When PlayStation made clear its plans to invest in live service games, I admittedly wasn't as down on the idea as everyone else. First, I got it – the five most profitable games have been the same live service titles two years in a row, so for a company looking to maximize profits, more live service content makes sense. Second, I really saw potential in something like this The last of us online or a co-op focused Marvel's Spider-Man GaaS. But apparently this belief was misplaced. Anyone who judged Sony's live service move was proven right as cancellation after cancellation occurred. Deviation Games died before they released their first game, both of them Spider-Man and Last of us live service games died before players even got an official look at the game, and the phenomenal remake experts at Bluepoint game wasted time on one God of war multiplayer project that also fell apart behind the scenes.
It remains to be seen how Marathon will be fine, but obviously, the quest to create another viral hit that Helldivers 2 is not yet over for Sony. It would have been one thing if the failures of the live service had only resulted in wasted time and large gaps between releases from beloved PlayStation studios. However, it's a completely different matter when Sony's failed move results in talented developers losing their jobs due to poor decisions made by senior executives. Losing Deviation Games before it could even prove itself was bad enough, but the news that Bluepoint Games was shutting down has hit even harder given their incredible track record. Gamers around the world love Bluepoint's work, whether it's solid remasters like Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection or full scale remakes of Shadow of the Colossus and Demon's Souls. With a 91 on Metacritic for the first remake (with a perfect score of 17) and a 92 on Metacritic for the latter (along with a perfect score of 20), Bluepoint knocked it out of the park twice in a row with their latest projects.
With this in mind, like many others, I was completely surprised when the news broke of Bluepoint's suspension. Sure, I had heard the reported battles for its original game and God of war live-service project, but I assumed Sony would move Bluepoint to what it should have been doing all along: remakes. It's downright heartbreaking that we'll never get to see another glorious Bluepoint remake like Demon's Soulsand that makes Sony's live service push more frustrating than ever. Seeing Bluepoint punished for their publisher's mistakes has understandably sent the internet into a rage over PlayStation, and I've been right there with them. But a few days away from the news, that anger has turned to sadness, as I'm stuck thinking about what could have been.
Who is that character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Start
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s) Permadeath (2.5s)
Sony acquired Bluepoint on September 30, 2021. Since then, not a single Bluepoint game has been released, leaving gamers completely unable to support a studio that many once hailed as a vital part of PlayStation's future.
Bluepoint had no shortage of remake options within its existing wheelhouse
-
Blood borne
-
Notorious
-
Jak and Daxter
The most obvious remake possibility for Bluepoint was Blood bornesomething many would have expected to see remade as a PS6 launch title based on how Demon's Souls was handled. Perhaps Sony has a plan in place with FromSoftware that will remake the PS4 classic itself; Santa Monica handles the upcoming God of War Trilogy Remake suggests a new focus on studios that had the original games handle their remakes. It's hard to imagine though, as FromSoftware seems more likely to spend their time on new projects than remaking old ones. Whatever happens, given Bluepoint's phenomenal polishing work Demon's Soulsthere's no denying that the studio would have had plenty of experience to lean on for one Blood borne remake. Unfortunately, this will never happen, and it is hardly the only option that was available to Bluepoint.
Sucker Punch has clearly moved on from notorious given its success Ghost franchise, but leaving these phenomenal superhero games behind feels like a huge mistake. If the studio that made them doesn't have the time and resources to spend restoring Cole MacGrath's journey, then Bluepoint would have been the perfect choice to modernize famous 1 and 2 while staying true to Sucker Punch's vision. Imagine using Cole's lightning powers with adaptive triggers, cutting-edge graphics and 3D audio. The same logic applies to Naughty Dog's Jak and Daxter also. The Last of us the studio has clearly moved on to cinematic, story-driven projects, but this classic 3D platformer shouldn't be shelved to collect dust because of it. Bluepoint could and should have revived it, but unfortunately that option is also off the table now.
