Sony's Closed Studio and Lost IP
Ex-Sony Santa Monica employee mourns a lost life and a dead IP
As we reported yesterday, Sony is laying off staff at its God of War Santa Monica studios before it moves offices. It has now also been confirmed that along with the staff, a new game IP was also canned.
This news came from Jonathan Hawkins - a laid-off lead level designer at the studio in a series of messages that not only illustrate the game-making cost of the lay-offs but also his own painful journey.
First up via this Tweet:
Which lead to this:
Which resulted in this:
to which the reply came...
And all this has lead indie dev Jonathan Blow of The Witness fame to declare:
Yes, yes it was... unless it was a sequel.
This news came from Jonathan Hawkins - a laid-off lead level designer at the studio in a series of messages that not only illustrate the game-making cost of the lay-offs but also his own painful journey.
First up via this Tweet:
Yesterday, I was laid off. It was a good 10 year run & I got to make three 90+ games. I lived the dream & got to accomplish all of my goals.
Which lead to this:
Except one… making something out of nothing & creating a new AAA IP.
Which resulted in this:
@jonathanhawkins Is the new IP safe? Was Ascension's tepid critical reception & low sales (relative to GoWIII) to blame for the layoffs? :(
to which the reply came...
@GrumpyGamerGuy I'm not sure. But the IP is canceled.
And all this has lead indie dev Jonathan Blow of The Witness fame to declare:
every single megablockbuster franchise, that Mr. Business Suit Guy would rather put the money toward, was once a new IP.
Yes, yes it was... unless it was a sequel.
Companies:
SCE Studios Santa Monica
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