Sony studio Housemarque says it fully feels like a PlayStation first-party now it’s shipped its first game since being acquired in 2021.
Fans will know the Finnish outfit has been a long-time PS Studios partner, but it wasn’t officially added to the Japanese giant’s roster until after the release of Returnal, having worked as a second-party for decades, dating all the way back to the PS3.
The studio, founded in 1993, has grown tremendously under the PlayStation umbrella, with The Game Business reporting it now stands at 120 employees strong.
That’s still quite small for a modern AAA team – and it required support from Nixxes to get Saros out of the door – but it’s triple the number of staff the studio had just a decade ago, when it shipped Nex Machina on the PS4.
But does that mean its next game will be another mammoth endeavour, like Saros? Not necessarily, as co-founder Ilari Kuittinen has hinted the studio may explore a smaller project next.
He said:
“Right now, we are talking about how to proceed with Saros and discussing with the community. But then, of course, what we should do in the future? There are interesting opportunities we’d like to look at that might not be at the scale of Saros. There are so many things that we want to explore, and we will find whether it’s possible or not.”
I’m intrigued by what Kuittinen could be referring to here.
Obviously it sounds like nothing is decided and plans are up in the air, but I wonder if it’ll attempt a more traditional arcade game like Super Stardust HD or Resogun next.
In this era of indie abundance, it’s difficult to see how a project like that would fit PlayStation’s portfolio these days, but perhaps it fancies stretching its creative legs while it properly prepares for what’s next.
I’m not against the idea, assuming that is what Kuittinen is alluding to.
I think all of the latest gaming industry layoff news has understandably left many fans concerned about the future of their favourite studios, especially with Saros apparently struggling to sell large numbers right now.
But Housemarque seems relaxed about it all at least.
“We will keep our core [and] keep educating the market that these are the coolest games you can play,” he said. “That’s our goal.”
Damn right.
