Founded in 2007, this San Diego-based developer supports games from other first-party with art, animation etc. As support, 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. Though 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 creative control over a game instead of just support work. 30 developers assembled from near studios, but the size only let them remake a classic. 2007's Uncharted was first targeted, but as an early PS3 game, even that was too big to modernize to PS5 standards. They then settled on 2013's The Last of Us, which was a far more modern PS3 game. After TLOU, VASG could scale up for Uncharted, then their own games.
TLOU's remake (Project T1X) was only probationally approved, which meant T1X would stay a secret with no budget to hire up. Mumbauer questioned Sony's commitment to his vision for VASG, but kept working. They completed a vertical slice showcasing T1X's look and feel in spring 2019, months before Hermen Hulst took over all of first-party. Due to his new role, Hulst thoroughly reviewed the entire PS Studios portfolio and grew concerned with the remake's budget. Mumbauer argued this was VASG's first project on a new engine and they actually had to hire more people to modernize gameplay. Hulst was unconvinced.
Instead, T1X's team was brought to support Naughty Dog's TLOU 2, following its internal delay from 2019 to 2020. Once completed, instead of hiring up, T1X shifted to ND's budget, and ND joined in a support role. Mumbauer wasn't pleased as he knew this would strip VASG's autonomy. Due to their size, ND gradually outpaced VASG's work. As it was ND's own IP, they were also trusted more by Sony, which effectively gave them final say. At this point VASG was jokingly referred to as Naughty Dog South. So in November 2020, with his vision dead, Mumbauer and several team members left VASG. They 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 much worse.
The worsening economy has companies like Sony executing multiple rounds of layoffs, and VASG wasn't immune. In March 2025, Bend's live-service game was cancelled despite 4 years of development. As VASG was part of the project as support, the cancellation resulted in an undisclosed number of VASG devs being let go.
Perhaps circumstances change on PS6, but this seems increasingly unlikely as time goes on. Until then, we can at least appreciate their work in most upcoming PS Studios games via art, animation and technical support. There's also rumors of VASG once again assisting Naughty Dog, alongside a new internal studio, on a project that's likely the next Uncharted. It may not be what Mumbauer envisioned, but as part of many big IP projects, VASG continue to be an essential part of PS Studios for the foreseeable future.
