Project Siren
A Japanese PlayStation game-development team associated with the Siren and Gravity Rush series.
Last updated August 24, 2026
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Overview
Project Siren was a Japanese internal video-game development team associated with Sony Computer Entertainment Japan and, later, Sony Interactive Entertainment. It operated within the wider Japan Studio structure and was known primarily for developing games built around atmospheric world design, supernatural themes, distinctive traversal systems, and unconventional narrative presentation. The team’s most closely associated work is the Siren survival-horror series, which began on PlayStation 2 and was followed by Siren 2 and Siren: Blood Curse. The team was also connected with the development of the Gravity Rush series, a stylized action-adventure property centered on gravity manipulation and an airborne city setting. The group emerged from the Japanese PlayStation development environment that Sony established after creating Sony Computer Entertainment in 1993. Project Siren was led by game designer and director Keiichiro Toyama, who had previously worked on the original Silent Hill at Konami. Toyama’s involvement helped give the team a recognizable creative identity: its projects combined horror, mystery, and experimental storytelling with systems that placed unusual demands on the player. Siren used a fragmented, multi-perspective structure and a vision-based mechanic that allowed players to perceive the world through the senses of hostile characters. These features differentiated the series from more conventional survival-horror games and made Project Siren one of Japan Studio’s more distinctive specialist groups. Project Siren’s work was conducted within a broader network of Sony-affiliated teams. Japan Studio provided the corporate and production framework, while individual internal groups pursued different genres and creative approaches. This structure allowed Project Siren to operate as a focused development unit rather than as a separately listed company. Its releases were published for PlayStation platforms under Sony’s first-party publishing organization, with availability varying by title and territory. The team’s later association with Gravity Rush demonstrated a move beyond traditional horror. Gravity Rush and Gravity Rush 2 retained an emphasis on unusual spatial design and strong authored worlds, but replaced the oppressive survival-horror format with action-adventure gameplay and gravity-based movement. The series helped maintain the team’s reputation for original Japanese-designed PlayStation software, even as Japan Studio faced increasing pressure to produce commercially successful titles in a market increasingly dominated by large-scale productions and mobile games. Keiichiro Toyama left Sony in 2020 and subsequently established Bokeh Game Studio with other former Japan Studio personnel. In 2021, Sony reorganized Japan Studio around Team Asobi, the group behind Astro’s Playroom, while other Japan Studio teams and associated staff were disbanded, reorganized, or departed. Project Siren therefore no longer operates as an active standalone development team. Its creative legacy remains tied to the Siren and Gravity Rush properties and to Japan Studio’s broader history of supporting unusual, auteur-driven PlayStation games.
History
Project Siren was part of Sony’s Japanese first-party game-development organization and operated within the Japan Studio ecosystem. Sony Computer Entertainment was established in Tokyo in 1993, creating an internal structure that combined in-house development with support for external creative teams. Over time, this organization produced or supported a wide range of PlayStation software, from family-oriented games to experimental and artistically ambitious titles. Within that environment, Project Siren developed an identity around supernatural horror and unusual narrative design. The team was associated with Keiichiro Toyama, a designer whose earlier work on Silent Hill informed the atmospheric and psychological qualities of the Siren series. The original Siren was developed for PlayStation 2 and presented a rural Japanese setting populated by transformed, hostile inhabitants. Rather than relying only on conventional combat and exploration, the game emphasized vulnerability, fragmented perspectives, and a mechanic that let the player see through the senses of enemies. Its structure divided the story among several characters and time periods, requiring players to assemble the larger narrative from separate episodes. Siren 2 expanded the concept while retaining the series’ emphasis on tension, multiple protagonists, and an unsettling rural setting. The project reinforced Project Siren’s reputation as a specialist group willing to pursue ideas that were less conventional than mainstream action games. Siren: Blood Curse subsequently brought the property to PlayStation 3 in an episodic form and introduced the series to a broader international audience, although its commercial reach remained more limited than that of Sony’s largest global franchises. The team later broadened its creative scope through Gravity Rush, known in Japan as Gravity Daze. This action-adventure game replaced the Siren series’ horror framework with a comic-book-influenced world and a central gravity-shifting mechanic. Players could alter the direction of gravity to navigate environments and fight enemies, making movement and spatial perception the foundation of the experience. Gravity Rush 2 expanded the setting and gameplay while preserving the series’ distinctive visual style and emphasis on exploration. The projects demonstrated that the group’s creative interests extended beyond horror into experimental movement systems and stylized world-building. Project Siren remained a development unit rather than an independent corporation. Its projects were produced and released through Sony’s PlayStation organization, and its personnel and internal structure were connected to Japan Studio. Japan Studio experienced organizational and commercial difficulties during the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 eras. Sony sought more consistent production processes and greater commercial focus, while some internal teams continued to pursue smaller or more unusual projects. The resulting tension contributed to staff departures and the eventual reduction of Japan Studio’s earlier multi-team structure. Toyama left Sony in late 2020, together with other developers associated with Japan Studio, and formed Bokeh Game Studio. In April 2021 Sony stated that Japan Studio would be re-centered around Team Asobi, the group responsible for Astro’s Playroom. Other units were disbanded, reorganized, or absorbed into different structures. Team Asobi later operated as a separate PlayStation Studios team. Project Siren consequently became a historical development identity rather than an active studio or brand with an ongoing independent operating structure. Its principal legacy is the Siren series, its contribution to Gravity Rush, and its role in Japan Studio’s tradition of distinctive Japanese PlayStation software.
