Sony is so focused on huge hits like The Last of Us that some developers are quitting

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Sony has handed off the development of a The Last of Us remake for PlayStation 5 back to the game’s original creators, Naughty Dog, but that wasn’t originally the plan. According to a new report, Sony had originally given responsibility of the remake to a small group of unnamed developers within the company, but lack of funding and recognition led to the project’s ultimate demise.

According to a report from Bloomberg, the remake was originally assigned to Sony’s Visual Arts Service Group. The Visual Arts Service Group has been a vital part of Sony’s game production over the years by offering help and finishing touches on some of the company’s most popular titles franchises like Spider-Man and Uncharted.

The Visual Arts Service Group was given the job of producing The Last of Us remake for PS5 as the group’s first major game they would be building from the ground up. However, Sony failed to give the group the funds or resources that it needed to succeed and eventually scrapped the project, handing the reins back to the studio that originally produced the game.

Sony is obsessed with its major titles

These actions led to the Sony Visual Arts Service Group ultimately disbanding, after developers were assigned to various tasks with other studios. It even led to some people leaving the entire company, including the group’s director, Michael Mumbauer. Unfortunately, this isn’t the only case where Sony has left smaller developers behind in favor of creators of these major titles.

The report mentioned above also highlights Oregon-based studio Sony Bend, which recently requested to make a sequel to its most popular game, Days Gone. Days Gone was ultimately profitable, but the game took a long time to develop and didn’t see the same kind of success as some huge titles, like The Last of Us. This points to the growing influence of money in video games. These companies are much more likely to put faith into developers that have proven they can make a lot of money, rather than give smaller studios a chance to shine, which is unfortunate, considering some of the best games ever made have come from relatively unknown studios.

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