Sony buys studio Housemarque and possibly Bluepoint Games as well

[Cal Jeffrey]

In context: Sony and Microsoft have been sparring with their next-gen consoles trying to attract gamers despite supplies on both sides not meeting demand. One tool in their arsenals is exclusive content. To that end, both companies have been snatching up third-party studios like mad.

Finnish game maker Housemarque, the developer of Returnal, is the newest studio to come under the PlayStation Studios umbrella. Vice President of Sony Computer Entertainment's Worldwide Studios Herman Hulst announced the news in a tweet from his account Tuesday morning. Hulst also issued a statement welcoming the studio 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 force of PlayStation Studios, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for Housemarque."

In a second tweet from Sony's Japanese PlayStation Twitter account, moderators accidentally posted an image indicating that Sony might also be acquiring Bluepoint Games. The tweet was quickly corrected, but not before someone grabbed the image and reposted it. Bluepoint is the development house behind the recent Demon's Souls remaster but is also responsible for bringing Shadow of the Colossus and the Uncharted series to modern consoles.

..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

The one and possibly two pickups are the latest in a run for corralling exclusive content for the PlayStation 5. Sony is still reeling from a devastating Microsoft acquisition when the Redmond giant bought out Zenimax last year. That purchase landed Bethesda, id Software, and others right into Microsoft's pocket. The Sony rival has already announced Starfield as an Xbox exclusive, which had to sting for Sony and PlayStation fans.

Both companies have been on a spending spree lately, seemingly vacuuming up studios left and right. In a discussion with Hulst, GQ referred to the buying frenzy as an "arms race." Hulst corrected that characterization.

"[It's not an arms race] at all," Hulst said. "We're very selective about the developers that we bring in. Our last new acquisition was Insomniac, 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."

Still, there is little doubt that Sony is trying to wrangle talent into its stables to ensure exclusive content for its new machine. The next-gen console wars have only just begun, and both sides want as much advantage as they can muster.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/90243-sony-buys-studio-housemarque-possibly-bluepoint-games-well.html

 

[BadThad]

You left out something: SONY SUCKS

 

[Lounds]

Bluepoint are consistent with their remakes for Sony. They would be silly not to have they as a studio.

 

[m4a4]

I can't say I am happy with all these studio acquisitions, as I don't like platform exclusives (they screw over a lot of gamers).

...Though I'd be a little more happy about Sony acquisitions if they actually embraced PC...

 

[Kosmoz]

I can't say I am happy with all these studio acquisitions, as I don't like platform exclusives (they screw over a lot of gamers).

...Though I'd be a little more happy about Sony acquisitions if they actually embraced PC...

Well compared to MS which acquires 3rd party studios that used to have games on all platforms and then restricts them from PS, so millions of fans are now locked out, Sony is acquiring 2nd party studios that have always made exclusives for PS, so the other platforms are missing nothing, since they did not have those games in the first place... that's the difference. You don't miss something you never had.

Also acquiring 1 or 2 studios is less disrupting than acquiring an entire publisher with a big roster of studios...

Unfortunately MS inability to grow their own studios into something good or to grow new studios themselves, has forced them to use the blunt force move, buy throwing tons of $$$ at the problem and buying everything, because they can. Now they need to prove they can also deliver great new AAA games... so we're still waiting on the dreams and promises.

 

[m4a4]

Well compared to MS which acquires 3rd party studios that used to have games on all platforms and then restricts them from PS, so millions of fans are now locked out, Sony is acquiring 2nd party studios that have always made exclusives for PS, so the other platforms are missing nothing, since they did not have those games in the first place... that's the difference. You don't miss something you never had.

Also acquiring 1 or 2 studios is less disrupting than acquiring an entire publisher with a big roster of studios...

Unfortunately MS inability to grow their own studios into something good or to grow new studios themselves, has forced them to use the blunt force move, buy throwing tons of $$$ at the problem and buying everything, because they can. Now they need to prove they can also deliver great new AAA games... so we're still waiting on the dreams and promises.

Not entirely true (sunset overdrive dev) and doesn't matter. MS is willing to reach more gamers than Sony is with their studios.

But I still don't like exclusives. And it seems like MS is retaliating to Sony doubling down on exclusives, which doesn't help.

 

[dangh]

Sunset overdrive devs its insomniac, which made 90 pct of their games PlayStation only. They made Spider-Man game as independent studio.

