Around 50 developers have lost their jobs this morning after Sony shut down Guerrilla Cambridge, maker of the PlayStation VR launch title RIGS.
In a statement to the BBC, Sony said that “we believe we will be in a stronger position going forward and able to offer the best possible content of the highest quality to our players”. The company added that the layoffs would not impact Guerrilla Games in Amsterdam, which is developing Horizon: Zero Dawn.
Before RIGS, Guerrilla Cambridge helped develop the Killzone series. LittleBigPlanet and Killzone. The studio opened in 1997 after Sony acquired Millennium Interactive, which was responsible for Cloud Kingdoms, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Diggers, Defcon 5 and many more.
The decision to shut down Guerrilla Cambridge was part of an internal Sony review of PlayStation’s assets and resources, and comes one year before the studio’s 20th anniversary. It also comes not long after last year’s closure of Evolution Studio, the maker of DRIVECLUB. Sony maintains other British studios, however, including SIE London (SingStar, PlayStation VR Worlds) and Media Molecule (LittleBigPlanet, Tearaway, Dreams).
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6 responses to “Sony Shuts Down Guerrilla Cambridge, Maker of RIGS”
Oof. I hope Supermassive & Media Molecule next games are a major success for their sake.
Sony really seem to be slashing and burning their way through their internal studios. This is concerning, given that their exclusives have been their strength and were pretty much what saved them and got them back into the race after the PS3 launch debacle.
This industry is brutal. Being bought by a publisher is great short term, but they almost always pigeon hole the studio into being “the fps studio”, “the racing studio”, etc. And then they just put people out of work on a whim because it makes the books look better.
Being indie has its own struggles, but at least they fight to the end.
Yikes. They did Killzone Mercenary, which was far and away the best FPS to hit the Vita – and a better KZ game than Shadowfall ever was.
Here’s hoping the staff all manage to move on to somewhere new without too much hassle.
Eek, the games industry seems like an awful place to work in terms of job security. Not only do studios get slashed and burned left right and centre, there is a glut of talented potential employees out there and a dearth of secure ongoing jobs. All the best to all the hard working devs out there trying to carve a niche in the industry.
Plus even when you are employed you’re getting paid $10k-$20k less then you would outside the industry. Tough gig.
Why do gaming companies always just shut their business down after 1 misstep? It’s really stupid.