PlayStation’s Japan Studio has established an external development department

PlayStation’s Japan Studio has formally established an external development department in a restructure of its development operations.

Sony confirmed the changes in a note on Wednesday, revealing that the Astro Bot studio’s development department will essentially be split into internal and external divisions.

Japan Studio is Sony Interactive Entertainment‘s oldest first-party studio, with a focus on introducing new styles of gameplay.

Although the external department is technically new, Japan Studio has already enjoyed a successful stretch as co-developer on various Japanese PlayStation exclusives.

It worked with Gen Design on The Last Guardian, From Software on Bloodborne and Q-Games on The Tomorrow Children.

It’s also known for its original titles Knack (and its sequel), Everybody’s Golf, Ape Escape, Gravity Rush (and its sequel) and the critically acclaimed PSVR game Astro Bot Rescue Mission.

Rescue Mission, is one of the highest rated VR games of all-time. The VR platformer has a Metacritic score of 90 based on 54 reviews, and a user score of 8.9.

Astro Bot’s director Nicolas Doucet was recently promoted to head of Japan Studio.

The French designer is a PlayStation veteran, having started his Sony career in London working on the original PS2 EyeToy, before directing the PS3 version’s EyePet in 2007.