Sony has announced that it is shuttering its Manchester studio after five years, despite the fact the team have yet to even ship a game. The company was formed back in 2015 with the aim of creating PSVR games.
PlayStation Manchester Closing Down
Speaking in a statement to GI.biz, a representative for Sony explained its plans ‘to close it as part of our efforts to improve efficiency and operational effectiveness’. As a result, it is believed that the entire company is being made redundant.
Sony’s UK studios have taken quite a battering during the PS4 era, with Guerrilla Cambridge and Evolution both having been shuttered over the past four years. Sony currently operates two first-party UK outfits in the shape of Media Molecule and SCI London Studio.
The closure of the Manchester studio is somewhat surprising, as it was only last week that the company was staffing up for what seemed to be a triple-A PSVR game.
Sony is currently gearing up for the launch of the PlayStation 5, which will arrive in holiday 2020.
The PS5 will support an extensive range of features, including backwards compatibility with PS4 titles, although rumors have suggested the system may also be capable of playing PSOne, PS2, and PS3 games.
If true, then this would put it on equal footing with Xbox Series X, which is able to play Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Xbox titles.
In addition to being able to play PS4 titles, Sony’s swanky new console supports both 8K resolution and ray-tracing, as well as an SSD for cutting down loading times.
While Sony hasn’t yet confirmed when it is going to reveal the PS5 in all its glory, we’ve been hearing plenty of murmurs that the event will take place this month, possibly on February 29. Another report suggests an early March reveal for the system.