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| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | September 12, 1999 in Santa Monica, California[1] |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California , United States |
Key people | Yumi Yang (head of studio) |
| Products | God of War series |
Number of employees | 200+ (2018)[2] |
| Parent | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| Website | Official website |
SIE Santa Monica Studio is an American first-party video game developer, part of SIE Worldwide Studios developers group, and owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment, known for developing the acclaimed God of War series. It is based in Los Angeles, California and was established in 1999.
Established in 1999, Santa Monica Studio became first known in 2005 with the success of God of War. Santa Monica Studio later turned into a pioneer in innovation and mentoring new voices in gaming. Based on a model established with video game studio Thatgamecompany, Santa Monica Studio has since acted as an incubator for studios as Giant Sparrow and SuperBot Entertainment.[3]
On January 29, 2014, it was reported that the company was moving from Santa Monica to Playa Vista, Los Angeles .[4] Their new facility occupied a 20-acre site and allowed the studio to house two independent studios, as well as having an "improved sound bay and a motion capture studio".[5]
On February 25, 2014, the studio was hit by layoffs due to the cancellation of a new intellectual property.[6][7]
| Game title | U.S. release date | Platform | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinetica | October 14, 2001 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 4 | [8] |
| God of War | March 22, 2005 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita | [9] |
| God of War II | March 13, 2007 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita | [10] |
| God of War III | March 16, 2010 | PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 | [11] |
| God of War | March 12, 2013 | PlayStation 3 | [12] |
| God of War | April 20, 2018 | PlayStation 4 | [13] |
| Formerly | SCE Worldwide Studios (2005–2016) |
|---|---|
| Type | Division |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | September 14, 2005 |
Key people | Hermen Hulst (president) |
Number of employees | 2,700+[1] (2011) |
| Parent | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| Subsidiaries | See § Studios |
| Website | playstation.com/en-us/corporate/playstation-studios/ |
Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SIE Worldwide Studios) is a group of video game developers founded in September 2005 by Sony Interactive Entertainment.[2]
It is a single internal entity overseeing all wholly owned development studios within SIE. It is responsible for the creative and strategic direction of development and production of all computer entertainment software by all SIE–owned studios, all of which is typically produced exclusively for the PlayStation family of consoles.
With the launch of the PlayStation 5 in 2020, Worldwide Studios brands all releases be it internal or externally developed under the "PlayStation Studios" label.[3]
SCE Worldwide Studios (SCE Worldwide Studios) was established on September 14, 2005, with Phil Harrison being appointed as president.[4] On May 16, 2008, Shuhei Yoshida became president.[5] In April 2016, Sony's Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI) divisions merged, creating SIE Worldwide Studios.[5] Hermen Hulst succeeded Shuhei Yoshida as president of SIE Worldwide Studios on November 7, 2019, with Yoshida being delegated to lead Sony's indie development.[6]
| Name | Location | Founded | Acquired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bend Studio | Bend, Oregon | 1993[7] | 2000[7] |
| Guerrilla Games | Amsterdam | 2000[7] | 2005[7] |
| Housemarque | Helsinki | 2021[8] | |
| Insomniac Games | Burbank, California | 1994[7] | 2019[9] |
| London Studio | London | 2002[7] | — |
| Malaysia Studio | Kuala Lumpur | 2020[10] | — |
| Media Molecule | Guildford | 2006[7] | 2010[7] |
| Naughty Dog | Santa Monica, California | 1984[7] | 2001[7] |
| Nixxes Software | Utrecht | 1999[11] | 2021[12] |
| Pixelopus | San Mateo, California | 2014[7] | — |
| Polyphony Digital | Tokyo | 1998[7] | — |
| San Diego Studio | San Diego | 2001[7] | — |
| San Mateo Studio | San Mateo, California | 1998[13] | — |
| Santa Monica Studio | Los Angeles | 1999[7] | — |
| Sucker Punch Productions | Bellevue, Washington | 1997[7] | 2011[7] |
| Team Asobi | Tokyo | 2021[14][lower-alpha 1] | — |
| XDev | Liverpool | 2000[7] | — |
| Name | Location | Founded | Acquired | Divested | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bigbig Studios | Leamington Spa | 2001[15] | 2007[16] | 2012[15] | Closed[15] |
| Evolution Studios | Runcorn | 1999[16] | 2007[16] | 2016[17] | Closed[17] |
| Guerrilla Cambridge | Cambridge | 1997[18] | — | 2017[18] | Closed[18] |
| Incognito Entertainment | Salt Lake City | 1999[19] | 2002[19] | 2009[20] | Closed[20] |
| Japan Studio | Tokyo | 1993[7] | — | 2021[21] | Reorganized within SIE, primarily to Team Asobi[14] |
| Manchester Studio | Manchester | 2015[7] | — | 2020[22] | Closed[22] |
| Studio Liverpool | Liverpool | 1984[16] | 1993[16] | 2012[23] | Closed[23] |
| Zipper Interactive | Redmond, Washington | 1995[24] | 2006[16] | 2012[24] | Closed[24] |
Naughty Dog is home to the ICE Team, one of Sony's Worldwide Studios central technology groups. The term ICE originally stands for Initiative for a Common Engine which describes the original purpose of the group.[25] The ICE Team focuses on creating core graphics technologies for Sony's worldwide first party published titles, including low-level game engine components, graphics processing pipelines, supporting tools, and graphics profiling and debugging tools. The ICE Team also supports third party developers with a suite of engine components, and a graphics analysis, profiling, and debugging tool for the RSX. Both enable developers to get better performance out of PlayStation hardware.[26][27]
XDev Europe, established in 2000 and based in Liverpool, England,[7] collaborates with independent development studios across Europe and other PAL territories to publish content to PlayStation platforms all over the world. XDev has helped to create and publish, titles such as the LittleBigPlanet, Buzz!, MotorStorm and Invizimals series, Super Stardust HD, Heavenly Sword, Heavy Rain, Beyond, Tearaway and Resogun. Partners include independent developers such as Quantic Dream, Magenta Software, Climax Studios, Novarama, Supermassive Games and Sumo Digital, as well as SCE subsidiaries such as Media Molecule and Guerrilla Games. In addition to funding projects, XDev offer full production, project management and game design support. Titles are also supported with community management, online production and dedicated outsourcing management facilities. XDev work directly with Marketing and PR teams in all Sony territories to promote and publish games worldwide.[28][29]