EVERY PlayStation Studio Ranked

Granted, Haven Studios has yet to put out their first game, but we cannot help but feel skeptical about this one. Some outlets put so much focus on founder Jade Raymond, almost to the same degree as, say, Amy Hennig. But the difference between them is night and day. Whereas Hennig has decades of experience working on franchises like "Legacy of Kain" and "Uncharted", Raymond has only served as producer on a couple of "Assassin's Creed" games and was a manager on other Ubisoft projects before leaving for Google Stadia…where she also got nothing out the door. Adding to our skepticism is how Raymond describes their debut game as a "social platform". You mean a "live service game", yeah? Sony's rush to acquire the studio shortly after its founding is also cause for alarm as it seems the acquisition might have been out of desperation as many companies seek their own "Roblox"/"Fortnite"/"Minecraft" money printer.

We'll keep this one short as there isn't much to say about them, but Firewalk Studios is another developer making an online multiplayer game. Not much is known about it, though, as the team hasn't even announced a title let alone a logo. Even knowing about Sony's big push for live service, this acquisition was equally as sudden and alarming as Haven. We are optimistic to see what this team has in store, yet we remain cautious as well.

With the newer studios out of the way, we're into the line-up of studios that have had the time to prove their worth. Sadly, Media Molecule sits at the very bottom. Sackboy's palace once seemed like it could do no wrong as "LittleBIGPlanet" and its sequel sold gangbusters thanks to its fun platforming and robust tools for infinite user-generated content. So, where did we go wrong? Well, for starters, Media Molecule wasted almost two console generations worth of development time as they pushed for "Dreams", a sandbox game that encouraged users to make their own video games without the ability to export and make money off of games. Between 2020 and 2023, Media Molecule tried to maintain what little playerbase it had before finally admitting the plug needs to be pulled. Then, you have the travesty of the security breach in "LittleBIGPlanet's" servers that would lead to shutdown of LBP and LBP2's servers, effectively killing their remaining playerbase. At the time of this video, three of the four co-founders have left Media Molecule. We fear for the studio's future.

Pixelopus is the youngling of the PlayStation family that we’re hoping comes to realize its potential. Since its founding in 2014, the studio has only managed to put out two games: “Entwined” in 2014 and “Concrete Genie” in 2019. Neither game made a splash, but thankfully, Sony sees their potential. At the time of this video, Pixelopus is currently working on a brand new PS5 game in collaboration with Sony Pictures Animation. Whether that be an original idea or maybe making a game based on whatever SPA is making, we’re holding out hope for them.

London Studio is a weird one. Despite being super low on this list, London Studio is absolutely one of the best because of their ability to experiment and deliver awesome titles. This is the studio that brought us several years of the karaoke “Singstar” series and the recent PSVR title “Blood & Truth”. Problem is that their entire portfolio consists of games that require the use of some kind of Sony peripheral. So, what does a regular, traditional game from London Studio look like? Well…we don’t know, but they are working on a co-op multiplayer game for PS5, which studio head Tara Saunders describes as “our most ambitious project to-date”.

Savage Game Studios is a developer that most folks can either take or leave, and understandably so. Mobile gaming does not have a good reputation among most gaming enthusiasts, but that isn’t to say Savage isn’t important to Sony. On the contrary, it is one of Sony’s most important assets. Regardless of how one feels about mobile gaming, there is a lot of money to be made in that market. Just a short browse on the App Store or Play Store will show hundreds or even thousands of games that have garnered millions of downloads, and advertisers will pay big money to be on those apps. Not only that, but the amount of money some folks spent on mobile games is astronomical. Couple this with Sony’s push for transmedia across their games, movies, and TV shows, and you can really capitalize on almost every IP you have. In other words, Savage might have a big role to play in Sony’s future.

Whereas Savage is still working on fulfilling their tasks for Sony’s future, San Diego Studio has practically been the platform’s money printer for the past couple decades. Hey, sports games sell and have audiences that will buy every game regardless of how frequently new entries are released. But San Diego’s true calling card, “MLB: The Show”, has seen tremendous success over the last several years, and it’s getting better. This is a team that not only understands what baseball fans expect from a game like “MLB: The Show”, but they use every entry to celebrate baseball’s extensive history. The only downside they have is that Sony has to basically share the studio with their competitors, though that doesn’t seem to have affected their sales all that much.

Let us just ignore the blunder that was “Gran Turismo 7” for just a second. Polyphony is still a brilliant studio despite being known for one IP (unless there are any other “Motor Toon Grand Prix” fans watching this). What Polyphony does well is not just provide a solid racing game every so often, but deliver a racing game that pays respect to the culture of cars, motorsports, and the like while showcasing the visual fidelity present in every PlayStation console. They have been around for so long and done things so incredibly well that it’s hard to imagine a PlayStation without Polyphony.

Now, we understand that Housemarque may not be on the best of terms with some folks. “Returnal” was, after all, almost a complete disaster in how it affected some people’s consoles, causing all sorts of wild and weird problems. But when you look at their other games like “Resogun”, “Super Stardust”, and “Matterfall”, they are a necessity for PlayStation. You like combat games? You want a game where bullets are flying everywhere and demands high concentration and skill to learn and master? Housemarque is your studio. We just hope we don’t have a repeat of “Returnal’s” problems with their next game.

