Guerrila Cambridge to close

UK developer to close after 19 years as Sony “makes changes to European studios structure”

[Herbalistic]

I hope all people affected by this are able to find jobs asap.It always sucks when people work hard and then find out they are being let go due to issues outside of their control.

[majiebeast]

Bleep off Sony this is straight up BS.

[UCForce]

Well, you are not living perfect world for anything. Scalebond cancelled and GC closed. Sometimes, thing never go smoothly in the end.

[ninsigma]

Yeah it sucks. Should have got them to make another Medievil game!

[-Foxtrot]

Should have done MediEvil 3 instead of VR stuff

[Gazondaily]

Not cool Sony.

Good luck to the devs. I'm sure they'll bounce back. Microsoft should snipe them! 😈

[majiebeast]

Well no other studios are getting gutted according to the article update, the only damn bright spot of this MM is safe for now

[NukaCola]

They are beefing up GG main, calm down

[Fist4achin]

I do feel for anyone who loses their job bc that is a situation that really sucks and there is no such thing as a right time on something like that.

However, this studios biggest hit recently was probably Killzone Mercenary and that was on the Vita which hardly anyone owns. Medieval is a fun game, but I can't remember the last one. I wonder just how much latitude they had when they were trying to develop something. They should have thrown some remasters at them.

I hope their staff will find new positions quickly. Either that or I'm sure Sony will recycle them into other studios .

[bouzebbal]

Studio closing hopefully doesn't mean layoffs..
they can relocate

[bluefox755]

I mean, it happens, unless you're a major studio, you're not going to stay open forever. It's unfortunate, but it's the nature of the business.

[RookieMonsterLives]

The studio made one of the best PSVR launch games and now they got the axed. This does not look good for the future of PSVR. Why is Sony not supporting their secondary gaming products like Vita and PSVR? It is like they are relying on third party to do all the work.

What is more concerning is Guerilla Cambridge was supposedly working on a multi-million selling AAA franchise for PS4 according to Shinobi of Neogaf back in 2014. It could potentially be another Killzone or Socom.

[Angeljuice]

Expect more UK studios to close because of Brexit.
Who wants to invest in developers based in a country with such an uncertain future?

[IamTylerDurden1]

Foxtrot,

No... the past two games from GC were fantastic. Killzone Mercenary and Rigs. Rigs is arguably the best GAME on VR right now, especially on PS4 Pro with the massive winter update.

[Deadpooled]

Angeljuice playing the 'Brexit' card!

[Irishguy95]

This studio got shafted to **** by Sony. Not because of the closure, but because they were forced to make a Vita game and a VR game. This studio, got throw into Sonys 'failed experiments' group. Whereas Amsterdam GG got basically gifted whatever they wanted. High budget high support.

Even when they've only made 2 good games so far they still landed Horizon. Medieval in its time > Killzone. Until this studio got shitted out of the gutter.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Aw man. Was really hoping that these guys would make the next Killzone game. Looks like there will never be another KZ game on same level as KZ2.

[Letthewookiewin]

Sony will take care of these people.

[hellothere1977]

you paying the bills? in fact, did you or any of your friends pay full price for guerilla cambridges games to support the developers? no? then STFU.

[_-EDMIX-_]

If RIGS didn't perform the way they wanted to I could understand how they were able to make the tough decision.

That sucks because I was definitely Holding Out for them working on the Killzone series.

I hope they all find work

[_-EDMIX-_]

I'm pretty positive some of those developers that were the best of that team likely got transferred over to Guerilla Games.

[Mystogan]

I love how when MS fucks up. Everybody agrees they did and gives them shit. But when sony fucks up its mostly, "welp, shit happens"

[nveenio]

If anyone is to blame, it's us. If we didn't have such high demands, games would be cheaper to make, and it would be easier for studios to turn tidy profits.

I'm only being a little sarcastic. I'm sure there's some truth to that.

[rainslacker]

It says right in the article, that the studio was redundant. As in, it was just there and making games that they could make through their other studios. This is probably part of their larger restructuring efforts, where some of their studios are becoming part of Sony WWS. Some people will have to be laid off, because some positions don't need to be filled in WWS, but others will be moved to different studios.

It's cheaper to manage one's studios this way, because it means less waste on multiple people doing the same job.

I doubt the close had anything to do with their output. They were a capable studio, and as far as I know, they weren't losing money on it.

[UCForce]

I have to agree with you.

[GamerGT]

Hopefully some of those employees can go over and help Hideo Kojimas crew. They might have some experience with the DECIMA engine.

[Genuine-User]

"PlayStation has pledged to "where possible... try to reallocate people onto other projects" and assist staff by speaking to local developers about recruitment prospects. Fortunately, Cambridge is something of a hotbed of UK deveopers, with the likes of Frontier, Ninja Theory, Jagex and more based nearby."

Best of luck to the team. Killzone Mercenary is still the best FPS on a handheld.

Edit: Good news:

Cloud Imperium Games - Star Citizen
http://i.imgur.com/Kjf88zp....

Mike Bithell - Thomas Was Alone, Volume
http://i.imgur.com/87NpdJ3....

[UCForce]

I'm glad to hear that.

[leoms]

Nice

[RedPill86]

Wouldn't want any of these workers to go near Star Citizen. That game is a lie and they're just stealing money at this point. The game isn't coming out, not functioning anyways.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Okay well that's good to hear that they're transferring a lot of developers to other teams.

[Ragthorn]

@RedPill86

I see, you're one of those people that still call it a lie even after all of the footage they have shown up to this point. AND releasing their development schedule. I have been patiently waiting since 2013, and I have never been any happier for the game. I wish for the best of it, as it is one of the most daring games to ever be in the works. That game is so open about its development, but people still cannot appreciate it. I hope that these workers do go and join Cloud Imperium there as well as find jobs elsewhere. Killzone Mercenary is THE BEST handheld FPS. And they haven't been given another chance to create another sadly.

