“We’re Very Selective About The Developers We Bring In”

Sony recently acquired Returnal developer Housemarque for an undisclosed amount. In an interview with the GQ Magazine, head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst revealed some interesting insights relating to Sony’s approach to acquiring new developers and bringing them into their first party portfolio.

When confronted with a question regarding the recent uptick in the number of acquisitions across industry giants, such as Microsoft, Hulst said that Sony is very selective about the developers they bring in.

“We’re very selective about the developers that we bring in,” Hulst said. “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.

“They’re very, very targeted acquisitions of teams that we know well. The amount of collaboration between our external development group and Housemarque on the technical side, the production management side and even on the creative side has been so deep. So for us, it just makes so much sense to do that.”

Housemarque has been working with Sony for quite some time now, dating all the way back to the release of Super Stardust HD on the PlayStation 3. PlayStation Studios is still quite behind Xbox Game Studios in terms of sheer numbers, but the developers have arguably been more consistent across the board.

Housemarque is Sony’s second acquisition in 2 years, following the $229 million purchase of Insomniac Games back in 2019. It’s still unclear what Housemarque has in store next, but if the recent release of Returnal is anything to go, fans have more reasons to be excited than worried. The developer says its next game is going to be even bigger, so that’s something to look forward to.

Meanwhile, it also seems that Bluepoint Games could be next in line for an acquisition by Sony, based on an inadvertent leak by PlayStation itself. Read more on that through here.