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[Banjo64]

Unless somebody comes out and says Bluepoint were forced to make a GAAS then this is all conjecture and finger pointing.

Bluepoint very well could have requested and pitched the game to Sony for various reasons (it's what they wanted to make, they knew Sony wanted GAAS and thought it was their way out of remasters/remakes, etc).

If just one internal studio from a collection of studios renown for their single players games decide to make a GAAS then I would believe it was an organic decision - when half of them or more decide all at the same time to start making GAAS games - whilst at the same time the parent company is bigging up GAAS, then it's clear it's mandated. You can wait for an insider to confirm but from the information we already have it's clear as day.

 

[Lightbreak]

When you think Microsoft or Nintendo couldn't make it worse, there is Sony showing that indeed, there is worse. Reminds me of the X360 era but inverted.

 

[GHG]

If anyone needed any further confirmation - Herman is retarded.

This won't be the last casualty as a result of their ill-considered GAAS push.

Imagine having a studio like that, and instead of getting them to work on remastering something like Bloodborne, you tell them to go off and make GAAS shit.

You couldn't make it up.

When you think Microsoft or Nintendo couldn't make it worse, there is Sony showing that indeed, there is worse. Reminds me of the X360 era but inverted.

I'd actually say their PS5 generation is very much mirroring the 360 one. Just replace Kinect with GAAS.

It's going to take them half a decade to course correct and recover from the GAAS pivot, and there's no guarantee things will go back to the standard and quality that people had previously become accustomed to.

Xbox never recovered from that Kinect pivot, so read into that what you will.

 

[rapid32.5]

At this point put Jaffe in charge, biggest disappointment for PS this generation.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Hulst isn't to blame.

This is where the market is and where it's headed. Chinese studios are 3x cheaper.

In what world did BluePoint deserve 5 more years based on their track record?

In what world does Bungie deserve 2 more years based on their track record?

Sony are chasing ghosts and you're out here cheering it on. While unbeknownst to them, closures like this will drive resentment towards Horizon, because it's Hulst delivering the news and Horizon's his IP.

Sony expanded their 1st party partly in response to MS buying every company that was for sale.

As @SpokkX said now that XBox is essentially just a 3rd party they have less of a reason to take risks on 1st party games.

Right. And I have less of a reason to buy their hardware over a PC when they share 95% of the same library (except PC has plenty of games not on PlayStation consoles), and PC provides more features & options and increasingly similar ease-of-use (Steam OS, Bazzite...basically anything non-Windows specifically).

Especially considering it's not like Sony are going to replace those lost unique 1P experiences with 3P exclusives to fill the void, as 3P are also focused heavily on PC platforms like Steam these days for sales & growth. If you can't stimulate my excitement with your software exclusives as a platform holder, you lose leverage with me when other platforms offer virtually all of the same games and even more, with better features and customization options.

And that's the damn truth.

No successful IP, and Nixxes took their spot on ports. Evidently they didn't land a pitch in 5 years.

Considering the type of games SIE have considered worth supporting among their 1P studios over the past few years (very safe AAA sequels, numerous GAAS including obvious failures like Concord), the bolded is actually a much stronger indictment against SIE than it is Bluepoint, and that's extremely worrying.

 

[Banjo64]

I somehow doubt that Sony forced Naughty Dog to do anything. I've not heard a confirmed story of Sony forcing any of their studios to go live service. Yeah. They bought a bunch of live service teams. That doesn't mean anything for their established teams. Why not Housemarque? Why not Asobi? Why not Sucker Punch? Why did they get away with not making new live service games but Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, and Bluepoint were forced to?

Why would Sony not force ND to do something? Of course they would. Maybe because the GoW, Horizon and TLoU IP are the only big IP that Sony have left? Is an Astrobot or Returnal GAAS going to do Fortnite or Apex numbers? No.

 

[Lightbreak]

I really thought they were making the Bloodborne remake but no, nothing. Fired. Ended. The end of the lines. What the F happened to you Sony?

 

[Seiryu21]

Just so they can keep their worst mistake with bungie haha.

I can guarantee this isn't going to be the last shutdown we hear about in the near future. My guess is that they're going to decrease their presence in the west because westerners are paid too much and take too long to make games.

 

[Kilau]

It's been over since they shut down Japan Studio. What a pathetic company PlayStation has become.

 

[Darsxx82]

This is the worst moment in the history of the video game industry... and there's no need to list the examples that support that claim. And it's certainly not (as some here have insisted on defending and making others believe) the fault of just two or three players in the industry.