[loadstone007]

I don't think it's really out of their control. The projects GC were in charge of were abysmal.

[ShadowWolf712]

RIGS was a hit, Killzone Mercenaries is considered one of the best Vita titles...

Totally abysmal.

[Christopher]

I think the problem is that they were never allowed to make a full console game and instead were limited to a handheld that is being held onto just so no one can say it is dead and VR that is in extremely early stages and not available to play by 98% of the owners.

[butchertroll]

As much as this news is bad, this is the good part :

PlayStation has pledged to "where possible... try to reallocate people onto other projects" and assist staff by speaking to local developers about recruitment prospects.

Hope they will continue to work on something else.

[Overload]

This apparently has something to do with Horizon being their main focus now, according to Shinobi.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

[Aenea]

They might actually want to move some of them outside of the UK to, perhaps, Amsterdam?

Besides, Kojima Amsterdam is there as well..........

[IamTylerDurden1]

I was hoping this was more of a restructuring, and they will certainly reallocate many talented ppl from GC into other Sony studios. However, this is a sad and unfortunate day for an extremely talented studio that continually makes great games and does it on new, unknown hardware. Rigs and Killzone Mercenary are terrific games, bottom line. They were AAA games on new, difficult to develop for hardware and the both looked and played beautifully. Unfortunately they were likely resource hogs and expensive to make, and for whatever reason they just didn't sell as well as they should've.

Killzone Mercenary is still the most impressive technical game on Vita. I laugh when indie devs claim their 2D game can't run on Vita bc Guerrilla Cambridge was able to get the Killzone 3 engine running beautifully on Vita.

[Deadpooled]

I consider Killzone Mercenary to be not just simply the best handheld FPS ever created, but also one of the best games I've ever played considering something like that was running on a freaking handheld with great controls (even the swipe to melee was great, and the tap back touchpad to run was very effective) and also a superb online (all 6 maps it launched with were awesome, then to make it even better Blood Gracht and Tharsis Depot came on it).

[n1kki6]

It does suck, but this is common place in game development. It's actually not that all uncommon for development position in general to have high turnover with a large chance of elimination. Either way it still sucks for those affected and hopefully they find employment soon. Also with noting
"PlayStation has pledged to "where possible... try to reallocate people onto other projects" and assist staff by speaking to local developers about recruitment prospects. Fortunately, Cambridge is something of a hotbed of UK deveopers, with the likes of Frontier, Ninja Theory, Jagex and more based nearby."

[XanderZane]

Damni it. My MediEvil sequel. I really was hoping. Let's see how the N4G universe takes this news. Let's see if they are as harsh as the Scalebound cancellation.
Like the Scalebound cancellation, THIS SUCKS. 19 years under Sony's umbrella and then poof, you're done. Really hate this. I agree with Herbalistic, that hopefully these talented developers are able to find new jobs quickly. We all kow it's a business and every day something like this happens somewhere in the world. Wish them the best of luck.

[UCForce]

"Sigh" Scalebond cancelled and GC closed. Thing is never looking good for video game Industry. I hope Platinum Games and other of GC staff will find a way.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

Platinum Games are fine. From here on out expect games from only Japanese Publishers from them.

[UCForce]

Platinum Games are fine, but their latest game Scalebond is cancelled that cause them greatly for the fan. GC are also closed which it is very sad.

[Neonridr]

Platinum still has other projects they are working on though. And they are still operational. The staff that were working on Scalebound will be reappropriated to other projects or put to work on a new one if they have any in the pipeline.

[UCForce]

Well, you are right. But we are not living a perfect world here. Good thing can't last forever.

[kevnb]

or just mostly laid off.

[Neonridr]

@kevnb - unless they hired people specifically for this game and weren't just using internal staff divided into several projects.

The difference is, one studio is closed the other isn't.

[NotanotherReboot]

How could you Sony. Killzone was good on the Vita. Who's next? Sucker Punch? I cannot trust this company anymore now. Medievil was a classic

[UCForce]

And do you think you are living a perfect world ?

Edit : @Septic and @Frinker Even I do blame MS, but not that far like other. You guys do know not everything can please you.

Edit#2 : @Septic I'm not blame the world. I'm try to understand why the company and their decisions. One day, you have to made a choice in the end.

[Ceaser9857361]

since you're living under the rock.. SP is soon to announce their new game... Sony is doing way to fine then MS... GC employees will get allocated to other studios helping out with new projects... Try looking little further instead of loosing shit altogether ... Its not that a game got cancelled ...

EDIT : according to Shinobi SP is working on a New IP .

http://www.psu.com/news/319...

[Fishy Fingers]

^no just the entire studio.

Exactly which other studios in Cambridge will the staff be relocated too? Sorry you lost your job, but here's another in japan. The wife and kids won't mind will they...?

[Gazondaily]

@UCForce

No one is saying we're living in a perfect world but the exaggerated reaction above aside, you were blaming Microsoft earlier this week for Scalebound and now here blaming the inequity of the world.

Consistency my friend.

[bluefox755]

@Septic Closing studios, which is a normal practice in the industry, is not the same as shutting down work in the middle of development of a high-profile, AAA title (not a normal practice). The former is a practical, and unfortunately, relatively common thing. The latter is the result of major internal issues. Saying that you should criticize both for "consistency", is ridiculous.

[gangsta_red]

@bluefox

I think canceling projects would be just as common as say closing down whole studios.

Both are standard in this industry as we read concept games and canceled games almost every other month of what could have been.

So i agree with septic, there should be some consistency.

And what's more "practical", canceling a game before it gets out and bombs and the studii takes a finacial hit, or closing down a whole studio because your games bombed and now jobs are lost?

[Kaneki-Ken]

GG haven't made any profit. Killzone Mercenary was both commercially a failure and in sales and making a VR didn't help the case since VR didn't exploded/became a hot item.

