Landon Mercer

On 2/20 I communicated with 2 employees via LinkedIn who were with Bluepoint Games (I reached out on Linkedin via message to numerous employees, 2 talked to me, 1 said not right now as they are technically still employed, and others did not respond). I talked to them separately in messages on the condition of anonymity. Each of these individuals had different roles within the studio, and were in completely different departments: **Prior to putting this info out, both confirmed they are no longer employed with the company. I am only sharing this info as there is no risk of job loss to the sources. If they were still employed, I would not be sharing. 🔵Both stated that the God of War Live Service game they were working on was pitched by Bluepoint to Playstation DURING their work on God of War Ragnarok as their next game. Everyone enjoyed the God of War universe, and with Playstation wanting to do live service games, Bluepoint pitched this game and it was approved. However, they missed several deadlines and it became apparent how large of an undertaking this project was for Bluepoint. One of them said project sounded good, but we really should not have been doing a live service game. It was out of the norm for us, and our bandwidth. Ultimately, the project was shuttered by PlayStation after being given multiple opportunities, and Bluepoint was tasked with pitching new projects in 2025. Both said there was additional pressure turned up on deadlines on the heels of Concord being canceled (they said the scrutiny on live service games was intense). Both said they thought having the live service game canceled was the right move so they could take on other projects more suitable for them. 🔵Both said the studio WAS NOT currently working on any green lit project at the time of closing, and they HAD NOT secured any greenlit projects since God of war game was canceled. Both said any reports of them currently working on an approved project with funding are NOT accurate. There had been 4 projects pitched to PlayStation to their knowledge, and these projects were not greenlit. One of them said 2 of these projects were remakes they wanted to take on, but Playstation did not believe they would be successful in the market. Both were apparently single player experiences. I did ask if I could have the names of the projects. Both said no, and the reason is that at least one of the pitched projects is now being worked on by another studio and they do not want to be responsible for putting that info out. I followed up on why they did not get the greenlight but someone else did, and they did not know. 🔵One stated that Playstation DID offer them job opportunities within SIE due to what they do. The other stated they have NOT had help in getting jobs within SIE. 🔵One said the atmosphere had soured in their view after god of war project was canceled. It then got worse after the projects they were pitching kept being turned down. They said several had left the studio prior to closing, and they thought headcount was in the 50s at time of closing, maybe 60s. One stated they were fine with how the studio closing news was handled, but the other person said they were not happy with how things went down. I asked details and they said it was just the way it was communicated. Both said there was more that happened behind the scenes, but they were not directly involved in those conversations and hope others will give their side once they are no longer at the studio. The consensus after several pitches were declined, in their opinion, was that they were not going to get a project greenlit and it was a matter of time until they were closed. 🔵I asked about other potential studio closings. One did not want to discuss studios they did not work at. The other stated they have friends at other studios, and there are a few studios that they believe will be closed or more staff reductions in the near future. One did give me the names of studios they thought were next, but asked me not to share this part out of respect to those other studios still operating, and I agreed. I am thankful they took the time to communicate with me and trust that I would not use their names. All research for this was done through LinkedIn. Make sure to follow me for news and updates around video games, movies, and tv shows!

Time to start the 2025 book thread. So, without further ado, Book 1 of 2025: Excellent novel. It instantly grabbed my attention. The world it takes place in is endlessly fascinating. I love how dirty it is with the falling ash. Makes for some great visuals. Highly recommended