PlayStation Studios boss, Herman Hulst, has reassured fans once again that Sony hasn’t forgotten its Japanese roots and it’s still “very much a Japanese company” in some ways.
Over the last year, reports emerged that Sony was actively shifting its focus from Japan to the West, and many of its organizational changes in recent years were seen as part of that shift (Hulst himself replaced Shuhei Yoshida). When Japan Studio’s restructuring was officially announced, fans expressed concerns that it was the end of the road for Sony’s Japanese development, but the company is keen to shed that assumption.
Speaking to Game Informer, Hulst expressed his confidence in Team Asobi and Polyphony Digital. He also revealed that Sony is investing in an external development group based in Tokyo that has previously worked with the likes of Kojima Productions and FromSoftware.
I will say that we are in some ways very much a Japanese company still. That’s our heritage. That’s still part of who we are. We love our Japanese games. We’re building out Team Asobi under Nicolas Doucet, so we’re actually investing in that team. People forget sometimes that we have Polyphony Digital, which is a team in two locations. We are investing in our external development group out of Tokyo as well, and that’s a team that has obviously worked with the likes of From Software and Kojima Productions. So we are very invested in Japanese development and Japanese development is something that we love … I think it’s such a core part of the PlayStation identity that I can’t ever see us shy away from Japanese or even Asian development.
While Team Asobi’s next project is under wraps, Polyphony Digital is working on Gran Turismo 7.
[Source: Game Informer]