In a recent interview with Game Informer, Head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst spoke about his ambitions for the studio, as well as how the folks at PlayStation have made it a point to continue investing in external Japanese developers.
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During the interview, the topic of Japan Studio’s restructuring in April came up, with the studio being re-centered around Team Asobi, the developers behind Astro’s Playroom. Hulst noted that Japanese games were “core” to Sony’s identity, even if some may not believe that anymore.
“I will say that we are in some ways very much a Japanese company still,” Hulst said. “That’s our heritage. That’s still part of who we are. We love our Japanese games.”
Hulst went on to talk about what the restructuring of Japan Studio meant for the future of Japanese developers under Sony, expressing his excitement about what the future holds for Team Asobi and other external developers located in Japan.
“We’re building out Team Asobi under Nicolas Doucet, so we’re actually investing in that team. People forget sometimes that we have Polyphony Digital, which is a team in two locations. We are investing in our external development group out of Tokyo as well, and that’s a team that has obviously worked with the likes of From Software and Kojima Productions. So we are very invested in Japanese development and Japanese development is something that we love … I think it’s such a core part of the PlayStation identity that I can’t ever see us shy away from Japanese or even Asian development.”
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Sony has been no stranger to working with external Japanese developers in the past, although fans have expressed concern over their dedication to the market after the restructuring of Japan Studio. Only time will tell whether or not Sony continues to support the market, but it seems as if Hulst is at least publicly ready to do so.
