As the old adage goes, all good things must come to an end. In a post on Twitter this morning, Bloodborne producer Teruyuki Toriyama announced that he would be leaving Sony's JAPAN Studio at the end of the month, ending a storied career with the console manufacturer that includes credits in games such as FromSoftware's masterpiece, Demon's Souls, and Soul Sacrifice.
In isolation, his departure is sad but understandable. Having worked on a lot of the same types of games for nearly a decade, Toriyama is likely looking for a new challenge in his career. It's not hard to understand why he might want a change of pace. What makes the news rather troubling is that Sony has recently lost a bunch of other talents, leading many to believe that JAPAN Studio is facing hardships.
The last we heard from JAPAN Studio, Silent Hill and Gravity Rush creator Keiichiro Toyama left the company to found a new independent studio called Bokeh. In a video about the studio's founding, Toyama said, "I want to enjoy creating from now on." That paints a pretty damning picture of things.
I sincerely doubt that Sony is looking to close down the studio, but this really doesn't bode well for the immediate future. With big-name talent leaving to focus on independent endeavors, that could mean the long-requested Bloodborne 2 will never come to fruition. Maybe that rumored Bloodborne remaster is also off the cards, which would be devastating. At any rate, Toriyama will be gone soon and on to greener pastures. We wish him the best.
Source: Twitter