Brian Fleming co-founded Sucker Punch Productions in 1997 with five colleagues from Microsoft and spent the next 28 years helping build one of PlayStation’s most celebrated first-party studios.

In this episode of re:Play, Greg and Brian trace the full Sucker Punch story, from self-funding Rocket: Robot on Wheels and nearly losing it all, to Sly Cooper, inFAMOUS, and the studio’s acquisition by Sony.

Brian shares how a few paragraphs about the Mongol invasion of Tsushima sparked Ghost of Tsushima, why the studio embraced a new protagonist for Ghost of Yōtei, and what nearly three decades inside the PlayStation ecosystem taught him about creative autonomy, taking creative risks, and leading a studio through multiple console generations.

They also discuss Brian’s decision to step down af ...