The recent confirmation about Sony closing down Bluepoint Games has sent shockwaves through the gaming community. However, not all believe that the outrage is getting evenly distributed. As the fans have started to express fury over the acclaimed remake studio’s fate, a counter-argument started moving around. It asks why is backlash for PlayStation so much louder, when even Microsoft has closed/gutted a similar number of studios in the last 5 years? They want the world to look at what happened to Xbox.
Bluepoint Games studio’s closure is definitely a tragic event. But the increased number of voices from gaming community now points to the industry’s double standards. As both the console giants engage in brutal restructuring, public outcry’s disparity is raising some uncomfortable questions, like fan bias, selective memory, etc., within the modern gaming landscape.
Bluepoint Games closure after many others previously leads to fan fury
The anger from PlayStation fans about Bluepoint Games closure has been raw and palpable. After the confirmation about Bluepoint closing its doors in March 2026, impacting approximately 70 staff, social media has erupted. The studio, based in Texas, which was acquired in 2021 by Sony, was revered for its technical wizardry. It delivered some stunning games like Demon’s Souls remake at PS5’s launch. It also offered a gaming community, the acclaimed Shadow of the Colossus remake, before it.
Fans are not just mourning the studio’s loss. They are instead furious at perceived mismanagement. Reportedly, Bluepoint got tasked to develop a live-service God of War game, a project that was cancelled in January 2025. After pitching some other ideas that went nowhere, the fate of the studio was sealed. Seeing it all, the current frustration of players is squarely at the PlayStation leadership.
“Herman Hulst needs to go. Seriously. Bluepoint did not deserve this,” wrote one of the X users, trying to reflect upon the sentiment that is echoed across forums. The anger of fans even led to calls for boycotting some upcoming titles by PlayStation, like Marathon by Bungie. Fans are vowing not to support the live-service push of Sony after it led to the demise of a single-player specialist.
While Bluepoint Games is one of the most recent games, since 2019, Sony has shuttered many other studios. Beginning with Firewalk Studios, it was shut down in October 2024, after the hero shooter Concord was a huge flop.
Even Neon Koi, the mobile-focused developer, soon met a similar fate in the same month. Now, with the impending closure of Bluepoint, the count is getting undeniable.
But instability within Sony runs deep. Bungie has endured 2 major layoff waves since its acquisition. It impacted 100s of its staff. Even Firesprite got hit by the 2024 layoffs, following the reports of leadership and crunch. Not to mention, the successful Insomniac Games wasn’t even immune to the workforce reductions last year.
Gaming industry’s double standard leads to Xbox & PlayStation’s comparison
For every fan who has vowed to boycott Marathon, there are many others who are asking—where was this energy for Xbox? A user on X clearly pointed out that all must react similarly to PlayStation closing studios, as they are doing when the Xbox studio closes. Also, as PlayStation and Xbox shut down almost an equal number of studios in the past 5 years, outrage and criticism must be equal. It must not be harsh for one company and soft for another.
The comparison here is stark. In mid-2025, Microsoft engaged in a devastating restructuring, cutting over 9000 employees. The list of casualties has been extensive. The Initiative, which is an AAA studio that was founded for rebooting Perfect Dark, was closed before it shipped even a game, with the Perfect Dark reboot cancelled too.
The ambitious new IP of Rare, Everwild, got scrapped too, after nearly a decade in development. The support studios and the co-developers took a hard hit with it—approx. 50% of the staff members at Turn 10 Studios (Forza Motorsport), as per reports, got laid off. ZeniMax Online then saw the unannounced MMO, codenamed Blackbird, getting cancelled. It was on top of Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games, and Tango Gameworks’ closure in 2024.
Scrutinizing the outrage in detail
The numbers paint a grim picture for both Xbox’s and PlayStation’s ecosystems, yet the emotional response from the community seems to be worlds apart. When the studio behind Hi-Fi Rush, a critically acclaimed game by Tango Gameworks, got shut down by Microsoft, the gaming community was just sad. However, the reaction to the closure of Bluepoint Games seems to be a personal vendetta against Sony. Fans are now actively calling for the heads of executives and organizing boycotts of some unrelated games.
So, why is there this double standard? Part of it all might come down to the perceived identity. Bluepoint Games was a specialist in the dying art of high-fidelity single-player remakes. The closure, together with the fact that Sony is now developing the God of War trilogy remake, feels like logic’s betrayal. As it’s been pointed out, the decision to shutter down the perfect developer to God of War remake’s helm is just baffling.
Conversely, the cuts made by Xbox, despite being massive, have often been viewed through the corporate sprawl’s lens of Microsoft or troubled developmental cycles of the projects like Perfect Dark. Also, some even argue that Xbox has been hemorrhaging goodwill for so long that the outrage is just fatigued.
As a user stated notably, about the Xbox cuts, ‘no one is celebrating,’ suggesting that lack within performative outrage does not equal lack within sadness. However, for PlayStation, the company that built a brand on single-player, cinematic experiences, sacrificing most talented technical studios on the altar of a failed live-service strategy is hitting a nerve that feels personal for the fanbase. Many gamers even believe that now they just have Steam. So, in a manner future look good for Steam, but the question is, for how long?
