The gaming world was hit with some rough news this week. Sony confirmed it’s shutting down Bluepoint Games in March 2026, the Austin, Texas-based studio responsible for some of PlayStation’s most beloved remakes, Shadow of the Colossus, Demon’s Souls, and more.
About 70 people are losing their jobs, and the official statement from Sony was… well, the usual corporate goodbye.
But thanks to investigative reporter Detective Seeds, who managed to connect with two former Bluepoint employees via LinkedIn, we now have a much clearer picture of what actually went down behind closed doors.
A live-service God of War that was doomed from the start
Here’s where things get interesting. According to these two employees, Bluepoint itself was the one who pitched a multiplayer God of War project to Sony, and Sony approved it.
The pitch happened during the development of God of War Ragnarök, so the studio was essentially juggling both at the same time. Over time, though, it became painfully clear that Bluepoint simply wasn’t built for that kind of game.
Missed deadlines started piling up, internal pressure grew, and both sources mentioned that scrutiny on the project intensified after Concord was canceled, Sony was watching live-service projects much more closely across the board.
Eventually, PlayStation pulled the plug on the God of War project in early 2025.
Four pitches, zero greenlit projects
After the God of War multiplayer was dead, Bluepoint didn’t go down without a fight. The studio put together four new project proposals for Sony throughout the past year.
Two of those were single-player remakes, exactly the kind of thing Bluepoint had always been great at. But Sony turned all four down, telling them the projects wouldn’t be successful enough in the market to justify moving forward.
According to both sources, the consensus inside the studio after all those rejections was that they were not going to get a project greenlit, and it was only a matter of time before they were closed.
A studio that was already falling apart
At least one of the sources told Detective Seeds that the atmosphere inside the studio had soured noticeably after the God of War project was canceled, and it only got worse as each pitch was turned down.
The writing was on the wall for many, both sources confirmed they are no longer employed with the company, and they weren’t alone. According to the sources, several employees had already left the studio before the official closure announcement, with headcount reportedly dropping to somewhere in the 50s or 60s by the time the shutdown was confirmed, down from the roughly 70 the studio was known to have.
Both also said there was more that happened behind the scenes, but since they weren’t directly involved in those conversations, they preferred not to go into details, and they’re hoping other employees will come forward with their own accounts once the studio officially closes next month.
It’s a frustrating end for a team that genuinely knew how to make PlayStation games shine. Bluepoint didn’t fail because they lacked talent, they got caught in the middle of a project that was outside their wheelhouse, and when it collapsed, there was no road left forward.
What do you think, should Sony have just let Bluepoint do what they did best and greenlit one of those remake pitches? Drop your thoughts below, we’d love to hear your take!