yeah it was shortsighted we are really missing out on knack 3.
Japan studio was dysfunctional and ps leadership tried to say it but it didn’t want to be saved. PS wanted to make games that had world wide appeal by Japan studio leadership wanted to make games that that specifically targeted the Japanese market, games that all bombed. Japan studio was barely turn a profit. Does your boss keep paying u of your level of production barely breaks even?
They brought in Allen Becker to turn Japan studio around when the ps4 launch and after an entire gen he still couldn’t turn things around. It internal culture was restart to change except for team asobi. Becker used to be head of Santa Monica and they brought him in specifically to turn the studio around. His goal was
"For Japan Studio to be relevant globally in two and a half years."
How did that turn out, 7 yrs later Japan studio was still struggling. The goal was 2 yrs they gave it 7. When he left it’s when they closed it. Obviously they thought it out careful.