Former PlayStation Boss Upset by Pixelopus Closure

Former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the news of Concrete Genie, Entwined developer Pixelopus shutting down. Terming it a “deep cut” Layden praised the studio and sent his best wishes to affected employees.

Pixelopus was established shortly after Shawn Layden became SCEA CEO

Pixelopus was set up as an in-house studio – comprised of Carnegie Mellon and San Jose State University students along with a few industry veterans – in 2014, shortly after Layden succeeded Jack Tretton as President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America (now Sony Interactive Entertainment).

Although Pixelopus’ demise came as a bit of a surprise, reactions have been mixed because the studio has not released a new game since 2019’s award-winning Concrete Genie.

Nevertheless, like fans, Layden is disheartened by the development. He changed his Twitter profile banner in a show of solidarity with Pixelopus employees and wrote:

Sony understandably hasn’t explained its decision to shut the studio down beyond a standard statement to IGN about realigning its strategic objectives.

“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,” Sony said. “As part of a recent review process, it has been decided that PixelOpus will close on June 2.”

It looks like Pixelopus’ closure also came as a surprise to its own employees as one of its developers, Mark Vernon, revealed that he was only just hired back in January.