PlayStation acquires Housemarque, developer of Returnal, Resogun and more

Today PlayStation announced its acquisition of Housemarque, the developer of recent PS5 release, Returnal and a slew of other PlayStation exclusive titles. This move does not come as a surprise to many, as PlayStation and Housemarque have had quite the working relationship since the days of the PS3. “Since then we have made arcade games for all of the PlayStation platforms, said Ilari Kuttinen, co-founder and managing director at 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.

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 artform. Locally here in Helsinki, this also means that we will officially expand the PlayStation family to a growing industry hub and secure the legacy of the oldest game studio in Finland.

Finally, what this means for our fans? We at Housemarque are gamers, and we have grown from the need to perfect and tinker with facets of games that we have found most fascinating. We are also not known for shying away from running our own course and trying out new combinations. 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. We can’t wait to show everyone what will be in store in the upcoming years, and we hope to usher in more lasting memories and exhilarating titles for the next quarter century and beyond.

This news comes after a number of acquisitions that Xbox has made in the past few years, most notably their acquisition of Bethesda, and it could be the beginning of more aggressive investment on Sony’s part. Regardless, Housemarque has worked closely with PlayStation in the past, and with Returnal they have shown a commitment to making the most out of the PlayStation 5’s hardware.

Third party games do not always make the effort to utilize features of specific hardware, but for a studio like Housemarque that was already focused on making games in the PlayStation ecosystem it probably seemed like an important extra step to take in the development of Returnal. Each step taken in Returnal is reflected through the haptic feedback of the controller, the half-trigger pull capable on the new DualSense controller is put to the best use it has ever been, all of this comes together to make Returnal feel like the game that most leverages the full power of the PS5. If that level of commitment to the console was possible before Housemarque became a part of PlayStation Studios, then it is exciting to think of what they will get up to next and how they will continue to push the boundaries of the PS5.

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