited the developer’s unit into the lukewarm clasp of the PlayStation Studios family, they person been locked for good. Without releasing a azygous game, different acquisition has been swallowed by the void that modern PlayStation is progressively transforming into. A spot wherever “Play Has No Limits”, but seemingly besides nary plan. In the past 7 years, 10 antithetic studios person been acquired by Sony. Half of those person ne'er released a game. Three present don’t adjacent exist. It’s bleak, and yet different motion that Sony has seemingly mislaid its mode implicit the people of the PS5 generation.

Bluepoint did invaluable work. In the PS3 era, it brought classics similar Metal Gear Solid 3 into the high-definition era. On the PS4, it took Team Ico’s masterpiece, Shadow of the Colossus – undoubtedly 1 of my favourite games of each clip – and remade it with stunning graphical clarity. This remake lent the console a sensation of PlayStation’s earlier dedication to experimental creation projects presented successful blockbuster wrapping, a dedication that’s faded implicit the years.

By the motorboat of the PS5, Bluepoint had graduated from coagulated remasters to cutting-edge remakes. Its recreation of Demon’s Souls remains to this time 1 of the console’s astir graphically accomplished games, and its cautious replication of FromSoftware’s precursor to Dark Souls reminded america each wherefore this timeless enactment RPG laid the groundwork for a genre that would specify a generation. And yet contempt this triumph, Demon’s Souls was Bluepoint’s last release.

The Texas-based workplace was acquired by Sony successful 2021, pursuing the palmy motorboat of Demon’s Souls. Now brought successful house, a legion of FromSoft fans kept their fingers crossed – if the workplace could bash this with Demon’s Souls, conscionable ideate what it could bash with a Bloodborne remake.

Four years of quiescent improvement followed. Then, successful aboriginal 2025, quality broke: the workplace had been moving connected its archetypal first title, but it had been cancelled. Sony confirmed that it had been a unrecorded work game, and aboriginal reports would assertion it was an online God of War project. Just implicit 12 months later, Bluepoint would cease to beryllium altogether. It begs the question: What was the program here?

“The studio’s superb re-creation of Demon’s Souls for the PS5 motorboat proves that @bluepointgames knows @PlayStation games wrong and out”, work a tweet by past PlayStation caput Hermen Hulst, posted upon Bluepoint’s acquisition. But to what grade did PlayStation cognize what was champion to bash with Bluepoint?

The determination to shutter what was surely the cleanable developer to helm the God of War trilogy remake looks utterly baffling.“

I tin spot a sliver of consciousness successful buying Bluepoint and tasking its endowment with crafting a caller acquisition successful a beloved beingness similar God of War. After all, the workplace is much experienced than astir astatine moving with established IP, and 1 of its precise archetypal projects was the God of War Collection for PS3 that remastered the archetypal 2 games successful the series. But a unrecorded work crippled is nary casual project, and portion recruitment tin capable gaps successful expertise, there’s nary denying that this was a immense pivot for a workplace whose (almost) full backmost catalogue was single-player remakes and remasters. This was a squad of talented technicians, artists, and engineers who could reignite the tone of the games of yesteryear… was determination nary task they were amended suited to?

Just days ago, Sony concluded its State of Play watercourse with the announcement of a ground-up remake of the archetypal God of War trilogy. The determination to shutter what was surely the cleanable developer to helm this task (at slightest extracurricular of Santa Monica Studio) looks utterly baffling. For a institution truthful funny successful remakes, it had the masters of the creation astatine its disposal for the full span of this generation. And yet Sony funded Bluepoint’s eventual demise by chasing a live-service inclination that proved futile.

It each comes backmost to mismanagement, and the feeling that PlayStation has mislaid way of what tools it has purchased and the mode successful which they should beryllium optimally used. Bluepoint surely showed pedigree erstwhile breathing caller beingness into the classics, but a live-service Kratos game? I’m not definite that was ever going to beryllium the close determination for a developer who worked exclusively connected single-player projects until its acquisition. And that’s earlier you see conscionable however overmuch of an enigma the tract appears to beryllium for Sony.

Live-service has haunted PlayStation this full generation. At the aforesaid clip it cancelled Bluepoint’s God of War project, it besides canned different unrecorded work crippled successful improvement astatine Bend Studio (again, different squad with single-player pedigree). Before that, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us online crippled was halted. The closure of Firewalk Studio successful 2024, pursuing the disastrous motorboat of Concord, inactive feels fresh. Seemingly undeterred by specified failures, Sony continues to propulsion on: the recently announced Horizon: Hunters Gathering comes from the franchise’s creator, Guerilla Games, and volition spot it effort to alteration different single–player IP into immoderate benignant of online experience. Despite a pivot successful creation benignant and gameplay approach, I by nary means deliberation Hunters Gathering looks bad. But successful a satellite wherever instant net reactions often service arsenic atrocious omens for games of this kind, I expect Sony are eying the antagonistic captious effect to the uncover trailer with immoderate trepidation.

I’ll ever take to anticipation for the best. But honestly, I expect we’ll each beryllium experiencing akin feelings of despair earlier 2026 ends. Will we ever spot Fairgames oregon perceive again from its developer, Haven Studios, earlier the plug is pulled connected different live-service shooter experiment? Will Marathon successfully instrumentality connected Arc Raiders, oregon volition it spell catastrophe for Bungie? And what astir Media Molecule? A workplace erstwhile astatine the halfway of Sony’s creativity, it gave america the endlessly joyful and caller LittleBigPlanet, Tearaway, and Dreams. The latter's enactment has present ended, and there’s presumably a caller crippled successful the pipeline — if that’s a trend-chaser alternatively than an archetypal idea, past we tin truly commencement to interest astir the absorption of Sony’s workplace portfolio, and however overmuch volition beryllium near of it by the clip the PS6 comes around.

There’s by nary means an casual fix, but surely determination are steps that tin beryllium made. Smaller improvement cycles, bucking trends, and encouraging exciting, caller ideas are among them. But conscionable knowing the endowment astatine your disposal and putting it to usage successful the astir logical mode imaginable is the close starting point. You wouldn’t bargain a caller sofa without archetypal measuring to spot if it fits successful your surviving room, and then, erstwhile this tremendous sofa is delivered, instrumentality it successful the chamber and usage it to slumber on. So wherefore would you walk millions connected a games workplace renowned for high-class single-player remakes, and past disregard that honed skillset and acceptable them to enactment connected an online live-service game? I cognize it sounds elemental connected paper, and possibly I’m not seeing the complexities. But careless of what I tin oregon cannot see, without change, I fearfulness Bluepoint volition not beryllium the past to endure from this frustrating deficiency of astute direction. This acquisition earlier innovation mindset has plagued the modern games industry, drowning endowment successful acts of harmful consolidation. It has to stop.

Simon Cardy is simply a Senior Editor astatine IGN who tin chiefly beryllium recovered skulking astir unfastened satellite games, indulging successful Korean cinema, oregon despairing astatine the authorities of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him connected Bluesky astatine @cardy.bsky.social.