Sony may have shut down Deviation Games studio for key reason say rumours

There's a rumour gaining traction online that Sony shut down a gaming studio it worked with directly called Deviation Games - just for another studio to be started up under the PlayStation umbrella with some of the same key people and the same focus.

Deviation Games was founded in 2020 by a number of former Activision workers who developed the Call of Duty franchise, reports Gameranx, but never even announced what exactly it was working on apart from it being an online multiplayer game.

Jason Blundell was among those workers to join; he worked on the first three Black Ops games and became one of the heads at Treyarch.

Deviation was funded by Sony after a partnership was announced in 2022 but Blundell left the studio in the same year and the reason for it was never known.

The studio was then shut down in March 2024 with no concrete reason given as to why it closed.

PlayStation has been very vocal in its intentions to create more live service games but these were recently scaled back given the significant flop of Concord. Recently cancelled live serviced games include entries in the God of War and Horizon series.

However that's not to say those ambitions are completely gone as it seems some of those games are being given the go ahead.

A rumour claims PlayStation studio Deviation Games was shut down for a key reason / Picture by Charly Triballeau, AFP via Getty Images

Tech4Gamers reports Sony is hiring for staff at a newly formed studio is Los Angeles and the publication found job listings that workers will develop a brand new IP (intellectual property) being developed on Unreal Engine 5 with a focus on multiplayer co-op.

Further details seem to reveal PlayStation could be working on a hero-shooter or hero-focused action co-op game because of focuses on different weapons, abilities and traversal revealed by the listings.

And it's claimed Blundell could be working on the game.

He started working for Sony in 2023 and while there is nothing in the listings to suggest he is working in Sony's LA studio specifically, it is known he joined a different studio to Deviation Games.

There was speculation Blundell was working with Bungie (which develops Destiny 2) but Sony has never confirmed how he is involved with the company.

To be clear, what the new LA studio is working on and if Blundell is involved has not been confirmed by Sony, this is speculation.

indy100 has contacted Sony for comment.

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