- 2021
Japan Studio is reorganized around Team Asobi
[1]Sony restructures Japan Studio, ending the earlier multi-team arrangement associated with Project Siren.
- 2020
Keiichiro Toyama leaves Sony
[7]Toyama departs Sony and later forms Bokeh Game Studio with former Japan Studio colleagues.
- 2016
Gravity Rush 2 is released
[6]The sequel expands the gravity-based movement system, setting, and action-adventure structure on PlayStation 4.
- 2012
Team Gravity develops Gravity Rush
[5]Project Siren-associated creative staff broaden their work into stylized action-adventure with Gravity Rush, built around gravity manipulation and free-form navigation.
- 2008
Siren: Blood Curse reaches PlayStation 3
[4]The series returns in a PlayStation 3 release structured in episodes and distributed internationally under the Blood Curse title.
- 2006
Siren 2 is released
[3]The sequel expands the series’ multi-character structure and survival-horror systems for PlayStation 2.
- 2003
Siren is released for PlayStation 2
[2]The first Siren introduces Project Siren’s characteristic blend of Japanese supernatural horror, fragmented storytelling, and enemy-perspective gameplay.
- 1993
Sony establishes its PlayStation development organization in Japan
[1]Sony Computer Entertainment is founded in Tokyo, creating the corporate environment in which Japan Studio and its associated internal development teams would operate.
Products and positioning
A Sony-affiliated Japanese development team focused on distinctive, atmosphere-driven PlayStation games, particularly supernatural horror and stylized action-adventure experiences.
Survival horror video game · 2003
Siren
The original Siren is a PlayStation 2 survival-horror game set in a remote Japanese community disrupted by supernatural events. Its defining mechanic allows players to view the world through the senses of enemies, while its story shifts among several protagonists and timelines. The game emphasizes stealth, evasion, environmental observation, and narrative reconstruction rather than straightforward combat. It established the creative direction most strongly associated with Project Siren.
Survival horror video game · 2006
Siren 2
Siren 2 continues the series’ Japanese supernatural-horror setting and multi-perspective storytelling. It develops the original game’s systems and presents a broader cast of characters whose experiences overlap across the narrative. Like its predecessor, it uses vulnerability, stealth, enemy awareness, and environmental clues to create tension. The title was released for PlayStation 2 and remained primarily associated with the Japanese PlayStation market.
Survival horror video game · 2008
Siren: Blood Curse
Siren: Blood Curse adapts and reworks the series’ core horror premise for PlayStation 3. Its episodic presentation divides the experience into chapters and supports the game’s ensemble narrative. The title retains the series’ emphasis on supernatural threat, stealth, disorientation, and perception-based play while offering a version designed for a newer console generation and wider international distribution.
Action-adventure video game · 2012
Gravity Rush
Gravity Rush is an action-adventure game built around the ability to change the direction of gravity. Players use the mechanic to traverse vertical environments, reach otherwise inaccessible areas, and attack enemies from unconventional angles. Its stylized art direction, comic-book presentation, and imaginative setting marked a significant move away from Project Siren’s earlier survival-horror work while preserving the team’s interest in unusual systems and authored worlds.
Action-adventure video game · 2016
Gravity Rush 2
Gravity Rush 2 expands the original gravity-manipulation concept with additional gravity styles, a larger world, and broader action-adventure systems. It was developed for PlayStation 4 and continued the series’ focus on aerial traversal, stylized environments, and a strongly characterized protagonist. The game represents one of the final major projects associated with the creative group before the broader Japan Studio reorganization.
Brand decisions
2021
Japan Studio is re-centered around Team AsobiStrategyBackground
Sony evaluated Japan Studio’s multi-team structure amid commercial pressure and a wider shift toward more focused first-party development.
Action taken
Sony announced that, from April 2021, Japan Studio would be re-centered around Team Asobi, while other teams and associated staff were disbanded, reorganized, or departed.
Aftermath
Project Siren ceased to operate as an active development identity within the former Japan Studio structure. Team Asobi subsequently became a separate PlayStation Studios team.
Sources7 sources
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