PlayStation Studios Development

[kitler53]

awesome,.. so only 6 games in the next 2 years.  and 4 of them are: hell drivers 2, concord, fairgame$, and marathon. 

[Horizon]

awesome,.. so only 6 games in the next 2 years.  and 4 of them are: hell drivers 2, concord, fairgame$, and marathon.

You're forgetting their single player games which is fair enough since they've not announced any lol

[kitler53]

You're forgetting their single player games which is fair enough since they've not announced any lol

the only single player game in development is wolverine.

source: me

[the-pi-guy]

Drumroll, please! ???? We're thrilled to unveil our new identity as Neon Koi. Same passion, same dedication, brand new name. ???? Join us as we embark on this exciting chapter!

— Neon Koi (@neonkoigames) November 21, 2023

Sony's mobile studio they acquired last year has been renamed to Neon Koi Games

[the-pi-guy]

ALL RIGHT, let's do this...I'm SO excited to share my news: I’ve joined @SonySantaMonica as a Narrative Director. I’m beyond thrilled to be working with this team and studio. LET’S GOOOOO pic.twitter.com/hCOZEtvBEB

— Bonnie Jean Mah (@BonnieJeanMah) November 21, 2023

Formally worked on Gears

[Legend]

Gears wasn't that great from what I played/heared. Hopefully she does great at ssm though.

[the-pi-guy]

IGN

While the exact details of Sony's deal to acquire Bungie remain unknown to the public or employees, sources say they were told by leaders that the current split board structure is contingent on Bungie meeting certain financial goals. If Bungie falls short of its revenue goals by too great an amount, Sony is allowed to dissolve the existing board and take full control of the company. And with Destiny 2 expansion The Final Shape delayed into the next fiscal year and Bungie still investing heavily on Marathon, many employees understand that Bungie is struggling to meet the necessary targets to keep its last vestige of freedom. Such a takeover wouldn't necessarily be shocking given its 2022 acquisition, but it would nevertheless be a stunning development for a company that has historically prided itself on its independence.

It was with this threat looming that Bungie leadership - not Sony, according to Parsons - made the choice to lay off roughly 100 employees last month. But the cost-cutting at Bungie isn't limited to just personnel. Multiple current employees confirmed to IGN that the company has implemented numerous other cost-cutting measures recently, including a studio-wide hiring freeze, reduced travel budgets, elimination of holiday bonuses, keeping its annual Bungie Day virtual, delaying its weeklong company "Pentathalon" event to next December, and reducing numerous morale events such as cooking and knitting classes from monthly to quarterly. Bungie is also pausing or fully ending benefits like annual employee compensation adjustments to meet market rates, its new hire lunch program, employee donation matching, its peer recognition program, and gift cards for employees birthdays. And yearly studio performance bonuses this year will only be the contractually obligated 80% minimum, after being above 100% for good performance several previous years running.

[Legend]

Talk about a reasonable idea with horrible knockdown effects.

[kitler53]

so in my head things look like this with sony being the girl and bungie being the group of dudes behind her:

[Horizon]

Bungie is probably one of the reasons Sony are hesitant making big acquisitions on studios they don't have a partnership with.

[the-pi-guy]

In the past month and a half, an Era user has claimed:
- Sega and Namco are making some exclusives for PlayStation
- Sony is somewhat reversing course on Live service
- The exclusivity with PlayStation/Square Enix is going to get "much, much worse".

Apparently this Era user has leaked some Square Enix things in the past.

[kitler53]

just tie the knot already and get it over with.

[nnodley]

The Last of Us Multiplayer Game Canceled, Will Focus on Single-Player Games Going Forward - IGN

Officially cancelled. Which I'm happy about. Just stick to what you do best ND

[Horizon]

The Last of Us Multiplayer Game Canceled, Will Focus on Single-Player Games Going Forward - IGN

Officially cancelled. Which I'm happy about. Just stick to what you do best ND

Yes this is great news for single player fans  

[the-pi-guy]

- Mihir Sheth: Co-Game Director on Valhalla, promoted recently.
- Bruno Velazquex: Co-Game Director on Valhalla, promoted recently.
- Eric Williams: Game Director on GoW Ragnarok. Assuming he still holds that title, no online presence.
- Ariel Lawrence: Game Director, promoted on April 2022 from a lead writer position (worked at SMS for 12 years until 2015 previously). Came back to SMS from Riot where she was working for close to 6 years, and held the title of Narrative Director, IP & Creative, when she left.
- Matt Sophos: Narrative Director, been with SMS in that role for ~9 years.
- Bonnie Jean Mah: Narrative Director, joined SMS 2 months ago. Previously held Narrative/Franchise Director roles at TiMi (Tencent) and The Coalition (on Gears).
- Cory Barlog: Creative Director (?). Assuming the same title, no online presence aside from his intermittent appearance on Twitter.

Era