Following Sony's closure of Bluepoint Studios, the developer behind some of PlayStation's best remakes like Shadow of the Colossus and Demon Souls, game developers have sent an outpouring of love to the approximately 70 people affected, and weigh in on what this latest closure means for the industry.
Sony purchased Bluepoint Studios back in 2021 after it had created numerous prestige remakes of PlayStation games. The studio was reportedly told to pivot to a God of War live-service game during PlayStation's live-service push, but this project was canceled last January, as with many other PlayStation live-service games that began development in this period.
Many developers have taken to social media with an outpouring of love for the latest round of people in the industry to lose their jobs. "I would have thought Bluepoint would be *the exact* studio you want to bolster your first party line-up with prestige remakes of existing much-loved IP," writes Alex Kanaris-Sotiriou, director of Mythwrecked, before posting beautiful images from Bluepoint's Shadow of the Colossus remake.
I would have thought Bluepoint would be *the exact* studio you want to bolster your first party line-up with prestige remakes of existing much-loved IP 🙃
— @kanaratron.bsky.social (@kanaratron.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-02-20T11:56:58.043Z
Similarly, Harris Foster, community strategist at Devolver Digital writes, "absolutely devastating. An Austin institution. Bluepoint quite literally has only ever done phenomenal work. Man."
Michael 'Cromwelp' Douse, publishing director at Baldur's Gate 3 behemoth Larian Studios, similarly weighs in with, "the sheer amount of institutional knowledge lost is quite literally staggering."
Actor Rahul Kohli, who stars as Arjun Devraj in Housemarque's upcoming PlayStation exclusive Saros, writes, "This is heartbreaking, Bluepoint Games are one of my favourite studios. I still think the Demon’s Souls remake is the best game from the PS5 era. Sending love and support to everyone who worked there."
However, other developers are responding to the studio's closure by reminding people of the industry's volatility. "Bluepoint was working on a God of War live-service game until it was canceled early last year. Ah," writes Aura Hack, a game developer whose most recent work includes the key art for Demon Tides.
> Bluepoint was working on a God of War live-service game until it was canceled early last year.ah,
— @aurahack.ca (@aurahack.ca.bsky.social) 2026-02-20T11:59:00.690Z
Ori series director Thomas Mahler shares a more damning indictment of the industry. "Sadly, the layoff wave in the games industry isn't over yet and there's still a bunch of major layoffs ahead," he writes. "In the last few years we’ve seen entire studios disappear overnight. Projects canceled, teams dissolved. People who thought they were in 'safe' positions suddenly out the door."
However, industry higher ups apparently see the closure as an inevitable part of business. "Sony execs pivoted to live service games because single player couldn’t drive revenue," writes former Square Enix executive Jacob Novac. "Don’t get mad at Sony for doing the rational thing and placing bets on the more profitable potential output. If you know single player games are losers you’re better off attempting the live service route even if 9/10 don’t make it. This is just rational business decision making."
