A Complete List of Sony-Owned PlayStation Devs

Last August, we put together an article called "How Sony Keeps Pumping Out PS3 Exclusives," outlining all 15 Sony-owned PlayStation developers. The piece garnered a great deal of interest, and it was never designed as something that would be written, posted and forgotten.

Indeed, three recent developments in particular surrounding Sony's first-party stable necessitate the article be updated. With Sony shuttering Zipper Interactive, closing the doors at BigBig Studios and using Cambridge Studio to work on Killzone games, there's plenty of new stuff to talk about.

Sadly, economic realities have brought Sony's 15 first party studio roster down to 13. So let's get into it. And be sure to take a look at this article's fourth page for information on Sony-owned studios that have been closed down.

Located: Cheshire, United Kingdom
Founded: 1999
Purchased by Sony: 2007
What They've Done: WRC Series (2001-2005), MotorStorm Series (2007-2012)
What They're Doing: Unknown



Evolution Studios recently put out a new MotorStorm game in the form of MotorStorm RC, a bold downloadable product that works on both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. You wouldn't expect any less from one of Sony's own studios, with a clear intent to show-off the potential functionality between its two devices. Nonetheless, what Evolution Studios is working on now remains to be seen. RC is likely to continue to get DLC, but something tells us Evolution is hard at work on something else entirely. Could it be something non-racing related, or something more predictable?


Located: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Founded: 2000 (as Lost Boys Games)
Purchased by Sony: 2005
What They've Done: Killzone Series (2004-2011)
What They're Doing: Killzone 4, New IP



Out of all of Sony's fully-owned studios, Guerilla Games is best-known for its skill in the first-person shooter genre. Its Killzone series, originally released on PlayStation 2 in 2004, has been a steady hit up through 2011's release of Killzone 3 on PS3, and the studio recently revealed that its working on even more Killzone. The series is to be continued on PlayStation 3 -- presumably in the form of Killzone 4 – though Guerilla Games is also working on an entirely new IP. The latter is a rare and unexpected move for a developer that hasn't released a non-Killzone game in eight years, and the PlayStation Faithful are certainly looking forward to seeing what it is.


Located: Surrey, United Kingdom
Founded: 2006
Purchased by Sony: 2010
What They've Done: LittleBigPlanet Series (2008-2011)
What They're Doing: Unknown



There's no doubt that when you consider the sheer potential of Sony's first party studios, Media Molecule ranks near the top. Its LittleBigPlanet franchise has been one of the biggest critical and commercial successes for Sony during the PlayStation 3 era, and is beloved by millions of fans around the world. However, with Media Molecule's insistence that it wants to do something else, news came that Media Molecule is helping United Front Games develop LittleBigPlanet Karting. Still, this can't be taking up the bulk of the studio's manpower, begging the question if they are hard at work on a new PlayStation IP.


Located: California, USA
Founded: 1986 (as Jam Software)
Purchased by Sony: 2001
What They've Done: Crash Bandicoot Series (1996-1999), Jak and Daxter Series (2001-2005), Uncharted Series (2007-2011)
What They're Doing: The Last of Us (PS3, Unknown Date)



Naughty Dog is widely considered to be the preeminent developer in Sony's first-party roster, a studio that's continually been responsible for huge PlayStation exclusives. Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter and Uncharted were (and are) massive names, and Naughty Dog appears intent on continuing this trend with its upcoming post-apocalyptic thriller The Last of Us. Of course, Sony recently revealed that Naughty Dog is now two teams, indicating that the team that worked on Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is likely working on its new title as well. Perhaps it's Uncharted 4 for PlayStation 4? We can only hope.