The reality is that the industry has stopped moving in accordance with what users and fans of a hobby with five decades of history want. Everything is reduced to preparing and adapting new generations to accept and embrace a business model based on the pursuit of the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Along the way, there are the closure of historic studios, the closure of studios that never even release a game or shut down on the day of launching a single title, layoffs, games that are never released even when finished...

A tragedy...

 

[Bartski]

 

[Felessan]

Companies are in the "finding out" stage for having absolute retards plan and design games for the past decade and unfortunately good studios are the ones to suffer.

Evolution was closed in 2016, and Sony Liverpool in 2012
It's was Sony policy for ages - can't perform - you are out
And every single time there is an outcry on internet "omg, studio closed, we don't buy it's game but it so unfair to fire people"

 

[GHG]

Anyone not blaming Hulst needs their heads checked.

He was in charge of PlayStation studios when all of this GAAS pivot mess started. Don't get it twisted, the parallels to Phil Spencer are 1:1.

 

[Lightbreak]

I'd actually say the PS5 generation is very much mirroring the 360 one. Just replace Kinect with GAAS.

It's going to take them half a decade to course correct and recover from the GAAS pivot, and there's no guarantee things will go back to the standard and quality that people had previously become accustomed to.

My thoughts exactly, all pivoting towards Fortnite is scary. Even FromSoftware is going that way. Crazy times

 

[SHAKEZ]

Record profits:

Profits at the expense of reputation, at one point they'll wonder where these profits went and they won't have the machine and manpower to fight back.
They'll go the way of the Microsoft and Xbox and become 3rd party, mark my words. Unless they make a gigantic shift in strategy, it'll be too late.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Anyone not blaming Hulst needs their heads checked.

He was in charge of PlayStation studios when all of this GAAS pivot mess started. Don't get it twisted, the parallels to Phil Spencer are 1:1.

Literally just need to look at his face

Only incompetent people are that ugly

 

[DeepEnigma]

Has any Sony owned studio released a successful live service game this gen?

Polyphony with GT7.

But it's Gran Turismo. A staple IP.

 

[Fabieter]

I can guarantee this isn't going to be the last shutdown we hear about in the near future. My guess is that they're going to decrease their presence in the west because westerners are paid too much and take too long to make games.

They wasted billions on bungie and thex were a shitshow ever since.

It was known that european and asian studios are far cheaper than the us and they still bought those company's anyway. Why?

 

[Varteras]

Why would Sony not force ND to do something? Of course they would. Maybe because the GoW, Horizon and TLoU IP are the only big IP that Sony have left? Is an Astrobot or Returnal GAAS going to do Fortnite or Apex numbers? No.

So they forced a remake studio to work on a live service game but not Asobi or Housemarque because of the games they've made?

 

[Radical_3d]

Hulst is worse than Spencer.

Way, way worse. Spencer is bad but he's in charge of your local Toys'R'us. The worst he can do is break some plastic. This guy is like getting a wolverine inside the reinforced glass that protects the Mona Lisa. Ryan and this tío mierda have destroyed true history of the video games all the way back to the eighties. All while winning. All for the worst idea in which nobody believed. That the Hunters Gatherers is on track to be released while the guys that gave the only reason to buy a PlayStation 5 for many people for a lot of time are being shut down is beyond enraging. It's disgusting. Vomitive.

 

[roosnam1980]

hermen hulst is the biggest bungie fanboy . bungie will be protected as long as he is with sony

 

[Werewolf Jones]

RIP to the dudes who remade Japanese games and sucked out all the aesthetics.

 

[Seiryu21]

They wasted billions on bungie and thex were a shitshow ever since.

It was known that european and asian studios are far cheaper than the us and they still bought those company's anyway. Why?

My other completely unsubstantiated guess is that they panic bought too much because embracer and Microsoft were buying too much and now they've realized that they're bleeding money and made a stupid decision.

 

[LordOcidax]

Sony: There's hope…

 

[GHG]

My thoughts exactly, all pivoting towards Fortnite is scary. Even FromSoftware is going that way. Crazy times

The long and short of it is as follows - there's too much money in the industry now and that is what people are focused on above all else.

It's the unintended consequence of the hobby going mainstream.

 

[Venom Snake]

I'd rather consume a half-eaten sandwich that fell off the desk at Bluepoint Studio, than, for example, buy Hunting Grounds, which looks as if it was made with money that Hulst collected from his washing machine.

I have no words for this bullshit.

 

[Svalr93]

Do they hate money or something lol

 

[MDSLKTR]

Bluepoint developed my favorite game on the system.

You can't make this stuff up

DeS was the perfect PS5 launch game. The SSD loading turned bonfire runs into roguelike speeds. The new dualsense features were used conservatively just right. The 3D audio soundscape is immaculate, and of course, the graphics engine outpaces everything else on the market to this day. This hurts so bad.

