San Diego Studio
American video game developer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
San Diego Studio is an American video game developer of Sony Interactive Entertainment based in Sorrento Valley, San Diego. It is responsible for MLB: The Show games. The studio also developed the NBA series, The Mark of Kri, High Velocity Bowling, and Sports Champions.
Logo used since 2018 | |
| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Predecessors |
|
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | , US |
| Products | MLB The Show |
| Parent |
|
| Website | sonysandiegostudio |
History
Origins
San Diego Studio was founded through a merger of Red Zone Interactive and the development division of 989 Sports.[1] 989 Studios' internal game development team was originated in San Diego at Sony Imagesoft when members of Park Place Productions moved to Sony Imagesoft to start its own internal development team in 1993, primarily to work on the ESPN series.[2][3]
The development team became Sony Interactive Studios America in 1995, after Sony Imagesoft became SISA.[4][5][6][7] In 1996, members of the NHL FaceOff team at SISA left to form an independent game developer, Killer Game.[8] Some members left Killer Game to form SolWorks in 1998.[9] In 1997, team members leave SISA to form an independent game developer, Idol Minds.[10][11][12]
The team became 989 Studios again in 1998 and worked on the third and fourth Twisted Metal games.[13][14][15] Team members of non-sports games moved production to Santa Monica in late 1998 to start Santa Monica Studio.[16] The online division of 989 was spun off as RedEye Interactive, which was later renamed to Verant Interactive in 1999, before it was sold to Sony Online Entertainment in 2000.[17]
Red Zone Interactive, a San Diego–based development studio, was founded in December 1997 by former employees of Sony Interactive Studios America (SISA), the sole in-house studio of the Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) between 1995 and 1998.[18]
SISA was later renamed 989 Studios before being merged into SCEA in February 2000, with the "989" label being retained as a brand name.[19] Red Zone Interactive's NFL GameDay series was among the games published under the "989 Sports" label.[20][21] SCEA acquired Red Zone Interactive in January 2001, including its 65 employees led by president Chris Whaley.[18][20] SCEA later acquired SolWorks and Killer Game, with the intent of merging into its San Diego studio.[22][23]
Current studio
The current San Diego Studio was formally founded in 2001 from the former teams of 989 Sports and Red Zone Interactive.[24] The studio initially inherited a team of developers from the Twisted Metal series, and a series of sports games developed under the 989 brand name, like the MLB series and the NBA ShootOut series. In 2003, after the release of The Mark of Kri, many team members left to form the independent game studio BottleRocket Entertainment,[25] with the first game Rise of the Kasai, being a sequel to The Mark of Kri, which received mixed to positive reviews.[26][27][28]
The studio shifted focus on producing sports games mostly the MLB and the NBA game series,[29] until its focus shifted onto MLB The Show.[30] The company then eliminated the 989 Sports and RedZone Interactive team names from development, and shifted exclusively to using the San Diego Studio name.[31] In 2016, the team asides from the MLB The Show series experienced a mass of layoffs.[32]