With Keiichiro Toyama, Sony Interactive Entertainment has lost a well-known developer who is known for his work on Silent Hill, Siren and Gravity Rush. However, Toyama remains loyal to the industry and has set up a new studio.
Keiichiro Toyama has been a notable contributor to Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Studio for the past several years, having created brands such as Silent Hill, Siren and Gravity Rush in the past. However, Toyama has announced that he has left SIE Japan Studio and founded an independent development studio called Bokeh Game Studio on August 13, 2020.
For this reason, long-time associates Kazunobu Sato and Junya Okura also took off their hats to join Toyama in the new studio. At Bokeh Game Studio, Toyama will serve as CEO, while Sato and Okura will serve as COO and CTO, respectively. In the future, one would like to develop games software for consoles and PCs and accept many challenges regardless of the platform.
Commenting on the founding of the studio, Toyama stated the following:
Looking back at my inner self, nothing has really changed at all since day one when I set foot into this industry. Firstly I want players to enjoy games built from ideas with originality, and secondly I want to enjoy making those games—this is all there was to it. Thankfully it was possible for myself and team to develop and release many games. However the gaming industry has rapidly grown globally and is still drastically changing all the time. Day by day, living in these times, I have felt the need for a substantial change to pursue my own ambitions. This is why I have decided to become independent.
In an interview with Famitsu, Toyama has already confirmed that he is preparing a new action-adventure, which will be released on multiple platforms. The scale is said to be comparable to Toyama’s games from the past.
In addition, a development time of two to three years is expected. Toyama also hopes that he can maintain a good relationship with Sony Interactive Entertainment so that he can perhaps work on his old brands as an independent developer.