Sony shuts down 20-year-old studio in European restructuring

Guerrilla Cambridge, a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment best known for its work on Killzone: Mercenary, is set to close down. Sony confirmed that the veteran studio will close down as part of a restructuring within its European branch.

“Within SIE Worldwide Studios, we continually evaluate the status of studio projects to ensure we have the proper resources in place to deliver innovative products within a competitive landscape,” a representative for Sony said in a statement issued to Polygon. “After reviewing all current and future projects, we have decided it is necessary to make some changes to the European studios structure in order to meet our strategic objectives.

“As a result, it has been decided that Guerrilla Cambridge Studio will close.”

Sony did not specify when its subsidiary will shut down completely, but the company added that Guerrilla Games Amsterdam has not been affected by the restructuring. The larger studio, which Sony acquired in 2005, is currently at work on February’s Horizon: Zero Dawn.

When the studio first opened in 1997, it was called Sony Computer Entertainment Cambridge. Its library was diverse, with the MediEvil franchise and 24: The Game, based off the television drama series, among the studio’s earlier releases.

Since rebranding to Guerrilla Cambridge in 2013, the developer’s output had been small. Killzone: Mercenary launched in PlayStation Vita that year, while RIGS: Mechanized Combat League hit PlayStation VR in the fall of 2016. The company also helped work on a handful of other Sony products, like PlayStation Home and Killzone 2.

This is the latest in a spate of Sony-owned subsidiaries that have closed or seen major cutbacks in recent months. Evolution Studios, which worked on DriveClub, shut down last March, while Sony’s San Diego outpost suffered layoffs in September.