Santa Monica Studio

{{Infobox company

| name = Santa Monica Studio

| logo = Santa Monica Studio.svg

| logo_caption = Logo used since 2012

| type = Subsidiary

| industry = Video games

| founded = {{Start date and age|1999}} in Santa Monica, California, US

| founder = Allan Becker

| hq_location_city = Los Angeles

| hq_location_country = US

| key_people = Yumi Yang (studio head)

| products = God of War series

| num_employees = 250+{{cite web|date=|title=Santa Monica Studio - Who We Are|url=https://sms.playstation.com/who-we-are}}

| num_employees_year = 2024

| parent = Sony Computer Entertainment (1999–2005)
PlayStation Studios (2005–present)

| website = {{URL|https://sms.playstation.com/}}

}}

File:God of war 2018 santa monica team gdc 2019.jpg]]

Santa Monica Studio is an American video game developer of Sony Interactive Entertainment based in Los Angeles. It is best known for developing the God of War series. The studio was founded in 1999 by Allan Becker and was located in Santa Monica, California, until relocating to Playa Vista in 2014.

History

Santa Monica Studio was founded in 1999 by Allan Becker, a long-time Sony employee who wanted "to break out of the corporate Foster City group" of Sony Computer Entertainment. The studio was established in an office next to the developer Naughty Dog before moving into a brick building in the suburbs of Santa Monica, California.{{cite web |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/03/21/the-house-that-god-of-war-built-sony-santa-monica |title=The House That God of War Built: Sony Santa Monica |first=Marc |last=Nix |date=March 21, 2012 |website=IGN |access-date=October 17, 2020 |archive-date=August 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804053715/https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/03/21/the-house-that-god-of-war-built-sony-santa-monica |url-status=live}} The building at Penn Station would be occupied for fifteen years. For its first game, the racing title Kinetica, Santa Monica Studio decided to skip the PlayStation console and built the game for the console's then-upcoming successor, the PlayStation 2, instead. A game engine was developed "to give the [PlayStation 2] some legs" for Kinetica and future releases. While the game was developed during the studio's team building phase, producer Shannon Studstill focused on the game's release to prove to Sony that Santa Monica Studio was capable of delivering a product on schedule and within budget. Kinetica was released on time in 2001, with the studio staying under the allocated budget. After publication, Santa Monica Studio shifted to its next project, God of War, while re-using the engine from Kinetica.

The External Development group, a department within Santa Monica Studio separate from internal development teams,{{cite web |title=15 Years of Creative Partnerships |url=https://sms.playstation.com/news/the-year-of-external-development/ |website=Santa Monica Studio |publisher=Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820102403/https://sms.playstation.com/news/the-year-of-external-development/ |access-date=July 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 20, 2016}} acts as both a video game publisher and business incubator for indie game studios, notably Thatgamecompany and its game Journey.{{cite web |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-03-15-inside-sonys-commune |title=Inside Santa Monica Studios, Sony's development commune |first=Martin |last=Robinson |date=March 15, 2013 |website=Eurogamer |access-date=October 17, 2020 |archive-date=April 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416045433/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-03-15-inside-sonys-commune |url-status=live}} Other incubated teams include Broodworks, Eat Sleep Play, Fun Bits, Giant Sparrow, Incognito Entertainment, Q-Games, and Ready at Dawn. Becker left Santa Monica Studio in 2011. By March 2012, Becker had joined Sony's Japan Studio, while Shannon became Santa Monica Studio's "Senior Director of Product Development". In January 2014, Santa Monica Studio announced that it would move from their Penn Station offices to The Reserve, a 20-acre facility on Jefferson Boulevard in Playa Vista, Los Angeles. The {{convert|30,000|sqft|m2}} of office space were "four or five times the size" of their previous Santa Monica office, according to Studstill. At the time, the studio employed roughly 240 people.{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2014/biz/news/sony-game-division-finds-new-westside-home-for-santa-monica-studio-1201074462/ |title=Sony Game Division Finds New Westside Home for Santa Monica Studio |first=Marc |last=Graser |date=January 28, 2014 |website=Variety |access-date=October 17, 2020 |archive-date=February 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190210035806/https://variety.com/2014/biz/news/sony-game-division-finds-new-westside-home-for-santa-monica-studio-1201074462/ |url-status=live}} An undisclosed numbers of staffers were laid off in February that year due to the cancelation of a new intellectual property, including Stig Asmussen, who headed the canceled project.{{cite web |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/25/layoffs-hit-god-of-war-studio-sony-santa-monica |title=Layoffs Hit God of War Studio Sony Santa Monica |first=Colin |last=Moriarty |date=February 24, 2014 |website=IGN |access-date=October 17, 2020 |archive-date=November 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114100333/https://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/25/layoffs-hit-god-of-war-studio-sony-santa-monica |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-02-26-god-of-war-developer-sony-santa-monica-suffers-layoffs |title=God of War developer Sony Santa Monica suffers layoffs |first=Wesley |last=Yin-Poole |date=February 26, 2014 |website=Eurogamer |access-date=October 17, 2020 |archive-date=December 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230002805/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-02-26-god-of-war-developer-sony-santa-monica-suffers-layoffs |url-status=live}} The studio relocation was completed on July 22, 2014, coupled with a new logo, dubbed SMS "Vanguard".{{cite web |url=https://blog.playstation.com/archive/2014/07/22/sony-santa-monica-unveils-new-logo/ |title=Sony Santa Monica unveils its new logo |first=Shannon |last=Studstill |date=July 22, 2014 |website=PlayStation Blog |access-date=October 17, 2020 |archive-date=October 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017102037/https://blog.playstation.com/archive/2014/07/22/sony-santa-monica-unveils-new-logo/ |url-status=live}} Santa Monica Studio would also close down this group in 2016 and sold the rights to What Remains of Edith Finch and Wattam back to their developers, as well as publishing rights to Annapurna Interactive where the group's employees had relocated.{{cite web |last=Sinclair |first=Brandon |date=December 1, 2016 |title=Annapurna Pictures gets into game publishing |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/annapurna-pictures-gets-into-game-publishing |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726090714/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-12-01-annapurna-pictures-gets-into-game-publishing |archive-date=July 26, 2019 |access-date=August 14, 2017 |work=Gameindustry.biz}}

