PlayStation’s London Studio has shared a short goodbye with its community, following the announcement of its closure by Sony.
“For over 20 years London Studio has been home to some exceptionally talented and wonderful people in the games industry,” it wrote on social media platform X. “As we close the doors, and all go forward to new adventures, we wanted to say a heartfelt thank you, to all our past and present, players and colleagues who have supported us over the years.
“We’ve had one wild and wonderful journey!”
The studio then signed off with a waving emoji, and a single blue heart.
Earlier this year, Sony announced it was laying off 900 people, equating to eight percent of its workforce. At this time, it announced it would close London Studio as part of these layoffs.
Ahead of its closure, London Studio was working on an online game for the PlayStation 5, which was going to be set in a fantasy version of the UK’s capital.
In 2022, co-studio heads Stuart Whyte and Tara Saunders shared more details about this game, calling it the team’s “most ambitious project to date”.
“With this project, we really wanted to explore some new avenues and set ourselves some new challenges,” Whyte said. “We definitely wanted to try something a little bit different, and I think this new project really channels our ‘brave’ value and allows us to push ourselves on the ‘curious’ front, too. It’s an exciting future, it really is.”
The studio’s earlier games, meanwhile, include the SingStar and EyeToy series, to name but two.
For more on this topic, be sure to check out Chris Dring’s feature: What is going on with layoffs in the video games industry?