Sony buys Housemarque. Oh and also Bluepoint Games!

So it's Sony's turn to go spending with the announcement that they've purchased Returnal developer Housemarque Games.

Oh and to makes things even more interesting, there was a leaked image suggesting that Sony have also purchased Bluepoint Games, the developers behind some of the best remasters of the past five years or more.

These make perfect sense for Sony in my opinion. Always felt like Housemarque would eventually become a Sony-owned developer, but picking up Bluepoint could be a really smart move. Been a massive fan of their remastering work for years now. What do people make of this news?

Sony buying Housemarque makes perfect sense and is a good thing. They only make PlayStation games anyway (some go to PC but so do some Sony 1st party games) and to be frank I would like to see them get more publisher support so they can do things like put in between level saves in Returnal and just have better QOL features. So it seems like a potential win-win.

Bluepoint also makes sense but my feelings are more mixed because they are so good it would be nice if they were free to take non-Sony projects. But Sony has enough properties that this could work out nicely anyway. Ape Escape trilogy remake please!

Like when MS bought Playground Games these just make sense considering ongoing relationships. Obviously industry consolidation is bad and accelerating but it seems very hard for these independent mid sized studios to stick around these days so big publisher ownership may be the lesser of two evils vs them closing if they ever have a dud.

The Sony/MS arms race may temporarily benefit consumers but in the long run it is quite dangerous.

I know everyone has always got their own dream remake for Bluepoint to make, but hopefully this allows them to make an original game at some point. They are incredibly talented from a technical perspective, it would be a shame if they weren't able to flex those talents on some kind of original creation.

Ahh the early gen acquisition wars

Damn, i was hoping to play Bluepoint games.

It's easier for Microsoft and Sony to buy existing companies than to start something from scratch. Gotta lock in those exclusives as soon as possible!

@ll_exile_ll: This would be my preferred outcome. I haven't been a fan of the graphical updates they've done, but they are clearly an ambitious and talent-rich studio. It would be awesome to see a Bluepoint original with Sony funding.

The last thing they did that wasn't a Playstation only game was the 360 port of Titanfall in 2014. The only multiplat project they've ever done was the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection in 2011. They've clearly had a relationship with Sony for quite a while, so acquisition or not the chances of them doing something on a platform other than Playstation were not all that high.

Not bad, but I hope Housemarque would develop Resogun 2 for PS5, which is the only IP I liked for them.

I remembered playing Resogun (2013 game) for PS4, it is pretty good.

I thought this had already happened prior to Returnal, so cool?

But also I am starting to get a little bummed by all the acquisitions. I know it's all capitalism blah blah blah but after seeing how major acquisitions have been affecting the film industry over the last 5 years, I fear that a similar occurrence is happening in games as well where smaller talented studios are being bought up to work as a cog in the greater production machine. This could just be my morning tinfoil hat talking though and I'll strike this from the record in a couple days...

@noboners: I mean... Valve is already doing it. Which is ironic since their company motif is cogs.

@retris: yeah the Campo Santo stuff is a bummer. And Activision has been doing it for a while as well. But for now it seems that Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo being console makers are at least just acquiring studios for exclusivity rights as opposed to making them work on their previously established multiplayer experiences.

Begun, the acquisition wars have.

I kind of thought Housemarque already was a Sony brand but I guess this makes it official. Bluepoint is a pretty good get - now Sony can continue not remastering Bloodborne.

You got that right. I do wonder if these acquisitions where because it was a good idea or if ist was just strategic aqustion to keep MS from getting them. Not to undermine anyone but they might have just bought them so they can say they bough someone....they bought a headline so it would not look like they were losing any "Acquisitions War" that they can neither confirm nor deny.

I hate to say it, but Sony should have bought Ninja Theory, but they probably though then didn't have to buy them.

@monkeyking1969: not to divert the conversation, but Sony buying Ninja Theory is an interesting idea. But I feel like their previous collaboration on Heavenly Sword and the lack of return they received on it was part of the reason they didn't work together again in that capacity.

In general, I feel like Ninja Theory hadn't produced too many games that sold well enough for Sony to think they were worth the investment. I know Enslaved and DmC have cult followings but I also remember DmC came out and fans of the series were pissed about it. (Edit: nevermind. Looks like DmC sold well enough for Capcom)

I thought Sony already owned Housemarque for some reason. Huge get for them. Returnal feels under appreciated since it's exclusive to PS5. One of the all-time level-ups for a game dev. It's unreal the jump they made as a studio with that game. From Software's leap made with Demon's Souls is what comes to mind by comparison. Bluepoint also seems very promising. Both studios have a bright future ahead of them and feel like they are about to entire their prime.

Meanwhile, PC players are taking note of another recent Sony acquisition: Nixxes.

I'm not getting my hopes up for something like all of the Killzone games on PC (and yes, that includes Liberation), but I like the idea of getting good enough ports of some of Sony's "cinematic experiences" on PC after Jim Ryan is satisfied with the initial sales numbers.

Edit: Didn't know there was a thread dedicated to this. But I found this one first, so, fuck it.