Japan Studio: Masami Yamamoto leaves Sony Interactive studio

Through his official Twitter profile, Masami Yamamoto announced that he had left Japan Studio di Sony Interactive Entertainment, since last January 28th. Yamamoto has been external production director and executive producer for the likes of No Heroes Allowed, Tokyo Jungle, Rain, Bloodborne, Souls Sacrifice and many more. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) confirmed in February that Japan Studio would be reorganized starting in April, merging the current developers with those of the ASOBI team (the studio responsible for Astro's Playroom, the videogame created to show the potential of the new DualSense of PlayStation 5, for which there is no follow-up to date.

At the bottom of the news you will find the official tweet. Here is the message from Yamamoto himself, translated into Spanish for your convenience:

This communication comes a bit late: I retired from SIE Japan Studio on February 28th. I had been with Sony for 25 years, including the last few years in my last tenure. As a game creator, my work has been filled with happiness, thanks to the support of all of you. Ah, in the future he will be able to create games for any platform… what a strange feeling!

About two weeks ago we brought you the news of how Sony was slowly closing down by Japan Studio. The reasons that led SIE to the sad decision seem rather simple to understand: due to the low revenues recorded in recent years, also thanks to the difficulties related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Japan Studio intended to focus on products almost exclusively geared to the Japanese market; which, apparently, has never been well digested by Sony's upper floors. Yamamoto is just the latest in a long list of developers who have decided to abandon Japan Studio. A list whose lines also include the name of Allan Becker.

SIE JAPAN Studio ?

- 山 本 正 美 (@camp_masami) March 15, 2021

Image source: varietyinfo.com