Earlier this week, PlayStation announced the absolutely sickening news that they are shutting down Bluepoint Games, the studio responsible for many remakes of classic PlayStation games such as Demon's Souls and Shadow of the Colossus. A statement issued following the closure announcement claimed that the reasons behind Bluepoint's closure were “rising development costs, slowing industry growth, changing player behavior and broader economic headwinds”.
Translated from corporate speak, this basically means that Bluepoint wasn't making enough money for PlayStation to justify keeping it around. Overall, it was a huge blow to the gaming industry, but God of War creator David Jaffe believes there could be a way to see Bluepoint stick around, and that means Xbox picking up the pieces.
God Of War creator believes Xbox could save Bluepoint
In one of Jaffe's latest tweets (thanks to Pure Xbox ), he basically suggests that Xbox boss Phil Spencer should call and fund the entire Bluepoint team that was fired. He says Bluepoint could create a new Xbox-backed studio and that the company shouldn't “let this amazing team split.”
It's been four years since Ragnarok, but Leaker Says 'Don't Hold Your Breath' for a New God of War Anytime Soon
We might as well wait a little longer before we get back to Kratos and Atreus' saga.
It's an interesting idea and would definitely be a massive PR win for Xbox, but as many pointed out in responses to Jaffe's tweet, Xbox and Microsoft aren't really the studio saviors we all want them to be. In fact, Xbox has a far better reputation for shutting down studios (even successful ones) that aren't making a lot of money.
In 2024, Xbox shut down both Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks, the latter of which essentially just released the Xbox's highest-rated game in Hi-Fi Rush. Last year, Xbox canceled a bunch of games and ended development of Perfect Dark The Initiative. The bottom line is that the Xbox is definitely not the safe pair of hands that Jaffe thinks it is.
Sure, it would be nicer for Bluepoint to still be alive and well, but Microsoft is almost certainly not going to be the company to do that. I'll hold my hands up and admit that I'm wrong if this happens because stranger things have happened in the games industry in the past, but I guess we'll just have to accept that Bluepoint is gone this time and hope that those affected find other jobs in the industry soon.
- Released
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March 22, 2005
- ESRB
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M For Adults 17+ // Blood and gore, Intense violence, Nudity, Sexual themes, Strong language
- Publishers
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Sony Computer Entertainment
