Summary
- PlayStation’s unnamed LA studio is likely developing a co-op multiplayer game, as hinted by recent job listings.
- The team could be using Unreal Engine 5 for the game, and the project may not be live-service due to its current PS5 exclusivity.
- Speculation suggests that the PlayStation LA studio is being led by former Deviation Games co-founder Jason Blundell.
Some recent job listings for PlayStation’s newly-established Los Angeles studio strongly hint at the development of a co-op multiplayer game. While Sony hasn’t even named or formally acknowledged this mysterious PlayStation team yet, details surrounding its debut project have already begun to surface online.
As it stands, PlayStation has 15 core game studios under its ownership, as well as five support/external development teams. Many of these first-party studios were acquired over PlayStation’s 30-year history, like Housemarque, Insomniac Games, Nixxes Software, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla Games, Sucker Punch, etc., whereas others were internally founded by Sony, such as Santa Monica Studio, XDEV, Polyphony Digital, San Diego Studio, and more. In keeping with the latter category of studios, Sony has been spooling up a handful of internal PlayStation teams in recent years, and one of them looks to have begun work on its first game.
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The team in question is the unnamed PlayStation Los Angeles studio that was established earlier this year and revealed via job listings to be developing a “groundbreaking” new AAA IP. Now, some recent sleuthing from Tech4Gamers has brought forth a couple of new job listings for the PlayStation LA studio that provide more insight into its enigmatic project. One of the vacancies is for a Game Systems Designer, the qualifications for which explicitly mention “experience with and knowledge of co-operative multiplayer design principles and ideals.” While some may look at this and immediately think of a live-service project, the fact that this game is only confirmed for PS5 at the moment could suggest otherwise. PlayStation live-service games target both PS5 and PC at launch.
PlayStation LA Studio Game Might Be Built on Unreal Engine 5
The other job listing is for a Senior Gameplay Designer, which details some key game systems that the selected candidate would have to work with, such as “weapons, abilities, player movement, networking, and AI.” The inclusion of “networking” lends further credence to the notion of a new multiplayer game from PlayStation’s LA studio, and interestingly, this job listing also mentions experience with Unreal Engine 4/5 as a necessary qualification. Therefore, the covert PlayStation LA team seems to be leveraging Unreal Engine 5 for its co-op multiplayer project. As for who could be leading this game’s development, many PlayStation fans reckon it’s former Deviation Games co-founder Jason Blundell.
Deviation Games was a nascent studio that Sony partnered with back in 2021 to develop a brand-new AAA IP for PS5. Unfortunately, the partnership went south in the years to come, with Sony reportedly having pulled the plug on Deviation’s funding in early 2023. The studio floundered for a year before ultimately shuttering in March 2024. Around the same time, rumors began emerging that Sony was assembling a new PlayStation team with ex-Deviation staff, which would fall under the leadership of Blundell. The PlayStation LA studio could very well be housing Blundell’s team, but only time will tell whether this theory is accurate.