[Death]

@Ari,

It's always sad to see a studio closed, especially a talented studios like GC. It's naïve to believe that Sony is going to give them all jobs in other studios though. If that were the case, then why close the studio in the first place? When closures happen, it is typically due to financial reasons. Hopefully all of those impacted by this closure find new and possibly better opportunities soon.

[Angeljuice]

@FishyFingers

Guildford is the main centre of UK game development (MM, Hello Games etc.), and is not that far from Cambridge. There are plenty of development companies in the UK (not necessarily Sony owned).

[KwietStorm_BLM]

You can't trust them anymore because they closed a studio? LOL time to step outside and take a look at how life works around you.

[Kribwalker]

@bluefox

You can't seriously tell me cancelling a game because things aren't working out with it is worse then shutting down an entire studio, laying off the employees, selling/moving all of the equipment, probably cancelling the next project these guys were working on, even if it's in pre-production and planning stages, then you really need to give your head a shake. Studios don't just close down all the time. Games are cancelled on a far more common basis then closing a studio right down.

And everyone that says "oh there's a GG in Amsterdam, they'll probably just move there" that's a ridiculous statement. I'm gonna move my entire family, to a new country, that speaks a different language for a job? Really? If I was single, and had no secure responsibility (owning a house etc) then sure, but there would be no way I would make my whole family move, plus all to the associated cost of moving to another country, the work visas, the moving cost, selling my house, buying a new house, my wife having to find a new job, my kids losing all of their friends, and it keeps going.....man, that is some serious ignorance thinking people would just do that.

[OB1Biker]

@Gangsta
No, cancelling games just a few months before they are supposed to release after hyping them for years is NOT standard.
Releasing a project in full before closing a studio that has finished the job is more standard.

Edit
Below
It's unfortunate but that's what it is. Last year was evolution and many other studios closing. I can think of only one other game cancelled just before it was supposed to release after being part of what you know ever for years, not even naming it. That studio was closed too That's not common at all to cancel so close to supposed release.

[gangsta_red]

@OB1Biker

I'm laughing that we even have to discuss what is more standard, cancelling a game or shutting down a whole studio.

[MagicBeanz]

Well if you cant trust them for shutting down a developer then you're not going to be able to trust any of them cause Sony isn't the only one who has or will do it.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Errr not really.

Because of the Vita's poor sales along with rigs I could understand how they could make this tough decision.

It's simply about sales.

For the most part Sony only closes Studios after their games perform poorly and to my understanding Infamous Second Son is the best selling infamous

[_-EDMIX-_]

@kirb- that sounds extremely exaggerated.

If you're going to work in the game industry you should always understand that it is a contracted business in which you're going to move around a lot.

I live in Florida and even though I don't have any aspirations to work inside of the game industry if I were to even want to stay in my state , my only choice would actually be Electronic Arts because they have a studio in Jacksonville Florida which would still be difficult for me because I live in South Florida I would basically have to move hours and hours away from my family.

....That's Life.

I would say if anything Montreal Canada would be a great place to live in regards to game development because you have Electronic Arts Ubisoft BioWare in a couple of other Studios up there and which you could sort of Bounce Around.

Of course San Diego, San Francisco California etc as well.

I'm sorry but the issues that you listed have more to do with game development in general then this specific situation.

I have to wonder why anyone would become a game developer considering what you've listed....

Last job to be asking for stability bud.

[Kribwalker]

@edmix
I'm just stating what has been said. Some people suggested they would just move them to GG in Amsterdam. That's a long way away and has a lot of implications. Moving upstate is a lot less then moving to a different country as some have suggested.

I'm not in the games Industery but I have friends that are, a couple work at EA, one works at Capcom Vancouver, and a guy I've done building for's daughter works at the coalition.
Vancouver would be a good area to live if you were in the industry as there are a lot of game studios out here as well. Housing affordability is another issue altogether here though, lucky I bought a decade ago because pricing has gone through the roof here.

[DigitalRaptor]

@ Frinker

Sucker Punch makes commercially successful games for PlayStation, and is due to announce their long awaited new IP, probably at this year's E3. And it most likely will be awesome, because Sucker Punch is awesome and Sony knows it.
-----

@ Gangsta_red

None of this is a laughing matter. This news is devastating. I think it is Sony's longest-running internal studio. I loved MediEvil and Killzone Mercenary was awesome and showed huge promise that this team could deliver an amazing PS4 Killzone project. RIGS is supposed to be a great VR experience.

If we're going to begin comparing the 2 scenarios, Guerrilla Cambridge were able to release their project as planned after years of hard work, be proud of it going gold, not be burdened with 4 years of a wasted effort that would be a huge hit on the psyche - and these poor people will still be able to land jobs and are already getting offers. Depressing situation all round, but more bittersweet for GC without a doubt. Scalebound is just brutally messed up of a situation. Kamiya's "dream game" will never see the light of day.

[NotanotherReboot]

No, if we lived in a perfect world Naughty Dog would make Jak and Daxter.

Media Molecule will be next to shut down. Mark my words
They are a UK studio, which already puts a red cross upon their studio.
Their game, Dreams, is getting no hype from consumers.
It will flop and then Sony will pull the plug on them.

[deathtok]

@Frinker

LBP series has done well and Dreams got a big E3 presentation last year. Marking Media Molecule for death is premature.

[Ceaser9857361]

Fishy Fingers

"Exactly which other studios in Cambridge will the staff be relocated too? Sorry you lost your job, but here's another in japan. The wife and kids won't mind will they..."

LOL!! So you mean only studios in Japan is an option?? Employees has the freedom to choose even which devs and studios they would want to work with.. Its sad when a studio gets shut down but then most employees gets re allocated.. With that talents and energy nobody goes unemployed. Look at Lionhead Studios , Sony reached out to the employees for jobs...

http://www.geek.com/games/s...

