Sony acquired Finnish game developer Housemarque

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Sony officially announced the acquisition of Housemarque, a game developer from Finland, and the studio will officially join PlayStation Studios as one of them. Since Super Stardust HD and Dead Nation in the PlayStation 3 era, the two parties have been cooperating closely.

GQ also interviewed Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios, and Ilari Kuittinen, CEO of Housemarque. When asked whether the recent wave of acquisitions of game studios heralded the beginning of an “arms race” in the game industry, Hermen Hulst denied it.
Hermen Hulst stated that the previous acquisition was the acquisition of Insomniac Games for $229 million in 2019, which achieved good results. Sony is always looking for studios that have similar values, similar ideas, and ambitions, and can work well with the Sony team. These acquisitions are not random. Sony has made a very targeted acquisition of familiar teams. Before the acquisition of Housemarque, the two parties had very in-depth cooperation in technology, management, and even creativity.

Returnal is Housemarque’s first 3A masterpiece, an exclusive work for PlayStation 5, and it has achieved success. Ilari Kuittinen said that Housemarque will no longer make small games and that the games it considers to make in the future will be bigger and more ambitious. In fact, most of Housemarque’s games are exclusive to the PlayStation platform.

From Ilari Kuittinen, Co-founder and Managing Director, Housemarque:

Today is a big day for Housemarque and it has been over 26 years in the making. 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. With Returnal for PS5, our most recent release, our biggest foray into third-person action gaming solidified our voice and brand in the industry as delivering unique and quality player experiences.

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