San Diego Studio is an American video game developer of Sony Interactive Entertainment based in Sorrento Valley, San Diego. It is responsible for MLB: The Show games. The studio also developed the NBA series, The Mark of Kri, High Velocity Bowling, and Sports Champions.
History
Origins San Diego Studio was founded through a merger of Red Zone Interactive and the development division of 989 Sports. 989 Studios' internal game development team was originated in San Diego at Sony Imagesoft when members of Park Place Productions moved to Sony Imagesoft to start its own internal development team in 1993, primarily to work on the ESPN series.
The development team became Sony Interactive Studios America in 1995, after Sony Imagesoft became SISA.Carl DiOrio: Sony to Transfer 100 Workers. In: The Hollywood Reporter, July 12, 1995.Scott Hettrick: -- no title given -- In: The Hollywood Reporter, August 8, 1995.Sony in Disarray on Eve of Playstation Debut. In: Television Digest with Consumer Electronics, August 14, 1995, ISSN 0497-1515, page 9. In 1996, members of the NHL FaceOff team at SISA left to form an independent game developer, Killer Game. Some members left Killer Game to form SolWorks in 1998. In 1997, team members leave SISA to form an independent game developer, Idol Minds.
The team became 989 Studios again in 1998 and worked on the third and fourth Twisted Metal games. Team members of non-sports games moved production to Santa Monica in late 1998 to start Santa Monica Studio. The online division of 989 was spun off as RedEye Interactive, which was later renamed to Verant Interactive in 1999, before it was sold to Sony Online Entertainment in 2000.
Red Zone Interactive, a San Diego–based development studio, was founded in December 1997 by former employees of Sony Interactive Studios America (SISA), the sole in-house studio of the Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) between 1995 and 1998.
SISA was later renamed 989 Studios before being merged into SCEA in February 2000, with the "989" label being retained as a brand name. Red Zone Interactive's NFL GameDay series was among the games published under the "989 Sports" label. SCEA acquired Red Zone Interactive in January 2001, including its 65 employees led by president Chris Whaley. SCEA later acquired SolWorks and Killer Game, with the intent of merging into its San Diego studio.
Current studio The current San Diego Studio was formally founded in 2001 from the former teams of 989 Sports and Red Zone Interactive. The studio initially inherited a team of developers from the Twisted Metal series, and a series of sports games developed under the 989 brand name, like the MLB series and the NBA ShootOut series. In 2003, after the release of The Mark of Kri, many team members left to form the independent game studio BottleRocket Entertainment, with the first game Rise of the Kasai, being a sequel to The Mark of Kri, which received mixed to positive reviews.
The studio shifted focus on producing sports games mostly the MLB and the NBA game series, until its focus shifted onto MLB The Show. The company then eliminated the 989 Sports and RedZone Interactive team names from development, and shifted exclusively to using the San Diego Studio name. In 2016, the team asides from the MLB The Show series experienced a mass of layoffs.
Games developed Year Title Platform(s)1994ESPN National Hockey NightSega CD, Sega Genesis, SNESESPN Baseball TonightSega CDESPN NBA Hangtime '95ESPN SpeedWorldSega Genesis, SNES1995Jeopardy!Microsoft WindowsWheel of FortuneESPN Extreme GamesPlayStation, MS-DOSNFL GameDayPlayStationNHL FaceOff1996NCAA GamebreakerMLB Pennant Race2XtremeNFL GameDay '971997Rally CrossNCAA Gamebreaker 98Spawn: The EternalTanarusMicrosoft Windows1998NBA ShootOut 98PlayStationMLB '99BlastoNFL XtremeTwisted Metal III1999EverQuestMicrosoft WindowsMLB 2000PlayStation3XtremeNFL Xtreme 2Twisted Metal 4NBA ShootOut 2000 2000MLB 20012001NBA ShootOut 2001PlayStation 2MLB 2002PlayStationNFL GameDay 2002PlayStation, PlayStation 22002MLB 2003PlayStation The Mark of Kri PlayStation 2NBA ShootOut 2003NCAA GameBreaker 2003NFL GameDay 2003PlayStation, PlayStation 2 2003MLB 2004NBA ShootOut 2004PlayStation 2NCAA GameBreaker 2004NFL GameDay 2004PlayStation, PlayStation 2 2004MLB 2005NFL GameDay 2005PlayStation 2005 NBA PlayStation Portable MLB 2006PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable NBA 06 2006 MLB 06: The ShowNeopets: Petpet Adventures: The Wand of WishingPlayStation Portable NBA 07 PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable 2007 MLB 07: The Show NBA 08 High Velocity BowlingPlayStation 3 2008 MLB 08: The Show PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable NBA 09: The Inside 2009 MLB 09: The Show NBA 10: The Inside PlayStation Portable Pinball Heroes 2010 MLB 10: The Show PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable ModNation Racers PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3 Sports Champions PlayStation 3 2011 MLB 11: The Show PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest PlayStation 3 2012 ModNation Racers: Road Trip PlayStation Vita MLB 12: The Show PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita Sports Champions 2 PlayStation 3 LittleBigPlanet Karting 2013 MLB 13: The Show PlayStation 3, PlayStation VitaPinball Heroes: CompletePlayStation Vita 2014 MLB 14: The Show PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita 2015 MLB 15: The Show Guns Up! PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows 2016 MLB The Show 16 PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 Kill Strain PlayStation 4 2017 MLB The Show 17 Drawn to Death StarBlood Arena 2018 MLB The Show 18 2019 MLB The Show 19 2020 MLB The Show 20 2021 MLB The Show 21 PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S 2022 MLB The Show 22 PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2023 MLB The Show 23 2024 MLB The Show 24 2025 MLB The Show 25 PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2026MLB The Show 26
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