SIE San Diego Studio, formerly called SCE San Diego Studio between 2001 and 2016, is an American game development studio based in San Diego, California. It is a successor studio to 989 Studios founded in 2001 through a merger with Red Zone Interactive, and since 2005 it's part of PlayStation Studios.
Between 2005 and 2009, the studio was responsible for developing titles based on NBA, which was a successor series to 989's NBA ShootOut titles, but the series was cancelled following mixed responses and loss of the license. Since 2006, San Diego is responsible and best known for the MLB: The Show franchise of baseball video games. Outside of their sports titles, San Diego Studio also developed games from other genres, most notably The Mark of Kri, as well as collaborating with other studios on ModNation Racers and Pain. It also worked on an action role-playing title, Warrior's Lair, before its cancellation.
Beginning with 2021, the studio expanded MLB to multiple platforms as part of a new contract between Sony and the MLB league; with MLB The Show 21 being the first game in the series to launch on Xbox consoles; its successor, MLB The Show 22 is the first game in the series to launch on Nintendo platforms.
San Diego Studio received praise for its work on the MLB games, while titles averaging 1-2 million unit sales annually.
History[]
2001-2005: Origins and foundation[]
Original logo of San Diego Studio until 2018.
In January 2001, Sony Computer Entertaiment's American arm acquired Red Zone Interactive, a studio comprised of former 989 Studios employees nad included 65 employees at the time of the acquisition; the acquisition was conducted to strengthen Sony's efforts in providing exclusive sports titles to the PlayStation brand.[1] Later that year, SCEA merged Red Zone Interactive with 989 Studios' 989 Sports brand, resulting in SCE San Diego Studio with Jay Beard as its studio head.
In July 2002, San Diego Studio debuted with The Mark of Kri, a stylized action-adventure game which received largely positive reviews. The game saw a release in Europe in March 2003. Following the game's release, Beard and developers behind the game left San Diego Studio to found BottleRocket Entertainment, which would go on to develop a sequel called Rise of the Kasai in 2005.
In 2004, San Diego Studio hired Christian Phillips as director of product development. Phillips, who previously worked in similar positions for Sony's rivals Nintendo and Microsoft, would eventually be promoted to serve as San Diego's studio head. Between 2004 and 2008, the studio hosted 120 employees.[2]
2005-2009: Early sports titles, NBA license[]
Red Zone Interactive and 989 Sports previously developed titles licensed by the National Football League, however Sony lost the license to fellow publisher Elcetronic Arts due to increase in exclusive contracts for sports licensing.[3] According to Phillips, atmosphere in the studio was "fraught with uncertainty" due to the loss of the license, and San Diego Studio underwent "significant restructuring" after Sony failed to pursue the NFL license when EA offered a significantly larger sum.
While the team was distraught over losing the NFL, they maintained a contract to basketball NBA titles by 2005, with a first game releasing the same year. In 2006, San Diego Studio began releasing baseball titles under the MLB: The Show series, debuting with MLB 06: The Show to positive reviews. Around the same time, San Diego Studio also became involved in digital titles for the then-newly released and struggling PlayStation 3, including supporting Idol Minds on Pain, and internally developing High Velocity Bowling, though both titles were met with mixed reviews.
2009 was the final year San Diego Studio worked on an NBA title, which was described as a "bittersweet" ending by Phillips, as the studio and Sony concluded to leave the license to EA and Take-Two while focusing on MLB due to lack of market growth. In 2012, Phillips also remarked that while San Diego Studio has the chance to return to the NBA series, "the level of interest isn't there".[4]
2009-2013: Focus on MLB: The Show[]
Whereas internal interest in the NBA series died out, San Diego Studio became more focused on producing the MLB games, with a large number of its employees having played baseball in highschool, college or minor leagues, while others played as scouts in major leagues.[5] By 2012, MLB: The Show rose to become the dominant baseball franchise and outpaced Take Two's MLB 2K games, which was a "source of pride" for the studio according to Phillips.
2013-current: Later MLB games, going multiplatform[]
On November 12, 2022, MLB The Show creative director Nick Livingston announced his departure from the studio after twelve years to join as creative director at PlayStation Studios.[6]
Games developed[]
| Game title | Release | Platform | Additional notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Mark of Kri | 2002 | PlayStation 2 | n / a |
| NBA 2005 | 2005 | PlayStation Portable | n / a |
| NBA '06: featuring the Life Vol. 1 | 2005 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable | n / a |
| MLB 06: The Show | 2006 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable | n / a |
| NBA '07: featuring the Life Vol. 2 | 2006 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable | n / a |
| MLB 07: The Show | 2007 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable | n / a |
| NBA '08: Games of the Week | 2007 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable | n / a |
| Pain | 2007 | PlayStation 3 | Co-developed with Idol Minds |
| High Velocity Bowling | 2007 | PlayStation 3 | n / a |
| MLB 08: The Show | 2008 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable | n / a |
| NBA 09: The Inside | 2008 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable | n / a |
| MLB 09: The Show | 2009 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable | n / a |
| NBA 10: The Inside | 2009 | PlayStation Portable | n / a |
| Pinball Heroes | 2009 | PlayStation Portable | n / a |
References[]
- ↑ https://www.gamezone.com/news/sony_acquires_red_zone_interactive/
- ↑ Linkedin profile, Christian Phillips.
- ↑ Christian Phillips: "In 2004, the NFL and the NFL Players Association decided that, like with all the categories, videogames should be exclusive, and Electronic Arts managed to lock that up. And that kind of changed the sports landscape forever within videogames."
IGN, Colin Moriarty - Sony San Diego: The Story of a Sports Powerhouse. - ↑ Christian Phillips: "It was bittersweet to let [the series end], but it came down to really just kind of a business decision. Looking at it and realizing that, unfortunately, we weren't growing the market for the NBA and we weren't seeing casual fans adopt it with the story component."
IGN, Colin Moriarty - Sony San Diego: The Story of a Sports Powerhouse. - ↑ "The team responsible for the series "eats, lives and breathes baseball," [Phillips] continued, noting that the director of the series "still sleeps here during crunch time with his team," and that several "key guys" on the staff played high school, college and minor league ball. "We've got guys on staff that have been scouts in the major leagues, so [MLB: The Show] is a baseball product made by baseball guys who love baseball."
IGN, Colin Moriarty - Sony San Diego: The Story of a Sports Powerhouse. - ↑ https://twitter.com/L1vingston/status/1591258889982709761
| San Diego Studio |
|---|
| Sony Interactive Entertainment - PlayStation Studios 989 Studios - Red Zone Interactive MLB: The Show
|