[Ceaser9857361]

Frinker

"Media Molecule will be next to shut down. Mark my words "

"It will flop and then Sony will pull the plug on them."

i can understand the trauma post Scale-bound cancellation . I advise you to understand you're no soothsayer and you have NO idea about Media molecule.. If you wanna troll i suggest you to take it else where..

[NotanotherReboot]

I'm not trolling.
Media Molecule didn't have a a presentation at E3 last year.
Their trailer from E3 2015 has a mere 300k views, with many of the comments consisting of people's bewilderment at what type of game it is.
LBP 2 was 5 years ago. Sony's not going to keep a studio afloat based on past successes a generation ago.

[UCForce]

Now you are gone too far with it. You took that prediction way too far.

[Fishy Fingers]

@Arijit

Clearly I wasn't saying Japan is the only option (as I'm sure you're aware) rather suggesting that life is not as simple as you're suggesting. They work in Cambridge because that's where they have chosen to make their home. To imply they will be simply offered other jobs so everything is gravy is just shallow minded. Locally there is no options for them so while they maybe offered another job in another studio that will likely result in relocating, whether that's 50 miles or 5000 miles is beside the point. If you've ever found yourself in such a position you'd probably have a greater appreciation for how difficult that can be on a social, domestic and professional level.

"Employees has the freedom to choose even which devs and studios they would want to work with"

Sorry but that is finding, applying, interviewing and hopefully acquiring a new job. That is NOT reallocation by Sony. You've contradicted your original post

[tyasia0]

Your absolutely trolling and uninformed. First off Guerilla also has a studio in Amsterdam which I'm sure many people are being transitioned to, Secondly about MM you know there are three LBP games the third was on PS3 and PS4 as well as Tearaway

[Ceaser9857361]

Fish fingers

"They work in Cambridge because that's where they have chosen to make their home. "
How can you be so sure of that? There could be many who travels and works with the best. If today they get a good offer why would he/she deny??
Angeljuice has sumed up above.. UK does have good devs too. Not necessary that the employees has to be under Sony and do what Sony says.. They do have the freedom to go anywhere and work with anyone .

fishy fingers

"Sorry but that is finding, applying, interviewing and hopefully acquiring a new job. That is NOT reallocation by Sony. You've contradicted your original post"

Please go through my comment again. I said Sony is very much reallocating employees from GC BUT if the employees wants to part away from Sony they are free to do so and nobody is stopping them from doing so... End of the day nobody goes jobless either they are reallocated by Sony since Sony has a lot of unannounced games and require huge man power to complete those games. OR these employees may want to join another studio and carry on what they do best..

[rainslacker]

@fishy

People who work in the game industry know that at any time, they could suddenly be without a job. It's just a way of life. There are very few people who expect to have job security.

The area around Cambridge is pretty dense with game development studios. May not be with Sony, but they won't have to relocate if they don't want to. If they like working with Sony, and are willing to relocate, then they will relocate.

Relocation, I might also point out, is not an uncommon way of life within the game industry either. There are very few places where game development is centralized. Maybe 4-5 places in the world where there is a plethora of developers for which to apply. But even then, it's not uncommon to relocate to another area if oppurtunity presents itself.

That being said, having been on the receiving end of suddenly be without a job, it certainly is unsettling and annoying. but you learn to expect it, and plan for it. But the devs at this studio have proven they can deliver quality games, and work on diverse software and hardware, so they probably won't have much problem getting a job, regardless of if they relocate or not.

[stuna1]

If people pay attention every year around the slow periods in game releases there are studio closures. For the most part a lot of these smaller studio's are able to be absorbed internally. The bigger studio's employee's are relocated to other studio's. Although a hassle and a burden I don't think it all gloom and doom in instances such as this, especially if you have solid titles and experience under your belt.

[OB1Biker]

At least they delivered their project on full and nothing was cancelled. Possibly moving on to work with other studios

[rainslacker]

I'm not sure Sony has any studios close to this one that would make an easy commute for the employees, so that does mean actual relocation. Some may be willing, others won't. The area itself is pretty dense with game developers, so the options are there.

It is a hassle, and a burden, but it's kind of part of the job. There is no real job security in game development....which is a big reason why a lot of people stop doing it after a while as stability becomes more important to their life as they get older.

But you are right, I'd imagine the full time employees from there aren't going to have much trouble finding a job. They have proven they can deliver good games on diverse hardware. That's highly valued in the gaming industry.

[OB1Biker]

I was hoping Sony put GC on another PSVR game that's a shame. Maybe the dev can work with the other studio specially created for VR? Can't remember the name.
At least nothing was cancelled and they delivered their project on full.

[SaveFerris]

That sucks. I hope the employees can find work soon.

Also, why hasn't Sony revived the MediEvil franchise? I'm sure a lot of PS fans would like to see a reboot. If Crash does well, then I hope Sony will look at this one as well.

[DragoonsScaleLegends]

This decreases the chance of a MediEvil reboot even more. :(

[Overload]

That is disappointing.

[Deep-throat]

Yeah. Sony forced their studios to create VR games ASAP.

Failage.

[UCForce]

This is why I don't take your opinion anymore. You aren't living a perfect world here. Everything can be unpredictable.

Edit : Scalebond cancelled and GC closed. Company made mistakes in the end, Deep Thoart.

[Deep-throat]

@UCForce

No hate, bro.

You can't deny it. Sony have a bad history; they forced their devs to create PSP games, Move/3D games in the past. How many of them have failed...?

[UCForce]

I already told you. Not everything is perfect between Sony and Microsoft.

Edit : @Frinker Because the thing is, you realize that both side have flaw. They both made mistakes.

[Death]

I wouldn't necessarily say these are mistakes on Sony of Microsoft's part. It's simply business. As fans we don't always see the things that happen on the back side of gaming. All developers do what they do because they get paid. If the products created can't sustain a healthy business, then studios are closed or projects are cancelled. Neither Sony or Microsoft can invest into studios/games without a return on the investment for too long. When it gets to that point it is just bad business.

