The Daily Populous Friday February 20th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by gamesindustry.biz and submitted by retroanduwu24

Sony is shutting down Bluepoint Games, the studio that delivered a number of cherished reissues of games like Demon's Souls, Shadow of the Colossus and Uncharted. The studio will close its doors next month with the loss of 70 jobs, as first reported by Bloomberg.

Sony told the outlet that the decision was made "following a recent business review”. It acquired the studio in 2021, after working closely with it for many years on well-received remakes of the company's first-party IP including Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, God of War Collection, The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection and Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection.

In an internal email that was subsequently posted on Resetera, Playstation Studios head Hermen Hulst said the "decision was not made lightly," but that the firm was "operating in an increasingly challenging industry environment," saying that "rising development costs, slowed industry growth, changing player behavior, and broader economic headwinds are making it harder to build games sustainably."

"Bluepoint is an incredibly talented team and their technical expertise has delivered exceptional experiences for the PlayStation community. I want to thank everyone at Bluepoint for their creativity, craftsmanship, and commitment to quality. Where possible, we will work to find opportunities for some impacted employees within our global network of studios."

"While I know this is hard news to hear, I'm confident in the direction we're headed. Creativity, innovation, and building unforgettable experiences for players remain at the heart of PlayStation Studios. We have a robust roadmap for FY26, with much to look forward to in the months ahead."

Bluepoint had recently served as co-developer on 2022's God of War Ragnarok, and had been working on a live service title that was cancelled in January 2025, part of Sony's ongoing retreat from a push into live service games lead by then-CEO Jim Ryan.

At the time of that cancellation, which was also reported by Bloomberg, the company said that Bluepoint was a "highly accomplished team" and a "valued member of the PlayStation Studios family," and it was working closely with the studio to determine its next project.

Blacksad9999 on February 19th, 2026 at 22:27 UTC »

Maybe you shouldn't have put these people, who have absolutely NO experience with live service games, to work on a live service game and then cancel it.

Dummies.

xespera on February 19th, 2026 at 21:32 UTC »

That's awful! They put out some absolutely amazing games, the Demon Soul's remake is just incredible. I hope the workers are being taken care of as best as they can be

hitokiro on February 19th, 2026 at 20:57 UTC »

What a loss. They produced some of the most refined and high quality games of the past decade. The Demon Souls remake is a work of art.