Sony shuts down Guerrilla Cambridge after nearly two decades

By Gabe Gurwin January 12, 2017

Guerrilla Games Cambridge, the PlayStation studio responsible for the recent VR title RIGS: Mechanized Combat League as well as the Vita shooter Killzone: Mercenary, will be shutting its doors after nearly two decades.

The information was confirmed by Sony to Gamesindustry.biz, which also learned that all Guerrilla Cambridge employees would be let go as a result of the shutdown.

“Whilst we accept that this decision will mean that we risk losing high caliber staff, by focusing on other studios with exciting new projects in development (including continued work on PlayStation VR), we believe we will be in a stronger position going forward and able to offer the best possible content of the highest quality to our players,” PlayStation said in a statement. “This decision should not take anything away from the incredible games and services that Guerrilla Cambridge has delivered.”

The shutdown comes just a few months after the launch of RIGS, which we ranked as the second-best currently available PlayStation VR game. Unlike several other solitary, largely cinematic experiences, RIGS features a robust multiplayer mode that was made with eSports and competitive play in mind.

Prior to its work on RIGS and Killzone: Mercenary — one of the best-reviewed games on the Vita — the studio had worked on MediEvil, as well as the PlayStation Portable version of LittleBigPlanet.

The primary Guerrilla Games studio, based in Amsterdam, will release its next game, Horizon: Zero Dawn, next month.

Guerrilla Cambridge is the second major studio Sony has shut down in the last year. Back in March, DriveClub developer Evolution Studios was closed, and in September, between 40 and 50 people were let go from the San Diego Studio, which is primarily responsible for MLB: The Show. The same month, Sony’s London Studio was also hit with cuts.

Our best wishes go out to everyone affected by the layoffs.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

Gaming

Best PS5 SSD deals: Add more storage to your PS5 from $120

A 2TB WD Black

When the PlayStation 5 was originally released, it had the option to expand its internal memory, which was quite small at the time at a little under 900GBs. Of course, the issue is that there weren't any SSDs that worked on the new standard the PS5 was using, so even if you wanted to upgrade, you couldn't. Luckily, since then, there have been a lot of great SSDs for the PS5 that have been released, and upgrading its storage is pretty easy and can be done by pretty much anybody, provided they have a screwdriver. So, whether you picked up a PS5 from one of the PS5 deals or already have a PS5 and want to upgrade, be sure to check out the SSDs that will work great for your PS5 below.
Our favorite PS5 SSD deal

It wasn't that long ago that you'd have to pay well over $100 to get an SSD for your PS5, and often, it'd be slower than the pricier alternatives. These days, you can buy a Samsung 980 Pro 1TB SSD with heatsink for just $120 from Best Buy, thereby saving $45 off the regular price of $165. The SSD offers speedy performance while also having its own nickel-coated high-end controller to help deliver effective thermal control. It means it won't overheat and performance won't be compromised. Being a PCIe Gen 4 SSD, you get twice the data transfer speed of PCIe Gen 3 which is useful. Offering maximum read speeds of 7,000 megabytes per second, it's a good upgrade to go alongside your existing hard drive with 1TB offering plenty of extra space at a shrewd price.

Gaming

The Sims 5: release date speculation, trailers, gameplay, and more

sims 4 for rent expansion pack shared living the 6

It's time to brush up on your Simlish if it's rusty because the long-awaited The Sims 5, aka Project Rene, is officially on the way. This has been the longest gap between main entries since the series began, and while we did get tons of expansions for The Sims 4 to hold us over, plus the change to it becoming free to play, we're more than ready for a new entry. Each time a new game in the franchise comes out, die-hard fans always need to have a bit of skepticism about what features will be there -- both new and returning.

We can't answer all your questions yet, but here's everything we know about The Sims 5.
Release date speculation

Gaming

VR headset deals: Meta Quest 2 and VIVE XR

htc vive vs pro headphones

While VR may not be as big as was predicted back in the early 2000s when the original Oculus Go was released, there is still a considerable market these days, and some great VR games like Half-Life: Alyx that you can have fun with. Of course, VR headsets remain expensive, and while options like the Meta Quest don't necessarily require a high-end gaming PC, they can still be a bit pricey for those who just want to put a foot in the hobby. Luckily, there are some good deals you can take advantage of, even on some of the best VR headsets, so be sure to check out all your options below.
Meta Quest 2 -- $199, was $200

Even though the Meta Quest 3 came out quite recently, the Meta Quest 2 is still a pretty powerful contender, especially since it has a wider library and app support than the Quest 3 currently has. Even more so, the Quest 2 is a lot cheaper than the Quest 3, and with the latest permanent discount down to just $200, that's a whole $300 or so difference from the Quest 3. Of course, the Quest 3 does have more advanced AR and slightly better performance with software and Wi-Fi, but that may not be worth the extra cost for some. Either way, be sure to check out the breakdown between Quest 2 and Quest 3 to get a better sense of what you should pick up.