Sony is closing the Cambridge branch of Guerrilla Games, GamesIndustry.biz has learned. All employees will be laid off.

Sony has confirmed the impending shutdown to us, saying that the compulsory redundancies are "regrettable". The decision to close the studio comes from a review of all current PlayStation projects and resources, with the platform holder concluding that "in order to deliver on our strategic objectives, it is necessary to make some changes to the European studios structure".

Guerrilla Games Amsterdam, developer of Horizon: Zero Dawn and the Killzone series, will not be affected.

PlayStation has pledged to "where possible... try to reallocate people onto other projects" and assist staff by speaking to local developers about recruitment prospects. Fortunately, Cambridge is something of a hotbed of UK deveopers, with the likes of Frontier, Ninja Theory, Jagex and more based nearby.

The statement adds: "Whilst we accept that this decision will mean that we risk losing high calibre staff, by focusing on other Studios with exciting new projects in development, (including continued work on PlayStation VR), we believe we will be in a stronger position going forward and able to offer the best possible content of the highest quality to our players.

"This decision should not take anything away from the incredible games and services that Guerrilla Cambridge has delivered."

The studio, previously known as SCEE Cambridge Studio, has been running for 19 years and most recently produced PlayStation VR launch title and multiplayer virtual reality game RIGS: Mechanized Combat League. Its past hits have included the MediEvil franchise, Primal, Ghosthunter and PS Vita shooter Killzone Mercenary.

The team based there was not only known for its development and creativity but also its work with local universities to help find new talent for the games industry.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-01-12-guerrila-cambridge-to-close

Sad, but seems like they haven't produced anything really big in quite some time

They made a Vita and a VR game, what did Sony expect?

Hmm, shame. RIGS was well received game, hope they (Sony) still support it and hope the employees can get new work soon.

very regrettable decision and one that reflects badly on the PSVR as RIGS is probably it's most polished title to date

I think Sony made quite a bad mistake here

Called it back when Evolution closed
Would link the post if i wasn't so lazy to look for it

Poor guys. Seems like Sony has closed several studios in recent years. That's a shame and I hope that they land on their feet.

Bad decision when deciding what games the studio would do. But anyway if they had too much staff for what they were doing it would be easy to see they weren't meeting goal targets.

Don't know much about this but I remember hearing that having studios in the UK doesn't work anymore because of taxes. Could be wrong or it may have something to do with that.

Anyway. I feel bad for everyone affected. Who knows if it was the right decision. It's still terrible for all those affected by it.

twintail said: Ka-pi96 said: Well that sucks. Poor guys that are losing their jobs I wonder why this is happening though, it`s not as if they`ve been releasing loads of flops or anything. I highly doubt Killzone and Rigs were massive hits. Keep in mind that development on KZ started in 2012, maybe even earlier. So for a studio that is not highly, if even, profitable for close to 5 years it probably shouldn tbe so much of a shock. maybe. poklane said: They made a Vita and a VR game, what did Sony expect? To be proftable with games that were not designed around big budgets.  Keep in mind that they havent made a break out game, profit wise, in a very very long time. it sucks, but by giving them a Vita game and VR (the latter which is actually doing well for Sony so far) was probably decided because they could be developed on a smaller than usual budget.

profit, profit, profit

first party studios don't have to be profitable as long as the business is profitable - they have to deliver high quality software to increase the profile/desireability of the consoles/platforms (which means more hw sales > more sw sales > more royalties from sw sales) and Camebridge delivered on that front