Bend Studio has been treated as the runt of the litter for the longest time, and unfairly so. “Syphon Filter” may not have been the biggest franchise on PS1 or PS2…or PSP. But they have still managed to churn out a handful of titles that can serve as comfort food for those wanting an action game. For example, “Days Gone” did not appeal to a ton of people, yet there is a lot to appreciate here with its mechanics, visuals, and traversal. We’re crossing our fingers that whatever they belt out next will land with more people.

Much like Savage Game Studios, Firesprite is looking to play a major role in the future of PlayStation. No, this isn’t entirely because of their specialty in VR gaming. While “Horizon Call of the Mountain” is one of the best games to play on PlayStation VR 2, the headset’s sales have not been super great. (Then again, the same happened with the first PSVR.) What has us curious is Codename “Redstar”, the vehicular combat game that has to be a new “Twisted Metal”. After the disaster that was “Destruction AllStars”, it was reported that several key members were poached from developer Lucid Games to go work at Firesprite with Lucid being taken off the “Redstar” project. Clearly, Sony sees a ton of talent within Firesprite to give them this much work.

With development costs growing every year, Sony has realized that not every game should be exclusive to only their console. Heck, some console owners still play games on PC! This is where Nixxes comes to save the day. Yes, the PC port for “Horizon Zero Dawn” was rough at launch, but the studio seems to have stabilized and put out quality PC ports with “Marvel’s Spider-Man” and its “Miles Morales” spin-off. Basically, they have allowed Sony to double-dip on sales long after a game’s initial launch.

Team ASOBI is in a weird position. The closure of Japan Studio burned a lot of bridges between Sony’s Japanese developers and the higher-ups. While those who left Team ASOBI were essentially Japan Studio, the stragglers started from scratch And so far, they show a ton of promise! “Astro Bot: Rescue Mission” was the best game made for PSVR, and “Astro’s Playroom” remains the best game to play on PlayStation 5. As much as we would love to see more of Astro’s adorable face, we also wouldn’t mind seeing ASOBI tap into some of that fun absurdity that made Japan Studio exceptional.

Some might dismiss Bluepoint Games as a remake factory, but be that as it may, they still have brought some of the best remakes to date. “Shadow of the Colossus”, “Demon’s Souls”, “Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection” - all games that vastly improve upon their original works with better control schemes, visuals, and technical performance. Regardless if Sony plans to use them primarily for remaking their older games or not, they have excelled in our books, and we’re curious to see what an original game from Bluepoint will look like given what they’ve learned from these older games.

When it comes to Guerrilla, we can talk all day about “Killzone” or “Horizon” and how fantastic those games are. However, that isn’t what gets them up this high. Guerrilla is a key player in Sony’s future not because of their IP, but because of their technology. Decima is gradually becoming Sony’s proprietary engine, and it might affect the other eighteen studios in later years. With its visual fidelity, flexibility, and technical prowess, Decima has quickly shown both devs and players how powerful it truly is, and you can see it in “Until Dawn”, “Killzone: Shadow Fall”, “Death Stranding”, and yes, the “Horizon” games.

Admittedly, Sucker Punch does not boast a portfolio as extensive as its colleagues. Quality over quantity, friends, that is the name of the game, and Sucker Punch goes above and beyond. The funny thing about their games is they can be summed up in a way that sounds like most other games. “Sly Cooper”? Stealth game. “inFAMOUS”? Open world action game. “Ghost of Tsushima”? Immersive sim. But what sets them apart is how Sucker Punch somehow improves upon conventional design. Just look at the level design of “Sly 2”, the UI of “Ghost of Tsushima”, and the combat and animations of “inFAMOUS”. It’s all done incredibly well. There is nothing from them that is below “good”.

Naughty Dog is an interesting case. Most of us will be fond of the name because we played “Crash Bandicoot”, “Jak & Daxter”, and “Uncharted”. Today, the company has burned some corners of the PlayStation community with its intense focus on “The Last of Us”. Say what you will on that front, but Naughty Dog has been a pioneer in making games more accessible for players with disabilities. From incorporating features for the vision-impaired to tools built for the physically handicapped, their work in this corner of game development has been absolutely impressive, and since “Last of Us: Part II”, we’ve been seeing an influx in publishers and developers incorporating similar features.

Santa Monica Studio has solidified its importance to the PlayStation brand, and it is because of one man, one demigod: David Jaffe. Just kidding, but in all seriousness, “God of War” has been responsible for much of Sony’s success, so much so that Santa Monica has only ever made “God of War” for the last twenty plus years (not counting its debut game “Kinetica”). Despite it seeming like the studio was in trouble in the early 2010’s, they have managed to turn the ship around with 2018’s “God of War” and its 2022 sequel. With another chapter in Kratos’s story finished, here’s hoping we see something brand new from Santa Monica Studio.

Insomniac is, without question, the best studio under PlayStation’s umbrella. Since its founding in 1994, Insomniac has never put out a bad game. Even the more mediocre entries of “Ratchet & Clank” are still playable and fun in their own ways. But from “Spyro” and “Ratchet” to “Spider-Man” and “Resistance”, you can always expect the best in visuals, the best in animation, the best in gameplay, you get the idea. These guys are some of the best tech wizards in the business, and they are a prime example that you can still make fantastic games without enforcing crunch work.