The closure of Bluepoint Games stems from a “challenging industry environment,” PlayStation Studios CEO Hermen Hulst reportedly said in an internal message, the contents of which have partially surfaced online. The leaked memo is drawing fresh fan scrutiny for pairing upbeat talk about recent PlayStation hits with suggestions that the company’s current operations simply aren’t sustainable.
Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier broke the news that PlayStation is shutting down Bluepoint Games on Thursday, February 19. While Sony Interactive Entertainment has yet to officially announce the move, multiple Bluepoint staffers have already publicly confirmed that they will soon be out of work, according to LinkedIn posts reviewed by GameRant.
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Bluepoint Shutdown Reportedly Announced Alongside Praise for 2025 PlayStation Hits
Bluepoint Games
PlayStation Studios CEO Hermen Hulst acknowledged the shutdown in a group-wide email, according to a recent Kotaku report citing portions of the memo. Hulst opened by praising the company’s 2025 “highlights,” including the critically and commercially successful launch of Ghost of Yotei, continued player engagement and spending in MLB The Show and Helldivers 2, and the highly rated release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. “At the same time, we’re operating in an increasingly challenging industry environment,” the memo said, before announcing the closure of Bluepoint.
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Hulst reportedly cited “rising development costs, slowed industry growth, changing player behavior, and broader economic headwinds” as key factors behind Sony’s concerns about the state of the gaming industry. “These pressures are making it harder to build games sustainably,” he said. He also praised Bluepoint as an “incredibly talented team” that delivered “exceptional experiences” over the years.
Sony acquired Bluepoint in 2021, a year after the widely acclaimed release of the PS5-exclusive Demon’s Souls remake. Subsequent reports said the studio had been developing a live service game that was canceled in January 2025. According to insider accounts, Bluepoint then spent the next 12 months evaluating potential projects to pitch to headquarters before it was ultimately marked for closure, meaning it was shuttered without shipping a single game as a SIE subsidiary. Social media reactions to the leaked memo appear to be largely critical of the strategy resulting in Bluepoint’s closure. “What a waste of a talented studio,” reads one highly upvoted Reddit comment, while a similarly visible comment frames the shutdown as a long-term consequence of Sony’s “ridiculous live service push.”
Rising development costs, slowed industry growth, changing player behavior, and broader economic headwinds are making it harder to build games sustainably.
Sony May Retain Some Bluepoint Staffers, But Many Are Already Looking for Work
Ultimately, Bluepoint’s closure appears to be yet another sign of the gaming industry’s volatility, even for well-regarded teams. The next practical questions are what will happen to the studio’s staff, which numbered over 70 people as of late 2025, according to the company’s official website. In the memo leaked by Kotaku, Hulst wrote that PlayStation will attempt to find new roles for some of the impacted employees elsewhere in the group. However, he did not indicate how many positions may be saved in this manner. Subsequent social media posts indicate that a significant portion of the studio’s workforce will be laid off or has chosen not to pursue other roles within the company.
Image via Sony
On LinkedIn, more than a dozen current Bluepoint employees said they were seeking new opportunities between February 19 and 20. Those individuals include art director Mark Skelton; lead concept artist Ryan Gitter; senior character artists Justin Dewey and Ryan Todd; senior environment artists Urban McLafferty and Zachary Schlanger; senior VFX artist Dallas Glowka; environment artists Audrey Born and Connor Brandenburger; associate producer Kinloch Gill IV; producer Hector Aranda; graphics engineer Phoenix Bishea; lead material artist Justin Wagner; rigger and animator Michael Pezok; and QA manager Jared LaCombe. These names account for more than 20% of Bluepoint’s most recently reported headcount.
Since 2024, Sony has shuttered mobile studio Neon Koi and Concord developer Firewalk, in addition to conducting layoffs across numerous other gamemaking subsidiaries. The Bluepoint closure will be formally completed in March 2026.
Sources: smithdog223 / Reddit, 9Ifrit9 / Reddit, Mark Skelton / LinkedIn, Audrey Born / LinkedIn
