In spite of launching a handful of unquestionable winners this generation like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Helldivers 2, or Ghost of Yōtei, PlayStation Studios has struggled with making the PS5’s tenure super exciting. Of course, development cycles going totally off the rails and first-party exclusives (outside of Nintendo) becoming less and less important overall are part of the problem, but a failed live-service push can’t be over-looked, either.
Now, we find ourselves nearing what should be the tail-end of this generation with, uh, lots of uncertainty. PS6 and the next Xbox may arrive later than initially expected due to component shortages. On top of that, live-service projects and studios (like Bluepoint) that always were great at what people usually associate with the PlayStation brand are being shuttered left and right. How does Sony bounce back from this?
Well, the good news is that video game spending is up, and that includes the PS5 winning out other consoles, at least in the US. Since Xbox has been repeatedly fumbling the hardware front and Nintendo is playing its own separate game with the Switch 2, it appears that Sony continues to “win” the living room battle by default. That, coupled with those terrible studio closures and project cancellations, might just end up boosting PlayStation’s efforts elsewhere.
Via Push Square, we’ve learned about Team Asobi (Astro Bot series), Housemarque (Saros and Returnal), and Polyphony Digital (Gran Turismo series) ramping up hiring for seemingly new game projects. Zuby_Tech on X/Twitter underlined the new job listings, but it seems these posts have all been up for a while.
One job listing at Team Asobi is for a 3D Environment Artist who’s expected to deliver “playful and stunning” art which lines up with everything we know and love about the Astro Bot series. As always, we love to see veteran studios take on new IPs, but at the same time, no one would say no to a new rollicking 3D platformer starring Astro.
Meanwhile, Polyphony is outright stating they want people to work on Gran Turismo. Looking at the number of open roles, production on a new entry in the veteran driving series (versus simply doing more work on GT7) could be about to ramp up.
Last but not least, Housemarque is looking to hire for a Principal Graphics Programmer and Lead Gameplay Animator “to help drive the next evolution of Housemarque games.” Saros won’t be out until 30th April, but the future looks bright (for now) at the Finnish studio.
In an industry that’s very often doom and gloom, it is reassuring to see that there are some signs of life within studios, and there there is some room for growth here and there.
