Founded in San Diego in 2007, the Visual Arts Service Group support games from other PS Studios with art and animation. As a support studio, their contributions are small, but it means VASG work on 15-25 games at a time, in addition to Sony's non-gaming IP like Netflix's Love, Death & Robots. While it's not the traditional role of a developer, there was a failed pivot to become one in 2018.
VASG Senior Director Michael Mumbauer aspired to become a proper PS Studio with full creative control over a game, so 30 devs joined from nearby studios to remake 2007's Uncharted. However, as an early PS3 game, it was too hard to modernize for PS5 at that size. VASG then settled on 2013's The Last of Us - a more modern PS3 game. Afterwards, VASG could hire up for Uncharted, then their own titles.
The TLOU remake (Project T1X) was probationally approved, meaning it stayed a secret with no budget to hire up. VASG questioned Sony's commitment, but completed a vertical slice to showcase T1X's look and feel in spring 2019 - just before Hermen Hulst took over PS Studios. As part of his new role, Hulst thoroughly reviewed the entire PS Studios portfolio and grew concerned with T1X's budget. Mumbauer argued this was VASG's first project, on a new engine, and they had to hire up to modernize gameplay. Hulst was unconvinced.
Instead, VASG supported Naughty Dog's TLOU2 after its delay to 2020. Once shipped, instead of hiring up, T1X shifted to ND's budget and ND joined in a support role. Mumbauer knew this would strip autonomy as ND outpaced VASG's work due to their size. ND also had Sony's trust as the IP's original developer, effectively giving them final say. VASG were now jokingly referred to as ND South, so in late 2020, with his vision dead, Mumbauer and many others quit. VASG now continue in the support role Sony always saw them in.
Mumbauer's vision for VASG died in 2020, which made it very unlikely that they'd ever develop their own PS5 game. Since then, other factors have made the chances even lower.
A worse economy has resulted in many layoffs at Sony and VASG weren't immune. In early 2025, Bend's live-service game was cancelled after 4 years of development. As VASG supported the project, an undisclosed number of VASG staff were let go. San Diego is also an expensive place to scale up VASG to the headcount needed to develop a modern AAA title.
Circumstances could change on PS6, but it's unlikely. Until then, VASG's art and animation work can still be appreciated in most upcoming PS Studios games. They're also rumored to be assisting ND and a new internal studio on the next Uncharted. It's not what Mumbauer envisioned, but as part of many projects, VASG are still essential to PS Studios.
