San Diego Studio

Studio logo since 2018

**SIE San Diego Studio**, formerly called **SCE San Diego Studio** between 2001 and 2016, is an American game development studio based in San Diego, California. It is a successor studio to 989 Studios founded in 2001 through a merger with Red Zone Interactive, and since 2005 it's part of PlayStation Studios.

Between 2005 and 2009, the studio was responsible for developing titles based on *NBA*, which was a successor series to 989's *NBA ShootOut* titles, but the series was cancelled following mixed responses and loss of the license. Since 2006, San Diego is responsible and best known for the *MLB: The Show* franchise of baseball video games. Outside of their sports titles, San Diego Studio also developed games from other genres, most notably *The Mark of Kri*, as well as collaborating with other studios on *ModNation Racers* and *Pain*. It also worked on an action role-playing title, *Warrior's Lair*, before its cancellation.

Beginning with 2021, the studio expanded *MLB* to multiple platforms as part of a new contract between Sony and the MLB league; with *MLB The Show 21* being the first game in the series to launch on Xbox consoles; its successor, *MLB The Show 22* is the first game in the series to launch on Nintendo platforms.

San Diego Studio received praise for its work on the *MLB* games, while titles averaging 1-2 million unit sales annually.

## History

### 2001-2005: Origins and foundation

   In January 2001, Sony Computer Entertaiment's American arm acquired Red Zone Interactive, a studio comprised of former 989 Studios employees nad included 65 employees at the time of the acquisition; the acquisition was conducted to strengthen Sony's efforts in providing exclusive sports titles to the PlayStation brand. Later that year, SCEA merged Red Zone Interactive with 989 Studios' 989 Sports brand, resulting in SCE San Diego Studio with Jay Beard as its studio head.

In July 2002, San Diego Studio debuted with *The Mark of Kri*, a stylized action-adventure game which received largely positive reviews. The game saw a release in Europe in March 2003. Following the game's release, Beard and developers behind the game left San Diego Studio to found BottleRocket Entertainment, which would go on to develop a sequel called *Rise of the Kasai* in 2005.

In 2004, San Diego Studio hired Christian Phillips as director of product development. Phillips, who previously worked in similar positions for Sony's rivals Nintendo and Microsoft, would eventually be promoted to serve as San Diego's studio head. Between 2004 and 2008, the studio hosted 120 employees.

### 2005-2009: Early sports titles, *NBA* license

Red Zone Interactive and 989 Sports previously developed titles licensed by the National Football League, however Sony lost the license to fellow publisher Elcetronic Arts due to increase in exclusive contracts for sports licensing. According to Phillips, atmosphere in the studio was "fraught with uncertainty" due to the loss of the license, and San Diego Studio underwent "significant restructuring" after Sony failed to pursue the *NFL* license when EA offered a significantly larger sum.

While the team was distraught over losing the *NFL*, they maintained a contract to basketball *NBA* titles by 2005, with a first game releasing the same year. In 2006, San Diego Studio began releasing baseball titles under the *MLB: The Show* series, debuting with *MLB 06: The Show* to positive reviews. Around the same time, San Diego Studio also became involved in digital titles for the then-newly released and struggling PlayStation 3, including supporting Idol Minds on *Pain*, and internally developing *High Velocity Bowling*, though both titles were met with mixed reviews.

2009 was the final year San Diego Studio worked on an *NBA* title, which was described as a "bittersweet" ending by Phillips, as the studio and Sony concluded to leave the license to EA and Take-Two while focusing on *MLB* due to lack of market growth. In 2012, Phillips also remarked that while San Diego Studio has the chance to return to the *NBA* series, "the level of interest isn't there".

### 2009-2013: Focus on *MLB: The Show*

Whereas internal interest in the *NBA* series died out, San Diego Studio became more focused on producing the *MLB* games, with a large number of its employees having played baseball in highschool, college or minor leagues, while others played as scouts in major leagues. By 2012, *MLB: The Show* rose to become the dominant baseball franchise and outpaced Take Two's *MLB 2K* games, which was a "source of pride" for the studio according to Phillips.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.gamezone.com/news/sony\_acquires\_red\_zone\_interactive/
2. ↑ Linkedin profile, Christian Phillips.
3. ↑ **Christian Phillips**: "In 2004, the NFL and the NFL Players Association decided that, like with all the categories, videogames should be exclusive, and Electronic Arts managed to lock that up. And that kind of changed the sports landscape forever within videogames."
IGN, Colin Moriarty - Sony San Diego: The Story of a Sports Powerhouse.
4. ↑ Christian Phillips: "It was bittersweet to let [the series end], but it came down to really just kind of a business decision. Looking at it and realizing that, unfortunately, we weren't growing the market for the NBA and we weren't seeing casual fans adopt it with the story component."
IGN, Colin Moriarty - Sony San Diego: The Story of a Sports Powerhouse.
5. ↑ "The team responsible for the series "eats, lives and breathes baseball," [Phillips] continued, noting that the director of the series "still sleeps here during crunch time with his team," and that several "key guys" on the staff played high school, college and minor league ball. "We've got guys on staff that have been scouts in the major leagues, so [MLB: The Show] is a baseball product made by baseball guys who love baseball."
IGN, Colin Moriarty - Sony San Diego: The Story of a Sports Powerhouse.

***MLB: The Show***
*MLB 06: The Show* - *MLB 07: The Show* - *MLB 08: The Show* - *MLB 09: The Show* - *MLB 10: The Show* - *MLB 11: The Show* - *MLB 12: The Show* - *MLB 13: The Show*- *MLB 14: The Show* - *MLB 15: The Show* - *MLB The Show 16* - *MLB The Show 17* - *MLB The Show 18* - *MLB The Show 19* - *MLB The Show 20* - *MLB The Show 21* - *MLB The Show 22* - *MLB The Show 23*

***NBA***

***ModNation Racers***
*ModNation Racers* - *ModNation Racers: Road Trip*

**Other Games**
*The Mark of Kri* - *High Velocity Bowling* - *Kill Strain*

**Co-productions**
*Pain* - *Sports Champions* - *Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest* - *Sports Champions 2* - *LittleBigPlanet Karting* - *Guns Up!*

**Cancelled**
*Warrior's Lair*