Sucker Punch Productions

Sucker Punch Productions is an American video game developer based in Bellevue, Washington, founded in October 1997 by Brian Fleming, Chris Zimmerman, Bruce Oberg, Darrell Plank, Tom Saxton, and Cathy Saxton, all former Microsoft employees. They built one of the more consistent catalogs of any PlayStation studio, creating Sly Cooper, inFamous, and Ghost of Tsushima. Sony acquired them in 2011.

Sucker Punch Productions Origin Story

The Founding

The founders left Microsoft in 1997. Their first game, Rocket: Robot on Wheels, was released for Nintendo 64 in 1999 via Ubisoft. It received positive critical reviews but did not perform commercially. They then approached Sony with a platformer pitch, which became Sly Cooper.

Sucker Punch Productions Games

Sly Cooper Series (2002 to 2005)

Three Sly Cooper games for PlayStation 2, building a long-term relationship with Sony. Commercially and critically successful enough to establish Sucker Punch as a trusted Sony studio.

inFamous (2009)

Their first open-world game. You play as Cole MacGrath, a bike messenger who survives an explosion giving him electrical powers. Sold nearly 2 million copies. Followed by inFamous 2 (2011) and inFamous Second Son (2014). The first two inFamous games are one of the main reasons I got a Playstation 3 and Second Son was a heavy factor of why getting a PS4 made sense for me.

Ghost of Tsushima (2020)

The game that defined Sucker Punch’s legacy. Set during the Mongol invasion of Tsushima Island in 1274, you play as Jin Sakai defending the island using both honorable and dishonorable methods. Development started in 2014 and took six years. Against a reported budget of $60 million, the game generated $397 million in total revenue. Sold over 13 million copies. Won Players’ Choice Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2020. A sequel, Ghost of Yotei, was released for PlayStation 5 in October 2025.

What Makes Sucker Punch Stand Out

Sucker Punch has a pattern of taking genres they have never worked in and producing something excellent. They had never made a stealth game before Sly Cooper, a superhero game before inFamous, or a historical action game before Ghost of Tsushima. Each time they committed completely and delivered.