[Eonjay]

Sony created a new studio just for VR. Do we know of any announced projects that were cancelled?

[ninsigma]

Well that's not a good start to the year. Bad news for Playstation too it seems. Sucks big time! I wonder did rigs put them under or was this a long time coming??

[Death]

It would be unfair to believe Rigs would sell more than it has. PSVR is a new platform with a relatively small user base. I would hope there is much more to this than Rigs. Many times the developers themselves have other plans and the closure is amicable. As gamers we rarely know since it is between the developers and platform holders.

[ShadowWolf712]

It's part of restructuring the teams in Europe. Hence why many of the employees will find work on projects with other studios. Those they don't have a place for, they're helping get interviews with other studios.

[_-EDMIX-_]

I think it might have been Rigs.

Or Sony most likely just didn't have a purpose for the studio. They might have made a decision internally long ago that they probably weren't going to do another Killzone game, not in a while anyway.

To my understanding they're spreading those developers out amongst other teams, but I do believe some are being let go but I'm not entirely sure.

[rainslacker]

RIGS wasn't such a high budget game that it would likely cause them to lose money. Being one of the premire PSVR launch games, I'd imagine it sold alright and made a return on it's investment.

Likely, it's just as the article said, the studio was redundant. Meaning that it just cost more to run, when it'd be cheaper to simply reallocate their studios and resources into more centralized studios. They did a lot of this last year with their closures, and moved a lot of them into Sony's world wide studios.

GG:Cambridge wasn't a core studio really, although they seemed to be a talented one. They were a "pick up" studio, who worked on projects that Sony wanted to get made. I think Medieval was the only game they actually made from the ground up. Those kinds of studios can all be done with in house teams through centralized studios. Things like SSM, Japan Studios, etc are these kinds of studios. These bigger studios are all part of Sony World Wide Studios, and what is referred to when that term is used. Lots of teams which offers more flexibility, and much cheaper to operate since a lot of the management is shared between games. This reduces costs on the cost of employees, as well as the overhead in managing and operating individual studios, as fixed costs are vastly reduced.

May have been nice to see what they could do if given the freedom to make their own IP's, but it's quite possible that they didn't have the infrastructure at that particular studio to actually support such things.

However, some of my post is assumption and speculation. I respect the work the studio has put out in the past, and I wish them all the best. Always sucks to lose one's job, but it is kind of a harsh reality of the game industry. I'm sure, given their talent, they will land on their feet.

[Liqu1d]

So I guess support for RIGS will end? Such a shame. Hopefully studios nearby hire some guys.

[madmonkey01]

maybe, but support for drivelclub continued for a while after evolution closed.

[Eonjay]

It was probably redundant with the New VR studio they created.

[rainslacker]

More likely moved into some team in their world wide studios. The studio itself isn't required for running the servers, and making updates to the game can be done by other teams. Quite a few devs outsource updates after they release a game, so it's not really time to worry yet.

Even DC received updates after they closed Evolution, so this could be the same.

[MasterCornholio]

This isn't good. Hopefully they don't stay unemployed for long.

[Fishy Fingers]

That's a shame. They made (IMO) the best PSP game and from what I've read one of the best PSVR titles.

I was hoping they'd take the reigns of the Killzone franchise.

[Aenea]

Hmm, this is weird, wonder what exact reasoning is behind this.

Am sure all will find work soon enough tho!

[ThatGuyDart]

I don't understand this. Horizon Zero Dawn is obviously going to be Guerilla Game's main focus for a while. I was expecting Guerrilla Cambridge to take over Killzone. That would have been the smart thing for Sony to do. This is BS. Hopefully those laid off joined Guerilla Games or other first party studios

[_-EDMIX-_]

Maybe Sony felt the studio was too small to take on such a large project like Killzone.

Consider that the team is being transferred to other teams.

For all we know Sony might have another studio in mind that actually make Killzone, or they may not have intentions to work on Killzone for quite a long time long enough that they would have no purpose to have a studio exist without a purpose.

I think it's within the realm of possibility that Sony does not want to create another Killzone title this generation.

Maybe like Sly Cooper in Jak and Daxter and Ratchet & Clank we're sort of in a position where were only going to give them once per generation

[rainslacker]

There are still two teams within the regular GG studio. I do believe they're both working o Horizon right now though.

[Roronoa0411]

Sony should have used these guys to their full potential. Killzone Mercenary was great on vita but other than that and recently RIGS which would be fairly niche at the moment, they haven't really done much in the last two generations. It's a shame really as a new Medevil or Killzone made by these guys would have been great.

[OsafuneKatana]

What BS is this sony? Get lost seriously. The reason I love PS is because of the first party devs. If you'll continue to do this BS, i'll go the PC route.

Loved G cambridge. KZ mercenaries was so good. :(

[Ravenor]

This industry is a business, if closing the building and moving key employees to other studios saves Sony money and they don't lose anything in the process of value...Why wouldn't they do this?

No company is a saint, no company is your friend. They'll piss on your grave if they can get away with it and make a buck.

[ONESHOTV2]

well i would suggest you start your investment in a PC from now.

[Kaneki-Ken]

If you check the studio history, their last successful game was LittleBigPlanet Psp which was 2009. Killzone Mercenary was an amazing game but it was a flop commercially and in sales. Rigs didn't help either. So 8 years without bringing money in will lead to this.

[NotanotherReboot]

This is an absolute travesty. Every year a studio gets shut down. In a few years only Naughty Dog and the Gran Turismo devs will remain. I just have to accept that the days of 1st part exclusives are coming to an end and embrace multiplats on my PC.....sigh

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

I'm sure Japan Studio will remain as well unless Sony decide pull some BS move in Japan to cause them to close.

