Former PlayStation Head Explains Why Sony Shut Down Japan Studio

Shuhei Yoshida, Sony Interactive Entertainment's former president, has finally explained why Japan Studio was closed in April 2021 — and his answer is as blunt as it is damning. Speaking at the Computer Entertainment Developers Conference on July 22, Yoshida said Sony shut the studio because it couldn't produce the kind of AAA hardware-driving blockbusters the company wanted, specifically naming God of War and Uncharted as the benchmark Japan Studio simply couldn't meet.

Yoshida was candid about his own disbelief at the decision. "Players from around the world have said that it's unbelievable that Sony would shut down Japan Studio," he said, adding that at the time he was saying much the same thing internally. He acknowledged that Japan Studio's developers — including Silent Hill and Gravity Rush creator Keiichiro Toyama — produced creative work, but that the games were AA-scale, a fit for PlayStation Vita rather than the AAA-first direction Sony was pushing on PS4 and PS5. "As a company, PlayStation wanted to drive hardware sales with games like God of War and Uncharted," Yoshida explained, "because that's the kind of game that's in demand… It's hard for Japan Studio to launch a new series on console."

Sony officially framed the closure as a reorganization, with Japan Studio absorbed into Team Asobi — the developer behind Astro Bot. In reality, sources told VGC that the vast majority of Japan Studio's staff were let go before that merger, and key figures like Toyama and Demon's Souls producer Teruyuki Toriyama had already departed. Japan Studio's legacy runs deep: the team was behind Ape Escape, Ico, and Shadow of the Colossus — games that helped define PlayStation's identity in its early years. The irony Yoshida's explanation carries is hard to miss: Sony hasn't released a new Uncharted since the closure, and its post-Japan Studio pivot toward live-service games has largely failed to land with players.

Yoshida's remarks are drawing fresh frustration from fans who feel Sony traded genuine creative identity for a blockbuster formula it hasn't consistently delivered on anyway. With Team Asobi now carrying the torch as Sony's primary Japanese first-party studio, the question of whether that creative space can ever be fully replaced remains very much open.