Siren and Gravity Rush creator Keiichiro Toyama leaves Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Studio, establishes Bokeh Game Studio https://t.co/3rubFzxVDw pic.twitter.com/GoKXonZPvD
— Gematsu (@gematsucom) December 3, 2020
Toyama, who was the creator of Silent Hill, Siren, and Gravity Rush, left the studio in August to create a new studio named Bokeh Game Studio. 2 other Sony Japan Studio veterans, Kazunobu Sato and Junya Okura, also left the studio to serve as COO and CTO of Bokeh. The studio is named after the Bokeh depth of field effect. Bokeh says that they will be developing games for console and PC, and "will take on many challenges in the future, regardless of platform".
Here is Toyama's statement:
“Having parted with Sony Interactive Entertainment which I have been with for a very long time, we have independently established a new development studio. “Looking back at my inner self, nothing has really changed at all since day one when I set foot into this industry. Firstly I want players to enjoy games built from ideas with originality, and secondly I want to enjoy making those games—this is all there was to it. Thankfully it was possible for myself and team to develop and release many games. However the gaming industry has rapidly grown globally and is still drastically changing all the time. Day by day, living in these times, I have felt the need for a substantial change to pursue my own ambitions. This is why I have decided to become independent. “Thankfully I am blessed with a team of colleagues who share the same ambitions as myself, which is why I am able to start this new chapter with a new game studio where we can form our original ideas. We are already under development for our first work, though obviously will need some time before release. We ask for your patience and to look forward to future announcements.” |
Bokeh is already developing their first game, an original action-adventure game that will be multiplatform. They say that the scale of the game will be similar to Toyama's past games, with development expected to take 2 to 3 years.
Here are the resume's of each of Bokeh's 3 founders.
Keiichiro Toyama
- Director
- Silent Hill (1999, PlayStation)
- Siren (2003, PlayStation 2)
- Siren 2 (2006, PlayStation 2)
- Siren: New Translation (2008, PlayStation 3)
- Gravity Rush (2012, PS Vita)
- Gravity Rush Remastered (2015, PlayStation 4)
- Gravity Rush 2 (2017, PlayStation 4)
Kazunobu Sato
- Lead Character Design
- Siren (2003, PlayStation 2)
- Siren 2 (2006, PlayStation 2)
- Game System Director
- Siren: New Translation (2008, PlayStation 3)
- Lead Game Designer
- Puppeteer (2013, PlayStation 3)
- Producer
- The Last Guardian (2016, PlayStation 4)
Junya Okura
- Lead Game Designer
- Siren (2003, PlayStation 2)
- Siren 2 (2006, PlayStation 2)
- Siren: New Translation (2008, PlayStation 3)
- Gravity Rush (2012, PS Vita)
- Gravity Rush Remastered (2015, PlayStation 4)
- Gravity Rush 2 (2017, PlayStation 4)