The PlayStation leadership has confirmed that it has closed Sony Manchester. According to a report, all employees of the studio have been let go. In a statement, PlayStation said the following to Gamesindustry.biz:
…intends to close it as part of our efforts to improve efficiency and operational effectiveness
The Manchester based studio was stood up in 2015 to primarily focus on first party VR titles. However, since opening they had not released any games.
This is the third UK-based PlayStation studio to be closed in recent years with Evolution closing in 2016 and Guerilla Cambridge closing in 2017.
Our Take
We obviously don’t have the full story here. For a studio to be open for nearly 5 years yet never produce a title is bizarre and PlayStation’s statement was appropriately vague. Regardless, we hope the developers affected end up finding new positions in the industry as soon as possible.
