The developer responsible for bringing us Killzone: Mercenary will be no more soon, as Sony has now confirmed that the previous reports suggesting that Guerilla Cambridge would be shutting down are true. The company said that the news is “regrettable,” and all of the studio’s employees will be laid off.
According to the company, the decision to close the studio down comes from a review of PlayStation’s current projects and resources, saying that “in order to deliver on our strategic objectives, it is necessary to make some changes to the European studios structure.” It’s worth pointing out that this will not impact Guerilla Games Amsterdam, who are responsible for the Killzone series and the upcoming Horizon: Zero Dawn.
“Whilst we accept that this decision will mean that we risk losing high calibre 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. This decision should not take anything away from the incredible games and services that Guerrilla Cambridge has delivered.”
Despite everyone being laid off, the company did note that they will attempt to relocate some of the employees onto other projects “where possible.” They will also be contacting local developers regarding recruitment prospects, so hopefully everyone involved is able to land on their feet. The studio had been around for 19 years and were previously called SCEE Cambridge Studio, releasing the recent PlayStation VR title RIGS: Mechanized Combat League. Other titles they worked on include the likes of MediEvil, Primal and the aforementioned Killzone: Mercenary.
It will be next month when we finally get to see the main Guerrilla studio’s highly-anticipated project Horizon: Zero Dawn, which will launch exclusively for PlayStation 4 on February 28th.