It's hard to imagine Jak and Daxter or notorious get The God of War Trilogy treatment. God of war is a unique case in that its television series is imminent, while the superhero genre is covered by Insomniac's Marvel works and Astro Bot (as well as occasional Ratchet and Clank games) fill the niche for 3D mascots.
Bluepoint could have made Live-Service work by reviving Shooters that players have been missing
-
SOCOM
-
Kill zone
-
Resistance
While the above options would have been perfect given Bluepoint's existing remakes, it's possible to entertain Sony's idea of a live service push while putting Bluepoint on something that's actually likely to succeed. When the players think God of warthey don't think about Ascension's failed multiplayer or Sons of Spartas awkward handling of co-op. There is no open world to play in as Marvel's Spider-Manor cult classic multiplayer experience like The last of us' Fractions to subtract from. Turning a linear, story-driven action series into a multiplayer game was always a terrible plan, and assigning a studio whose only experience is remakes to such a project ensured it was doomed from the start. Sure, Bluepoint handled the HD versions of God of War 1 and 2 for PS3, but it's very different from making a brand new one God of war with a completely different game loop centered around player retention. And it's hard to imagine such a shift actually working even if the project was in Santa Monica's hands because it's so inherently different from what does God of war special.
But while God of war didn't make sense for the live service push, Sony is sitting on a goldmine of shooters that actually fit that agenda. Why put Bluepoint on a live service God of war instead of a live service SOCOMa beloved franchise that gamers have wanted to see revived for more than a decade? watching Helldivers 2Sony's lone success with the live service, and making games comparable to it feels so obvious, but for some reason, Sony chose to abandon Bluepoint instead of moving it to something better. Kill zone and Resistance are two PS3-era shooters that thrived, yet Guerrilla Games and Insomniac have moved beyond them (just like Naughty Dog with Yak and Sucker Punch with notorious). Bluepoint could have released a free-to-play Kill zone or Resistance and used their remake expertise to steadily reintroduce the maps from all sequels over time, creating a constant stream of content and generating revenue via battle passes and skins. Again, Sony has thrown this opportunity away.
Kill zone and Resistance remakes could have introduced live-service multiplayer elements along with overworked single-player campaigns, which would have made them easier to swallow than the fully online games that many feel go against the PlayStation's identity. There would also be value to the game even if the multiplayer failed, like instead of something like that Harmony to be shut down and lost forever, some of the game could have lived on.
Bluepoint's suspension shows that Sony is out of touch with what the fans want
These are hardly the only dormant PlayStation exclusives that Bluepoint could have revived. Sly Cooper could have been set free to steal loot and hearts via some remake of the classics, while I personally would have lost my mind over an out-of-nowhere revival of the ground-breaking FPS MAG — another game that would have been a perfect fit for Sony's live service push. Essentially, no matter how one looks at it, Bluepoint's failures are entirely due to Sony going against what most of its gamers want. The PS4 thrived on brilliant single player exclusives, and said exclusives are why I'll always be a PlayStation guy. This generation we've gotten about two of these types of games a year when we could have had a lot more, because PlayStation's studios have been caught up in live service projects instead of doing what they do best. Since 2026 seems to be the year things get back on track, I could have shrugged it off, but I just can't get over Bluepoint's death.
Instead of leaving the live service to Bungie and Arrowhead, studios with proven success in that realm, Sony tried to force it on all of its major studios and failed because of it. And instead of owning up to the bad decision, and moving Bluepoint into a single-player remake or even a live-service project that actually seems profitable, Sony has shut down Bluepoint due to a failure of its own creation. It's a truly puzzling decision considering how many PlayStation franchises – both single-player and multiplayer-focused – are sitting on the shelf practically begging for a revival. I honestly don't expect Naughty Dog to ever return to Jak and Daxteror Insomniac to bring back Resistanceso it's sad that the studio that could have brought back these games (and many more) no longer exists. To me, this is one of PlayStation's worst decisions in years, and even the biggest fan of the brand should be disappointed.
