PS4 PlayLink developer Wish Studios is shutting its doors after developing PS4 games That’s You and Knowledge is Power. The move comes despite Sony strongly pushing PlayLink, a series of party games which utilize players’ smartphones.
A statement from Wish Studios CEO Caspar Field reads:
“We are deeply saddened at having to close Wish, after six-and-a-half years of making great games. Our ethos was to put the team and their creativity at the heart of everything we did; having to say goodbye to those people has been an unbelievably difficult thing to do. It is truly heart-breaking,”
“We would like to thank the Wish team, past and present, for their incredible contributions, and hope that they’ll carry the best of what Wish was into their future careers. We’d also like to thank Sony for believing in the PlayLink concept, and, more than anything else, we’d like to thank all those who played and enjoyed our games – because that’s what it’s all about.”
According to MCV UK, the closure of the studio will lead to the unemployment of 13 full-time staff. The gaming industry has been besieged by layoffs in recent weeks, with this news following Activision-Blizzard laying off an estimated 800 members of staff, GOG laying off a dozen employees, and EA Australian studio FireMonkeys shutting its doors. Though many publishers and developers are achieving record-high profits, the industry’s push for constant growth is leading to seismic shifts across many companies.
Sony announced PlayLink back in 2017, but the project has never received an overwhelmingly popular release. A clear attempt to capitalize on the audience achieved by The Jackbox Party Pack games, which also utilize smartphones, none managed to achieve the same level of attention as Jackbox Games’ popular multiplayer series. Unfortunately, Wish Studios’ closure doesn’t bode well for the future of PlayLink.
Update: A previous version of this story erroneously claimed that Sony had shut down the studio. This information was incorrect, and the story has now been amended.