[ShaunCameron]

That's because Naughty Dog and Polyphony Digital still bring in money for Sony.1st-party exclusives are not coming to an end. Only 1st-party studios that don't produce..

[rainslacker]

If it's one studio a year, it'll still be more than a few years before Sony only has two teams.

Sony is restructuring their studios so they have more super studios, with dev teams, instead of full on studios. Japan Studios, and Sony SSM are two such studios now, and they host many dev teams. Nintendo operates this way also. EA, Square Enix, Activision, and Ubisoft also have these kinds of studios. All these studios, have more teams than MS has 1st party studios, who actually do not have a developer conglomerate studio....to put it in perspective.

Last year, Sony closed 3 studios...1 rather big....yet Sony has more games in the works than some of the dedicated publishers do....to put it in perspective.

So, your concern trolling is not needed, although your melodrama is rather amusing.

[Blastoise]

Another UK studio, this is BS. They were a talented bunch, you can't make them do Vita and VR games then be surprised their games don't sell too great. And this is coming from a Vita fan.

[Chaos_Order]

Sad to hear this. The Medievil series is classic, and I absolutely loved KZ Mercenary. (Thought it was better than Shadowfall, especially the multi-player) I hope they can all find new jobs soon.

[I_am_Batman]

Man back in the PSOne days Cambridge studio was awesome with Medievil and C-12. It's sad to hear that Sony is shutting the studio down especially after they've just released one of the more interessting looking VR titles.

[Atomicjuicer]

Disgraceful. So many brilliant UK studios closed even though they deliver excellent games.

Wipeout, starwing, killzone mercenaries, rigs, etc.

Cutting edge teams gathered, mislead, cast to the winds.

[TankCrossing]

Talented devs aren't exclusive to the UK, and unfortunately it is a relatively expensive place to run a studio.

[Bennibop]

So many studios in the UK have shut down the UK government was giving tax breaks. There are a hell of alot talented people that have had to come out of the industry or relocate abroad. Us, UK and Japan are the biggest developers of games historically.

And the biggest video game franchise in the world was developed by a British company.

[Christopher]

Mario was developed by a British company?

[Kribwalker]

Evolution studios as well last year and lionhead from MS side

[Yohshida]

Why dont they let them focus on VR games?

[ONESHOTV2]

yeah let's put them on a sinking ship that would help them a lot.

[Eonjay]

Because they just opened a dedicated VR studio.

[Christopher]

Then I hope they moved as many as they can to the new studio.

[Yohshida]

Sadly we see less and less first party devs...

[senorfartcushion]

Wonder if the outcome would have been different was it not for the terrible VR project ?

[Fishy Fingers]

Actually one of the better PSVR games which makes it even more unexpected. You think they'd want them to continue producing VR titles if nothing else.

[senorfartcushion]

The worst thing is, it is the fault of a VR game if it doesn't change the gameplay from controller to headset.

You can play any VR game with a controller and TV and that isn't right.

[MasterCornholio]

But the game wasn't bad though.

http://www.metacritic.com/g...

@Senor

Well you said the game is terrible but many critics say otherwise. The game is one of PSVRs best titles.

[senorfartcushion]

What has Metacritic got to do with this?

[guyman]

To show you how wrong you were in saying rigs was terrible. Face it, you have never played.

[ziggurcat]

@senor:

"What has Metacritic got to do with this?"

... because it kind of shows that it's not a "terrible" game?

[Ravenor]

RIGS was being judged against other PSVR titles, RIGS is probably the most fully featured GAME that launched with PSVR as well. But at the end of the day, that games score isn't an indicator of overall quality in the grand scheme of things (all games). Like 100% from gaming age? Really?

It's not a bad game, but something to bank a studio on? No.

[loadstone007]

Very sad news.
As a side note, I'm not awfully surprised. Never liked any of their games.

[q8kik]

This is what happens when you force your devs to cater to fads.

[ShadowWolf712]

The fad that's still selling quite well?

A game that was very well received?

Restructuring happens, dude.

[q8kik]

"A game that was very well received?" That's true. But it won't sell.
I bet you if they made KZ Mercenaries 2 on the PS4 it would have sold atleast 2 million copies.

[q8kik]

F Sony and MS. God this week sucks.

[SilverDemon]

at least we are getting more info on switch.right?

[ILostMyMind]

It's unfortunate for a gamer to see the closure of any studio. Let's hope that the people involved will not have problems and that the production of games in the PlayStation will not be affected.

[Relientk77]

No we need more MediEvil

:-(

[thejigisup]

It's a shame and I know that the loss of those high caliber individuals well not only find work but I expect a new studio to pop up soon GC closing is definitely a loss that will be felt, I was expecting some big things from them in the future.

[SweetLeafSmoker]

it makes sense.. I personally don't think developers/companies need multiple outlets no matter how big you get...

1 main studio, maybe 2..

but when you companies start branching out and have stuff like Game Studio Cambridge, Game Studio North, Game Studio South, Game Studio California, Game Studio East Coast, etc, etc, etc, etc.... Shit starts getting convoluted and makes everyone's job harder.

all these people will have jobs within the month. plenty of studios to work for...

[Ravenor]

It was Millenium and then SCE Cambridge, it was part of a restructuring that renamed them Guerilla Cambridge.

[Doopy]

Sony realizes they can live off of third party support and they don't need to take risks. People want third party games and maybe only a few first party games like Uncharted/Halo. I bet almost anything media molecule will be next because that dreams game took forever and we haven't seen anything on it.

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

Nah dude. Don't be stupid

[Doopy]

Sony released their top 20 downloaded game and uncharted 4 being the biggest exclusive for Sony was number 18. Think about that. People were downloading and buying the bf and cod more.

[guyman]

I bet almost anything that you don't know what you're talking about

[Christopher]

Aside from your Dreams comment, which is taking for-freaking-ever, Sony lives off third-party support? I think that's ridiculous to say. Even MS has better results with their first party titles overall as far as profits go.