In March 2020, Studstill left Santa Monica Studio to lead a new development studio under Stadia. Subsequently, a long-time employee and previous director of product development for Santa Monica Studio, Yumi Yang, was installed as the developer's studio head.{{cite web |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-03-04-yumi-yang-named-new-head-of-sony-santa-monica-studio |title=Yumi Yang named new head of Sony Santa Monica Studio |first=Rebekah |last=Valentine |date=March 4, 2020 |website=GamesIndustry.biz |access-date=October 17, 2020 |archive-date=April 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429150358/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-03-04-yumi-yang-named-new-head-of-sony-santa-monica-studio |url-status=live}}

Games developed

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
scope="col" \| Year ! scope="col" \| Title ! scope="col" \| Platform(s)
scope="row" \| 2001 \| Kinetica \| PlayStation 2
scope="row" \| 2005 \| God of War \| rowspan="2" \| PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
scope="row" \| 2007 \| God of War II
scope="row" \| 2010 \| God of War III \| PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4
scope="row" \| 2013 \| God of War: Ascension \| PlayStation 3
scope="row" \| 2018 \| God of War \| PlayStation 4, Windows
scope="row" \| 2022 \| God of War Ragnarök \| PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Title

! scope="col" | Platform(s)

scope="row" | 2001

| Kinetica

| PlayStation 2

scope="row" | 2005

| God of War

| rowspan="2" | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita

scope="row" | 2007

| God of War II

scope="row" | 2010

| God of War III

| PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4

scope="row" | 2013

| God of War: Ascension

| PlayStation 3

scope="row" | 2018

| God of War

| PlayStation 4, Windows

scope="row" | 2022

| God of War Ragnarök

| PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows

External Development games

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
scope="col" \| Year ! scope="col" \| Title ! scope="col" \| Developer
scope="row" rowspan="2" \| 2001 \| Twisted Metal: Black \| rowspan="5" \| Incog Inc. Entertainment
Twisted Metal: Small Brawl
scope="row" \| 2002 \| Twisted Metal Black: Online
scope="row" rowspan="2" \| 2003 \| War of the Monsters
Downhill Domination
scope="row" rowspan="3" \| 2005 \| The Con \| Think & Feel
Twisted Metal: Head-On \| Incognito Entertainment
Neopets: The Darkest Faerie \| Idol Minds
scope="row" \| 2006 \| Blast Factor \| Bluepoint Games
scope="row" rowspan="5" \| 2007 \| Flow \| Thatgamecompany
Calling All Cars! \| rowspan = "2" \| Incognito Entertainment
Warhawk
PixelJunk Racers \| Q-Games
Everyday Shooter \| Queasy Games
scope="row" rowspan="6" \| 2008 \| PixelJunk Monsters \| Q-Games
Twisted Metal Head-On: Extra Twisted Edition \| Eat Sleep Play
God of War: Chains of Olympus \| Ready at Dawn
PixelJunk Monsters Encore \| rowspan = "2" \| Q-Games
PixelJunk Eden
Linger in Shadows \| Plastic
scope="row" rowspan="7" \| 2009 \| Flower \| Thatgamecompany
PixelJunk Eden Encore \| Q-Games
Fat Princess \| Titan Studios
PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe \| Q-Games
.detuned \| Farbrausch
God of War Collection \| Bluepoint Games
PixelJunk Shooter \| Q-Games
scope="row" rowspan="3" \| 2010 \| Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake \| Super Villain Studios
PixelJunk Racers 2nd Lap \| Q-Games
God of War: Ghost of Sparta \| Ready at Dawn
scope="row" rowspan="4" \| 2011 \| PixelJunk Shooter 2 \| rowspan = "2" \| Q-Games
PixelJunk SideScroller
God of War: Origins Collection \| Ready at Dawn
Carnival Island \| Magic Pixel Games
scope="row" rowspan="10" \| 2012 \| Twisted Metal \| Eat Sleep Play
Escape Plan \| Fun Bits
Journey \| Thatgamecompany
Starhawk \| LightBox Interactive
Datura \| Plastic
PixelJunk 4am \| Q-Games
Sorcery \| The Workshop
Sound Shapes \| Queasy Games
The Unfinished Swan \| Giant Sparrow
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale \| SuperBot Entertainment
scope="row" \| 2014 \| Hohokum \| Honeyslug
scope="row" rowspan="5" \| 2015 \| Fat Princess: Piece of Cake \| One Loop Games
God of War III Remastered \| Wholesale Algorithms
The Order: 1886 \| Ready at Dawn
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture \| The Chinese Room
Fat Princess Adventures \| Fun Bits
scope="row" rowspan="2" \| 2016 \| Bound \| Plastic
Here They Lie \| Tangentlemen

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Title

! scope="col" | Developer

scope="row" rowspan="2" | 2001

| Twisted Metal: Black

| rowspan="5" | Incog Inc. Entertainment

Twisted Metal: Small Brawl

scope="row" | 2002

| Twisted Metal Black: Online

scope="row" rowspan="2" | 2003

| War of the Monsters