Head of Sony Santa Monica Leaves to Form New Studio to Work on Stadia Exclusives - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 04 August 2020 / 4,234 Views
Shannon Studstill, the former head of studio of Sony Interactive Entertainment Santa Monica Studio, has left the company to form a new studio in Playa Vista, California to develop exclusives for Google Stadia, announced Stadia Games and Entertainment. Studstill was the executive producer of the PlayStation 4 exclusive, God of War.
"The new Playa Vista studio will focus on delivering exclusive games, using new gameplay mechanics, creative ways to play together and unique interaction models that we’re just starting to explore." said the VP and Head of Stadia Games and Entertainment. "While we’re not ready to share specific game plans yet, rest assured we are listening to what gamers want and adding our own Stadia twists to create new IP and experiences.
"I’ve been a fan of Shannon’s for a long time, and have admired her award-winning work leading Sony’s Santa Monica Studio and the industry defining franchises like God of War that have won fans all over the world. She has an extensive background in product development and creative leadership, but most importantly, she’s a visionary who, as the Studio Director, will lead and inspire the Playa Vista teams. We’re thrilled to welcome her to the Stadia family!"
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Stadia might fold before they produce a game.
"Might" seems too optimistic.
I was about to comment the same Darwin
Absolutely moronic decision. You don't get on board a sinking ship! I don't care how much money Google has, Stadia is going down the drain.
That’s not true. In the tech industry, and for executive level people in general, it’s better to raise your market value than it is to stagnate. If the studio goes out of business, then she can put herself back on the market without having to worry about the complications of cleanly exiting a position.
@Jumpin - I can't say I'm an expert on the executive world but if I were her, I'd prefer to get on board a much more stable position with a studio that's working for a platform that's alive and thriving rather than risk my neck for a platform that's going down the drain. Also, your attitude towards getting another job if her new studio dies is way too optimistic and cavalier. You don't gamble like that with your way of putting food on the table.
There's tons of turnover in game development. She's just moving on to something new. No big deal.
SSM will be fine. Yumi Yang was just promoted to the head of SSM today following this announcement. She has been there for 19 years and worked along side with Shannon for most of their projects.
Shannon can sink with Stadia if she wants.
Imagine going from making good SP experiences for an all around decent platform, to making god knows what, on an only online, very risky, quite unpopular based platform like Stadia.
Sounds like when the ship sinks, he'll get a paycheck for it, so nothing with him is really lost.
Gamers: Stadia has no exclusives, its a failure.
Google: Lets address this issue.
Gamers: What a dumb decision.
Me: Industry in a nutshell.
Let's hope she just wanted one huge final paycheck before she retires?
Alternate headline: Head of Sony Santa Monica leaves to shoot herself in the foot.
Selling out to the worst platform of them all. Sad.
Talk about risky career choices. Personally if I had good job security working for a studio that would be among the last to close I’d be crazy to move to working for a fledging gaming company like Stadia.
Why is it risky? Typically, in the tech industry, it’s more risky to stay complacent and not raise your value. Especially when in a high density zone like the LA region. It might be that negotiations with Sony didn’t work out and Google had a better offer. It might also be that she was looking for something fresh.
Cant wait too see one of these games. But it will be a long ass wait. Raymond estimates that only by 2025+ a AAA exclusive will be read.
RiP
I don't remember her being important to the vision or execution of God of War. Hope her luck in Stadia, but I think she gone for a sinking ship for a lot of money and will come back to Sony or go MS way either with the studio being bought or closed and she needing a job.
Doesn’t really seem like a smart move.
Doesn’t seem wise, but whatever. Yumi Yang sounds like she’ll keep SSM in good standing.
Why choose Stadia, i will be glad if he is working with Microsoft of Nintendo instead. Smmh
They probably offered her a big paycheck at Stadia , so that's where she went.
Didnt one of the leads already leave for The Infinitive?
Essay Pro