[TheColbertinator]

If only they weren't forced to make lousy VR games

[danny818]

The AAA market starting to crumble. The Prices dropping to low prices even after launch i knew wasnt a good sign.

[Christopher]

They never made a AAA game...

[sdcard4gb]

NONONONONO !!!
NOOO GOD NOOO NOOOOOO!!!
GODDAMN IT !!! MY MEDIEVIL !!! NOOOOOOO!!!!

[BlakHavoc]

Unfortunate, the ugly side of the business.

[20live]

2017 is off to a bad start scalebound cancelled and now this

[Ulf]

Shutting a company down is usually a way to dispose of it's leadership, not it's workforce, and to make the books look good, temporarily. It is kind of a jerk move, emotionally for the employees, but simply firing the leaders and replacing them doesn't usually work as well as laying off the studio and distributing the employees to other studios, or letting them find work elsewhere.

Getting your whole studio laid off is a thing that just happens every few years in the games industry, and most game developers understand this. This is because the business folks can't bear to suffer anything but an outstanding string of successes, and then panic when they see the first sign of trouble. Foolishly they shut down the experienced studio, and put their money into 2-3 unproven indie studios instead... most of which fail or are only marginal successes.

On the up side, this isn't an automotive plant, or a factory shutdown -- I can pretty much guarantee the engineering team will be snapped up in a heartbeat, by Sony themselves, in some cases. Experienced engineers are in super high demand. The producers, designers, and artists will have more trouble, as they always do, but honestly they're in relatively high demand as well -- I wish them good luck, even though they won't need it, as Cambridge was a pretty skilled studio, overall.

I "know a guy" who has, every time this happened to him over the course of his career (3-4 times now), effectively gotten a large raise and a couple months (paid -- layoffs involve severance pay) vacation to boot, finding himself at a new company shortly thereafter. Don't worry about the employees, folks -- they will be fine.

[kevnb]

To me this shows how sony feel about psvr and handheld gaming.

[ShadowWolf712]

Right. They've so little confidence in PSVR that they... opened a dedicated VR studio.

[kevnb]

this one? http://www.gamesindustry.bi...
or is there some other one? Do you think its good that they were laying off senior resources at this studio?

[ShadowWolf712]

NorthWest Studio.

[ABizzel1]

2017 is starting off with horrible news.

MS and Scalebound now this.

The only remotely goos new is that they're trying to move a lot of devs into other teams, and there are several other studios around that could use the help.

[Artemidorus]

MediEvil game would of been nice, would of sold well too

[Christopher]

It would be a nice niche game, question is cost to develop. Wonder how they would have done shrinking the team and working on a title like that rather than cutting the whole thing all together? I wish I understood business better so I could understand why they would do this as opposed to something else.

[Artemidorus]

NMS did alright, they could of thrown some money at them but it's clear the agenda is elsewhere.

[Christopher]

NMS was only money for advertising, nothing went to development.

[Bennibop]

Why the he'll are the closing the studio that gave us the best game on psvr and vita????? I just don't get this move, they had the talent to develop an excellent ip or take over killzone.

[Christopher]

Don't worry, the hockey jersey wearing guy will be on stage at E3 to show us what games are 'also on vita' this year and next.

[guyman]

Yea this isn't good at all. They developed rigs and probably had the potential to develop a Ps4 kill zone game. This is a bad loss for Sony, nothing good about this

[IamTylerDurden1]

I blame the public for this, honestly. People did not go out and support the quality games that Guerrilla Cambridge made and bc of it they were shutdown. There is only so long a company can fund an unprofitable developer even if they make quality games. Killzone Mercenary was phenomenal and a technical marvel yet it sold well under a million units while Black Ops (a far worse game) on Vita sold multiple millions. Rigs is arguably the best full game on VR, a legit VR AAA, only 40 or $50 at launch and yet it only sold moderately well. People are to blame for this, consumers, support quality developers before they get shutdown. I urge you. I really hope Gravity Rush 2 sells, ppl are missing out on great games.

[Gazondaily]

WOW!!! Blame the public for this closure???

Unbelievable......

[gangsta_red]

You blamed the media and gamers for negative NMS reviews and now you blame the public for Sony shutting down GC. When are you going to actually start pointing the finger at the actual cause for these situations instead of blaming everyone else?

Killzone Mercenary may have been a great game according to you but it was on a portable that nobody wanted.

"...while Black Ops (a far worse game) on Vita sold multiple millions."

Maybe your precious Killzone wasn't the great game that you think it was eh?

"Rigs is arguably the best full game on VR, a legit VR AAA, only 40 or $50 at launch and yet it only sold moderately well"

So what does that tell you about people's actual interests in VR?

[Christopher]

Essentially, you blame people for not having the taste in games you think they should?

I get that some good IPs go by the wayside and some great titles get overlooked every year. But to blame people on it when Sony is a business built around making money by knowing what their consumers want, that seems very weird to me.

[AizenSosuke]

This sucks.

[trooper_]

Unfortunate, but I'm sure they will find new jobs or Sony will develop a new studio. Doesn't make their first party collection obsolete.

[gangsta_red]

"or Sony will develop a new studio."

Why not just keep this one?

[trooper_]

You don't know the factors as to why they closed it.

Also, it still doesn't change the fact that they still have strong first party studios.

[Silly gameAr]

What a s**t reason to close down a place that has such talent. Hope they move some of that talent to Guerrilla Amsterdam and really do help everyone affected find jobs.

[subtenko]

nooo......Nooooo......NOOOOOOO !!!! :( I want to give them all a hug :,(

[Yohshida]

So sad noone gives a flying f*** about this. Rather complain in the 3213124th Post about Scalebound.
This Studio made one of my all time fav games with MediEvil and one of the best Portable Games. Couldnt they just go all in on a new MediEvil or become a VR Studio?

