PixelOpus Is Shutting Down

Sony Studio PixelOpus is set to shut down on June 2nd, 2023.

The Sony Interactive Entertainment-owned studio PixelOpus is set to shut down on June 2nd, 2023. The studio, best known for Concrete Genie, took to Twitter to announce the studio’s closure thanking their fans as their adventure “has come to an end.” In their tweet, the studio said:

Dear friends, our PixelOpus adventure has come to an end. As we look to new futures, we wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to the millions of passionate players who have supported us, and our mission to make beautiful, imaginative games with heart. We are so grateful!

PixelOpus

This statement from the studio was later confirmed by a senior environment artist at PixelOpus Bob Archibald who tweeted, “I like to think that with #ConcreteGenie – we made the world an ever-so-slightly better place… and not too many games these days have the chance to try and do that. I will always be grateful for my time building imaginative worlds with this incredible team. <3.”

Alongside this, senior game designer at PixelOpus Mark Vernon said he was “grieving right now at the loss of a great team, and a great project.”

I was only @Pixelopus since Jan, but it has been some of the most creatively fulfilling work of my career. The talent at this studio really blew me away. I’m grieving right now at the loss of a great team, and a great project. I hope we all land on our feet, preferably together.

Mark Vernon – Senior Game Designer at PixelOpus

It is still yet unclear as to whether PixelOpus staff were laid off but in a statement to IGN Sony said:

PlayStation Studios regularly evaluates its portfolio and the status of studio projects to ensure they meet the organization’s short and long-term strategic objectives. As part of a recent review process, it has been decided that PixelOpus will close on June 2.

Sony Interactive Entertainmet

The studio was initially founded in 2014 and acted as a small subsidiary studio of PlayStation Studios based in San Mateo. Since 2014 PixelOpus has worked on titles such as Entwined and Concrete Genie. Concrete Genie received positive review scores on Metacritic with the game’s metascore for PlayStation 4 landing on a 75 and its user score firmly planted at 8.1. IGN Spain described the game as “an indie game aimed at the adolescent public that has a good finish and remarkable artistic section.”