And I have nothing against studios acquisition, while locking successful multiplatforms ips is kind of **** move. Fallout and elder scrolls grown big everywhere and cutting them off Sony and Nintendo would be irritating. Maybe not fallout as this franchise has fallen badly, but still...

 

[Rdmetz]

Well compared to MS which acquires 3rd party studios that used to have games on all platforms and then restricts them from PS, so millions of fans are now locked out, Sony is acquiring 2nd party studios that have always made exclusives for PS, so the other platforms are missing nothing, since they did not have those games in the first place... that's the difference. You don't miss something you never had.

Also acquiring 1 or 2 studios is less disrupting than acquiring an entire publisher with a big roster of studios...

Unfortunately MS inability to grow their own studios into something good or to grow new studios themselves, has forced them to use the blunt force move, buy throwing tons of $$$ at the problem and buying everything, because they can. Now they need to prove they can also deliver great new AAA games... so we're still waiting on the dreams and promises.

Yea cause sunset overdrive WASN'T made by insomniac....

A game that was one of the best exclusives on the Xbox in the early days...

A games whose technology was directly applied to the juggernaut of Spiderman PS4...

Guess that was just some weird parallel universe / Mandella Effect or something.


Also as far as xbox delivering I can tell you for sure they are delivering the value.

I've spent more time in the last couple weeks since ratchet (which was a weekend platinum) with like a dozen games on game pass and enjoying a bunch of stuff I've never played before as well as revisiting some favorites.

Next I'm planning to play through halo 5 (the only halo I can't play directly on my pc) using the jew Xbox series x powered streaming through my pc itself.

I spent 70 bucks to play ratchet for 2 days and yet I spent about the same for a year of game pass and have done all this in just 2 weeks or so.

I enjoy my Sony movie games all the same but they are nothing close in value to what I get with my Xbox game pass subscription.... I'm paid up through 2024 and have lots more huge games coming and I spent less on that 3 or 4 years of xbox gaming than I did on the last 3 or 4 Sony one and done movie games.

 

[Kosmoz]

Yea cause sunset overdrive WASN'T made by insomniac....

A game that was one of the best exclusives on the Xbox in the early days...

A games whose technology was directly applied to the juggernaut of Spiderman PS4...

Guess that was just some weird parallel universe / Mandella Effect or something.


Also as far as xbox delivering I can tell you for sure they are delivering the value.

I've spent more time in the last couple weeks since ratchet (which was a weekend platinum) with like a dozen games on game pass and enjoying a bunch of stuff I've never played before as well as revisiting some favorites.

Next I'm planning to play through halo 5 (the only halo I can't play directly on my pc) using the jew Xbox series x powered streaming through my pc itself.

I spent 70 bucks to play ratchet for 2 days and yet I spent about the same for a year of game pass and have done all this in just 2 weeks or so.

I enjoy my Sony movie games all the same but they are nothing close in value to what I get with my Xbox game pass subscription.... I'm paid up through 2024 and have lots more huge games coming and I spent less on that 3 or 4 years of xbox gaming than I did on the last 3 or 4 Sony one and done movie games.

So 1 game negates everything I said? VS an entire publisher that had dozens of games on PS, but not anymore? Yeah, try again...

As for GP, I couldn't give a **** about a subscription service that makes games vanish in thin air whenever they feel like it - now you have it, next month you don't.
I like to own my games and play them 10 years from now if I want to. And by the looks of it, millions of others still don't care about GP - take a look at MLB The Show, which is on GP now, but is still selling by millions at full price on all platforms, especially on PS, but funnily enough even on PC and Xbox, there still are a lot who straight up buy that game, to own it.

I will never like GP or cloud gaming (for that matter) - I'm old school and the day these will be the only options of gaming, I'll probably just quit gaming altogether. But I don't see that coming soon if ever, maybe in 10+ years from now... big maybe.

Because of what I said above GP has ZERO value or interested to me. As well as MS games, ZERO interest. Nothing MS has is my kind of game. What I like is either Sony 1st party or 3rd party ones: Bloodborne, Dark Souls (+all their clones on PC), Demon's Souls, Horizon, GoW and the list goes on... but those are my favorite, in that order.

Until MS makes a good action RPG/skill RPG, I couldn't care less about the now redundant and repetitive Forza/Halo/Gears.

MS needs desperately to deliver a new and great IP, because so far we only had hopes, dreams and promises from them. Still waiting...