[ILostMyMind]

A studio can not exist forever thanks to a game made 20 years ago. They need to be productive. This is just business in the corporate world. But closing the studio does not mean the end of the story. They can work in another studio, like the news said, and their IPs will continue with Sony.

Remember, Sony is not a charity.

[Elda]

These guys will probably go to the main GG...no sweat.

[shadowT]

Sad news. Killzone M was a great game for Vita!

[game4funz]

19 years Holy Cow!

Farewell! It was a good run.

[feraldrgn]

[PlayStation has pledged to "where possible... try to reallocate people onto other projects" and assist staff by speaking to local developers about recruitment prospects.]

Hopefully most if not all of those people find work again.

[Josuey]

complete utter BS cambridge was proven studio, they made killzone mercenary the second best killzone game and you decide to close them down after a VR game? this is the same crap that happened with zipper. you canned them after a vita game.

[MrSec84]

This is horrible, the own logical reasons for this are that the Studio didn't have anything new planned in the pipeline for development.
Shu and co are fine investing in games to add to the diversity of the PlayStation library, sure they want games to make them money, but history has shown they're fine having their loss leaders.

I'm sure if Cambridge had a new project to incubate after RIGs they would have been left open, London are a prime example of this, they have a massive workforce, yet haven't released a major game since the PS2, they haven't even done the regular releases of titles like Singstar or party games like they did on PS3, they've only made VR Worlds and maybe XDev stuff or PS Camera games.

Point is Sony would keep them around if they're productive.
Some staff will go to other 1st party studios if positions need to be filled and doubt the rest of the Studio's talent will be out of work for long.

I feel for these devs though, shame they won't bring a second AAA game to PS4 as a full team.

[Germany7]

That's awful, what a terrible move by Sony...

[PizzaSteve]

RIGS flop so they close them down. Shame thier talent went to a crappy VR game. None of the VR games so far have sold well at all.

[SynestheticRoar]

Sad to hear. the makers of Ghosthunter a true hidden gem.

[Germany7]

Sony says that they are focusing on create new games, including VR games, but close the studio responsible for Rigs?
I'm still pissed about what happened to Evolution too.
Stop messing around Sony, enough with terrible deals with lame games like No Man's Sky and Everybody Gone's to the Rapture and focus on your first-party studios.

[Inzo]

This is very sad to hear but I take solace in this.

"where possible... try to reallocate people onto other projects" and assist staff by speaking to local developers about recruitment prospects."

[captainexplosion]

Sony put them in such a bad position by making a Vita game and then a PSVR game. RIgs was one of my most anticipated games ever but I couldn't even get passed the tutorial it made me so sick. My most disappointing game ever by far. I'm not a fan of Guerilla or KZ, but I did enjoy Mercenary. And it's not surprising at all they got closed.

[ierotitan]

so let me get this straight? they made one of very few good vr games and sony closed them? RIP VR

[ShadowWolf712]

Since nobody here is reading the article:

"Sony has confirmed the impending shutdown to us, saying that the compulsory redundancies are "regrettable". The decision to close the studio comes from a review of all current PlayStation projects and resources, with the platform holder concluding that "in order to deliver on our strategic objectives, it is necessary to make some changes to the European studios structure".

Sony has confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that no other studios have been affected."

That's why. Not "omg VR flopped", not "omg they can't afford First Party", not some random, unexplained dismissal.

[Razzer]

Sony has proven, beyond doubt, that first party development is strong. The studios creating first party games currently is beyond compare with any other platform.

The negative response is simply revenge posts from those butthurt from having to defend MS cancelling Scalebound. End of story.

[jznrpg]

That's too bad they made a couple of decent games

[MattE]

Bad news.. don't believe the nonsense about feeding to other studios though. Said the same about Evolution but didn't happen.. Sony know that this will make them look good in the wake of axing a studio

In other news, if this was MS.. bad company right? Funny world

Oh well, these things happen aye

[kdmitchell_toh]

But.. but.. Sony doesn't do this sort of stuff. Just Microsoft, right?

Karma....

[theshredded]

Wish them best. If only the dumb mass audience would play their games. Rigs for example is PSVR's most repayable game and one of the best VR games period yet I don't see much fuss about it ffs!

[acemonkey]

so servers for rigs going offline?

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Sony is so awful. /s

[Kallisti]

Dammit, I was hoping they'd get to make a Killzone :Mercenary 2.

[Guyfamily999]

It really was a solid game. I was surprised that there was no port of the original to PS4 last year, along with Golden abyss (possibly in some packed bundle).

[DefenderOfDoom2]

Cool, the developers of KILLLZONE 1 PS2 ,KILLZONE 2 and 3 PS3 and KILLLZONE SHADOWFALL PS4 are still working . Maybe they will take some developers from Cambridge studio to work for the KILLZONE franchise.

[DeadManMMX]

This was the RIGS team? Called it. Still sad though.

[JasonKCK]

Where is all the doom and gloom at? Why are the same type of comments being removed here, but are acceptable elsewhere on this site?

[GrmpyolGamer]

OMG!!! Sony is surely DOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!!! now. If Xbox is doomed over the cancellation of Scalebound then Sony shutting down a dev is much worse.

[BlindMango]

Senior Editor at Gamesindustry.biz doesn't know how to spell "Guerrilla", wow lol

[madpuppy]

I just love how some of you clowns seem to think we are to blame for this studio being shut down...that we should have bought more of their games...at full price. Screw that, You want to think that you have the fate of a multi-million dollar game developer on your shoulders and that "we" needed to do something, like buy games that are full retail. You want to do that? Go Ahead! As for me, I don't have the disposable income to pay full price for anything, If I cannot get a deal, I wait until what I want is on sale. Sony, MS, Devs, Publishers or any other company that provides goods or services understands this. Only a glassy-eyed fanboy moron would feel this way.