Keiichiro Toyoma, the creator of Silent Hill, Siren, and Gravity Rush, has announced his departure from Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Studio and has established Bokeh Game Studio.
Joining him are Kazunobu Sato and Junya Okura, who have worked with Toyoma in the past. Kazunobu’s career includes various creative roles in games, such as many titles in the Siren series and Pupetteer, and the producer of The Last Guardian. Junya has also served as the lead game designer for the Siren and Gravity Rush series. Keiichiro Toyoma will serve as the CEO of Bokeh Studios, Kazunobu Sato will serve as the COO (Chief Operating Officer), and Jun Okura will serve as CTO (Chief Technology Officer).
The name “Bokeh” comes from an English word based on the Japanese term, “boke.” It refers to a camera blur technique that seems to have been adopted in visual storytelling worldwide. It’s a strong name for a studio that has stated its goal is to make games for consoles and PC and to “take on challenges regardless of platform.” Toyoma has also stated that he wants to pursue his own ambitions and enjoy making games “built from ideas with originality.”
According to a translation of an interview by Famitsu, Toyoma and his new studio will be making an original Action/Adventure title that will release on multiple platforms. No details are known yet. Kazunobu Sato also stated in the same interview that he would be willing to cooperate with Sony on new entries for games owned by SIE Japan Studio, but they want to create their own original IP first.
So if you’re a fan of Silent Hill, Siren, or Gravity Rush, there’s still hope. Whether or not you are, you’ll have some interesting and quality games to look forward to on various platforms in the future.
