“With the backing of SIE and its family of studios supporting us, we can truly grow into our place in the industry and show what Housemarque can create with no limitations.” – Ilari Kuittinen
Early this morning Sony announced the acquisition of studio Housemarque. The developer of the Returnal, Super Stardust, and Dead Nation is the newest member of PlayStation first-party studios.
Welcome to the family, @Housemarque!
Developer of Returnal, Super Stardust, and Dead Nation is the newest member of PlayStation Studios. Full details: https://t.co/2QboOOzQ1r pic.twitter.com/1NXMw0cwXf
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) June 29, 2021
While Xbox has been buying up studios left and right the past few years. Housemarque is only the second studio Sony has acquired in recent years.
“We’re very selective about the developers that we bring in,” said Herman Hulst, Head of Playstation Studios in an interview with GQ.
“Our last new acquisition was Insomniac [for $229 million in 2019], which has worked out very well. I’m always looking for people that have a similar set of values, similar creative ambitions, and work very well with our team that we can further invest in and help grow as creators. It’s not like we’re going around and just making random acquisitions.”
Keen readers will notice the shot fired by Hulst. Aimed at Xbox and their spending habits of late. Xbox purchased 8 studios in the last few years. The largest of these being Zenimax Media for $7.5 billion dollars.
Hulst took to the Playstation Blog today to welcome Housemarque to the PlayStation family.
“Today I’m thrilled to welcome a new member to the PlayStation Studios family! I have been a fan of Housemarque since the studio’s early days when they introduced Super Stardust HD to Playstation fans. Housemarque’s recent release of Returnal proves the studio is one with incredible vision, capable of creating memorable new games that resonate with our community. This addition enhances the creative forces of PlayStation Studios, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for Housemarque.“
Ilari Kuittinen Co-founder and Managing Director of Housemarque also spoke to GQ on the acquisition. “Today is a big day for Housemarque and it has been over 26 years in the making,” said Kuittinen. “Our strong partnership with Sony Interactive Entertainment started with Super Stardust HD on PS3 and since then we have made arcade-inspired games for all of the PlayStation platforms,” added Kuittinen.
“We are so excited to finally join the PlayStation Studios family! This gives our studio a clear future and a stable opportunity to continue delivering on gameplay-centric approaches, while still experimenting with new methods of narrative delivery and pushing the boundaries of this modern art form,” said Kuittinen.
Evidence suggests that Sony may have another acquisition announcement coming soon. It appears that PlayStation Japan accidentally tweeted out the wrong celebratory image for the announcement. The image features the same background and text as the Housemarque announcement.
..so apparently PlayStation Japan uploaded the wrong image with their first tweet on Housemarque's acquisition, and it actually mentions a Bluepoint acquisition pic.twitter.com/yQBHtLbG5c
— Nibel (@Nibellion) June 29, 2021
However, the now-deleted tweeted by PlayStation Japan featured the Bluepoint Games logo is in place of the Housemarque logo. If the image is correct then Sony has just purchased two powerful studios to add to their stable of first-party studios.
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