Sony announces that Valkyrie Entertainment's free-to-play PS4 game Guns Up will be shutting down on April 14, 2023. No reason was provided, but to venture a guess, there are many who have likely never heard of this PS4 game despite the free-to-play approach. Still, for those who do enjoy the title, they have about six more months with the game, so it's not like Sony is just cutting it off.
Much like Guns Up on PS4, Sony's Valkyrie Entertainment is not a household name, but perhaps it should be. Sony acquired the studio in late 2021, but prior to then, it had worked with Sony assisting on games like God of War and God of War Ragnarok. It has also worked on Halo Infinite, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, and League of Legends. It's no surprise that, with such pedigree in assisting major studios and games, Sony was interested in bringing it on board. It seems it will continue to assist by "making invaluable contributions to key PlayStation Studios franchise," per Sony at the time of acquisition.
While Valkyrie Entertainment then is more known for its work on other IPs, it has made one of its own: Guns Up. This was designed and developed internally, and published by Sony San Diego. It's a side-scrolling multiplayer action strategy game where players are pitted against each other's bases and must defeat their foes using a variety of troops, timing special abilities, and so on. It notably features crossplay between PS4 and Steam. As an apology of sorts, Sony and Valkyrie is giving all existing players 50,000 Gold to spend in-game.
Guns Up released back in 2015 and will be around 8 years old when it shuts down. Given how easily forgettable this PS4 game seems, that's something to be proud of. It's certainly a mixed bag for fans and Valkyrie Entertainment though, but the industry is all about moving forward to bigger and bigger things.
After all, Valkyrie Entertainment's continued assistance on PlayStation IPs is a big step-up for the studio (though, of course, it has been doing this for some time). It's uncertain what IPs Valkyrie will be assisting on or if perhaps Sony will ever allow it to make another solo game, but many believe the day of single studio AAA games is long gone. Post Sony acquisition, Valkyrie Entertainment is in a strong position to leave a real mark on the current PS5 generation.
Guns Up will shut down on April 14, 2023.
Source: Push Square