Subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment | |
Industry |
Software & Programming Interactive entertainment |
Founded | 1999 |
Founder | Sony Computer Entertainment |
Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States |
Key people
|
Shannon Studstill (Studio Director) Chacko Sonny (External Studio Director) Cory Barlog (Creative Director) |
Products |
Kinetica God of War series |
Services | Video game development |
Owner | Sony |
Number of employees
|
~220+ |
Parent | SIE Worldwide Studios |
Website | Official website |
SIE Santa Monica Studio, also known as Sony Santa Monica, is an American video game developer and part of SIE Worldwide Studios which is owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. As implied by its name, it is based in Santa Monica, California and was established in 1999.
They developed the Kinetica game engine that was first used in Kinetica and later in God of War and God of War II.
They also have an external development branch that funds and provides support for a wide variety of games. External development also runs an incubation program which has funded and housed independent developers, including Thatgamecompany and Giant Sparrow.
On January 29, 2014, it was reported that the company is moving from Santa Monica to Playa Vista, Los Angeles. Their new facility occupies a 20-acre site and allows the studio to house two independent studios as well as having an "improved sound bay and a motion capture studio".
On February 25, 2014, the studio was hit by layoffs due to cancellation of a new IP.
Kinetica is a video game engine developed by SCE Santa Monica Studio, designed for PlayStation 2 titles. This engine was named after Kinetica, the first game released using this engine.