Sony Interactive Entertainment closed Bluepoint Games in March 2026, five years after buying the studio. The Austin, Texas team behind the Demon’s Souls and Shadow of the Colossus remakes lost about 70 jobs. Sony announced the decision on 19 February 2026, citing a recent business review.
Why Did Sony Close Bluepoint Games?
Bluepoint was closed because it had spent more than a year without an approved project to build. A PlayStation spokesperson said the shutdown followed “a recent business review”, and praised the studio in the same statement: “Bluepoint Games is an incredibly talented team and their technical expertise has delivered exceptional experiences for the PlayStation community. We thank them for their passion, creativity and craftmanship.”
The drought started in January 2025, when Sony confirmed it had cancelled an unannounced live-service God of War game that Bluepoint had been developing. That project was the studio’s main assignment at the time, and losing it left roughly 70 developers with nothing greenlit ahead of them.
PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst put the decision down to conditions rather than performance. In an internal message to staff, quoted by several gaming outlets in February 2026, he described an “increasingly challenging industry environment” and listed “rising development costs, slowed industry growth, changing player behavior, and broader economic headwinds”. Sony has never said Bluepoint’s own work was the problem.
The Projects Bluepoint Pitched and Lost
Bluepoint tried at least three times to secure a new game, and was turned down each time. The sequence was reported by Bloomberg in early March 2026, after the closure was already public.
- A Bloodborne remake: Bluepoint’s first pitch after the God of War cancellation. The business case reportedly worked, but original developer FromSoftware is said to have vetoed it.
- An updated Shadow of the Colossus: A new version of the game Bluepoint had already remade in 2018. Sony declined it.
- Spinoffs pitched to sibling studios: Bluepoint approached other PlayStation Studios teams with ideas, including a title set in the world of Ghost of Tsushima. None was greenlit.
This is the part of the story that explains the closure rather than just dating it. A studio with a strong critical record was shut not because a game failed but because no owner inside Sony would hand it one. Sony has not publicly commented on the individual pitches.
What Bluepoint Games Made
Bluepoint Games was founded in Austin, Texas in 2006 by Andy O’Neil and Marco Thrush, both previously at Retro Studios, where they worked on Metroid Prime. Sony acquired the studio on 30 September 2021, making it part of PlayStation Studios. Across twenty years it shipped one original game and became the industry’s best-known specialist in rebuilding old ones.
| Year | Game | Bluepoint’s Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Blast Factor | Original game |
| 2009 | God of War Collection | Remaster |
| 2011 | The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection | Remaster |
| 2011 | Metal Gear Solid HD Collection | Remaster |
| 2015 | Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection | Remaster |
| 2015 | Gravity Rush Remastered | Remaster |
| 2018 | Shadow of the Colossus | Remake |
| 2020 | Demon’s Souls | Remake |
| 2022 | God of War Ragnarok | Co-development |
Demon’s Souls was a PlayStation 5 launch title in November 2020 and the credit that made Bluepoint’s name outside development circles. It was also the studio’s last game as sole lead developer.
Is Bluepoint Games Still Open?
No. Bluepoint Games stopped operating in March 2026 and has not reopened. As of 25 September 2026 there has been no verified public update on the studio since the closure took effect, no revival announcement, and no sale of the name or assets to another company.
Sony wound the studio down entirely rather than selling it, which sets Bluepoint apart from studios that changed hands intact. Microsoft, by contrast, divested Ninja Theory rather than shutting it during its own 2026 cuts.
Where Did Bluepoint’s Staff Go?
Sony said it would try to place affected developers elsewhere in its studio network, but has never published how many of the 70 were actually redeployed. That leaves the outcome for most of the team unconfirmed.
One offer was made in public. Marek Tyminski, chief executive and founder of CI Games, posted an open invitation to the affected staff: “We’d like to invite any of the affected developers at Bluepoint Games to get in touch with us. The Demon’s Souls remake was an incredible achievement and we’d be honored to chat with the talented creators.” Tyminski said CI Games had multiple roles available, including some not listed on its website, and pointed to Lords of the Fallen II as the work on offer.
Neither CI Games nor Sony has since confirmed how many former Bluepoint developers took up those roles.
Who Makes PlayStation Remakes Now?
Sony has not named a replacement. Bluepoint was its only internal studio dedicated to high-end remakes and remasters, and no PlayStation Studios team has been publicly assigned that role since March 2026.
Sony has not ruled out further remakes either, and it continues to commission them from external partners as it has in the past. What ended with Bluepoint is the in-house capability, not the category. The closure also followed a pattern across the industry: Sony had already closed its London studio in 2024, and 2026 brought the liquidation of GreedFall developer Spiders Studio in France.
Frequently Asked Questions
When Did Bluepoint Games Close?
Bluepoint Games closed in March 2026. Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the decision on 19 February 2026 and the studio shut the following month.
Did Sony Sell Bluepoint Games or Shut It Down?
Sony shut it down. Sony had owned Bluepoint outright since 30 September 2021 and closed the studio rather than selling it or spinning it out, so no buyer took over the team or its name.
What Was the Last Game Bluepoint Games Worked On?
Its last shipped credit was co-development on God of War Ragnarok in 2022. Its last game as sole lead developer was the Demon’s Souls remake in 2020. An unannounced live-service God of War title it was building afterwards was cancelled and never released.
Was Bluepoint Games Making a Bloodborne Remake?
It pitched one, but never got to make it. According to Bloomberg’s March 2026 report, Bluepoint proposed a Bloodborne remake after its God of War project was cancelled, and FromSoftware reportedly blocked it. No Bloodborne remake has ever been announced.
