Summary
- Sumo Digital will focus on collaborating with other studios.
- The studio will no longer develop original games.
- This decision comes after laying off staff last summer.
Sumo Digital will no longer develop its own original games, but instead will double down on its work with other studios and properties. This news comes several months after Sumo Digital laid off 15% of its staff last summer, resulting in roughly 250 job cuts at the studio.
Sumo Digital has long been known as a collaborative game studio, mostly lending its hand to other teams within the industry, or working on other companies’ IP. Some of the biggest games Sumo has developed include Xbox’s Crackdown 3, Sony’s LittleBigPlanet 3 and Sackboy: A Big Adventure, as well as several Sonic racing entries. Aside from doing some porting work, Sumo Digital also served as a support developer for big games like Hogwarts Legacy, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and several Forza Horizon and Hitman titles. Despite all this work on other studios’ IPs, Sumo did create some of its own original, albeit much lesser known games, the most well known of which is 2017’s Snake Pass.
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Now, it seems Sumo Digital is doubling down on its bread and butter, which is collaborating on other studios’ properties. Sumo Digital’s leadership released a statement to its staff letting the team know that it’ll be shifting away from creating its own original games and will instead fully focus on its role as a co-development studio within the industry. The statement reads “After careful consideration, we have made the strategic decision to focus Sumo Digital exclusively on development services for partners.”
Sumo Digital is Shifting Away From Creating Original IPs
While not officially known, the statement made it seem like this shift will come with unfortunate job cuts, though Sumo Digital leadership urges that it’s “committed to minimising this impact as much as possible.” What’s also unclear is the effect this move will have on some of Sumo Digital’s subsidiary studios, most notably The Chinese Room, which is responsible for 2024’s indie horror hit Still Wakes the Deep. The title did big numbers on Xbox Game Pass last year and has amassed a following of gamers who are surely eager to see what’s next from The Chinese Room. If Sumo’s announcement includes its subsidiaries, it could spell bad news for new fans of The Chinese Room and other studios under Sumo Digital.
After careful consideration, we have made the strategic decision to focus Sumo Digital exclusively on development services for partners…Whether collaborating on new or established games, co-developing games, providing specialist engineering, or porting services; we are confident in our teams’ exceptional talent.
Considering the studio’s history of partnering, co-development, and porting, it makes sense for Sumo Digital proper to fully commit to collaborating on other studios’ IPs. Hopefully, Sumo will be able to retain as much of its staff as possible following this decision. It’ll be interesting to see what projects and IPs Sumo Digital works on next, and whether it’ll double down even harder on its long history with racing games. Perhaps a new LittleBigPlanet or the next Crackdown title may be in the cards.
Sumo Digital
- Date Founded
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2003
- Headquarters
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Sheffield, United Kingdom
- Subsidiaries
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The Chinese Room