PixelOpus, the small studio behind Entwined and Concrete Genie that was one of the 20+ developers under the PlayStation Studios banner, is being shut down.
The studio shared the news over the weekend with a heartfelt tweet, and the news was later confirmed by Sony with PixelOpus set to be shut down on June 2nd. The team was reportedly known to be working on an unannounced project with Sony Pictures Animation before the closure was decided.
The tweet from PixelOpus reads:
Dear friends, our PixelOpus adventure has come to an end. As we look to new futures, we wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to the millions of passionate players who have supported us, and our mission to make beautiful, imaginative games with heart.
We are so grateful!
Dear friends, our PixelOpus adventure has come to an end. As we look to new futures, we wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to the millions of passionate players who have supported us, and our mission to make beautiful, imaginative games with heart.
We are so grateful! ??? pic.twitter.com/rQO2Cgvhnq— PixelOpus (@Pixelopus) May 5, 2023
IGN says it was provided with a statement from Sony, which reads, “PlayStation Studios regularly evaluates its portfolio and the status of studio projects to ensure they meet the organization’s short and long-term strategic objectives. As part of a recent review process, it has been decided that PixelOpus will close on June 2.”
Interestingly, it was over a year ago that the PlayStation Studios banner was updated to remove Concrete Genie, replacing it with Death Stranding. This naturally kicked off of a ton of rumours about Sony acquiring Kojima Productions, so the banner was seemingly changed back at some point. Still, it appears the writing was on the wall early on for PixelOpus, or at least the evidence was there that its place in the PlayStation Studios family was less secure.
It’s incredibly unfortunate news, especially given that Concrete Genie was a particularly special part of the PlayStation exclusive line-up. It’s still well worth playing, and we gave it a sterling 9/10 in our original review, saying “Concrete Genie paints an impressive picture with delightful gameplay and heart warming characters. it’s a great way to spend a few hours unleashing your creativity.”