 

[viveks86]

So I guess the dream of a Bloodborne remake is officially dead. Rest in Peace, hunters!

 

[LordOfChaos]

Where TF is Bloodborne Remake

 

[TGO]

Sony: Hey Bluepoint, port those games to PC
Bluepoint:

Sony:

 

[IntentionalPun]

Right. And I have less of a reason to buy their hardware over a PC when they share 95% of the same library (except PC has plenty of games not on PlayStation consoles), and PC provides more features & options and increasingly similar ease-of-use (Steam OS, Bazzite...basically anything non-Windows specifically).

Especially considering it's not like Sony are going to replace those lost unique 1P experiences with 3P exclusives to fill the void, as 3P are also focused heavily on PC platforms like Steam these days for sales & growth. If you can't stimulate my excitement with your software exclusives as a platform holder, you lose leverage with me when other platforms offer virtually all of the same games and even more, with better features and customization options.

And that's the damn truth.

All signs just point to Sony not seeing this as much of a risk.

They may be wrong, but I think their data probably suggests people are entrenched in consoles and aren't really considering PC en masse. While you aren't alone, I think it's far from the majority.

For instance Sony will probably gain most of the XBox gamers who only have a $1500+ PC as an option.

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

Where TF is Bloodborne Remake

Sony doesn't care about Bloodborne because it's not live service or woke

 

[CowboyLou]

Literally just need to look at his face

Only incompetent people are that ugly

Fake news. I'm very competent but my mother cries when she looks at me.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Bluepoint developed my favorite game on the system.

You can't make this stuff up.

Legit one of the only games I own on the PS5 and the main reason I wanted one.

Still one of the best looking games this generation. If not the best IMO.

 

[daxgame]

 

[GHG]

Polyphony with GT7.

But it's Gran Turismo. A staple IP.

They will find a way to tarnish that, as they have with many of their staple IPs in recent years.

The moment Kaz steps away, it's over, he's the only one who has been steadfast enough to push against a lot of their nonsense.

 

[Aenima]

Imagine shutting down the best remake/remaster studio in the videogame industry. And all because of a fart (GAAS)

 

[Kurimao]

Death knocking at Sony`s door.gif

 

[GHG]

Legit one of the only games I own on the PS5 and the main reason I wanted one.

Still one of the best looking games this generation. If not the best IMO.

Yep, demons souls was the reason I went through the hassle of setting up alarms and all kinds of bullshit to secure a PS5 pre-order for launch day.

Still the best looking first party game on the system as well. Absolute tragedy.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Sony: Hey Bluepoint, port those games to PC
Bluepoint:

Sony:

That's what the whole point of Nixxes was for.

 

[Adam_802]

LMAO wow

 

[FoxMcChief]

Exactly. They both fucking suck.

I've been saying that for a while. People were quick to just chalk it up as "PS too" or whatever. I've been saying this was the worst generation for at least 3 years. The higher ups for both are super focused on profits, and not what got them there.

 

[Venom Snake]

Where TF is Bloodborne Remake

They don't give a damn anymore.

 

[Fabieter]

They may be wrong, but I think their data probably suggests people are entrenched in consoles and aren't really considering PC en masse. While you aren't alone, I think it's far from the majority.

We will know when next generation is still selling the same as ps5. If it drops harshly we will know their shit decisions did hurt the brand.

 

[DarkJedi24]

What a travesty.

 

[TKOFromTokyo]

They probably don't make Sony all that much money to justify the costs. It's unfortunate because I really like their work. I'm really not a fan of corporate acquisitions at this point in my life. Sure, some are really good for consumers, bringing life changing products to a larger audience. However, most are a net negative to the customer and a huge positive to investors and management.

 

[TGO]

"Hermen Hulst mentioned "slowed industry growth" as the primary drivers behind the decision to cut the studio"
Well that means all their studios are gonna get the axe then, at least they've released something on PS5 in the last 6 year's
Ouch
Gemini telling it as it is

The "industry headwinds" excuse feels especially hollow when you look at what Bluepoint actually accomplished compared to some of the "prestige" studios that haven't put a disc on a shelf in half a decade.

 

[Chechack]

Blupoint fucked Hermans wife confirmed

 

[CosmicComet]

Wtffff

You acquire them and they get to make only one PS5 game and then you shutter them??

Fuck Herman BITCH ASS DUTCH FUCK Hulst and his constant greenlighting of his pet IP Horizon face ass.

Horizon is the most boring new IP of all time and this guy makes all of Playstation seemingly revolve around this shitty ghey IP.