Sony has just added yet another game studio to its line-up — Housemarque, the developers behind Returnal! While they might not be a household name just yet, they’ve definitely proven their worth with their most recent release, a third-person shooter roguelike that was able to generate quite a lot of buzz. For a studio that was generally best known for relatively simple arcade shooters (of the top-down and side-scrolling varieties), this foray into the triple A realm can definitely be considered as a seismic triumph, one that has garnered a fair bit of acclaim, too.

“Today I’m thrilled to welcome a new member to the PlayStation Studios family! I have been a fan of Housemarque since the studio’s early days when they introduced Super Stardust HD to PlayStation fans. Housemarque’s recent release of Returnal proves the studio is one with incredible vision, capable of creating memorable new games that resonate with our community. This addition enhances the creative force of PlayStation Studios, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for Housemarque,” said Hermen Hulst, Head of PlayStation Studios.

Housemarque isn’t exactly as hype an acquisition as, say, Bethesda, but it’s still a great move on the part of Sony after the success of Returnal.

Interestingly enough, it seems that Sony has yet another big announcement in the pipeline — the acquisition of Bluepoint Games! This was first tweeted out (and quickly deleted) by PlayStation Japan, so it’s probably only a matter of time before the whole deal is made official. We’re talking days if not hours at this point.

This is where things get a lot more interesting. Bluepoint Games are perhaps best known for pulling off incredible ports and remasters, including the God of War Collection, The Ico & The Shadow of the Colossus Collection, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, Gravity Rush, and even Demon’s Souls for the PlayStation 5. This Austin-based game studio has built its legacy on stellar ports and, frankly, we can’t wait to see what they’ll do next!

In a recent interview with GQ, Hermen Hulst talked a bit about how Sony isn’t trying to compete with Microsoft when it comes to acquisitions. Instead, they’re very selective with the developers they’re bringing in and are looking for teams with similar creative ambitions which they can help grow as creators. The last game studio Sony bought was Insomniac all the way back in 2019 (for a whopping $299 million) which, of course, panned out spectacularly for both parties.

Funnily enough, Sony hasn’t acquired nearly as many studios in recent history and yet it still has a much more impressive first-party line-up. Microsoft is trying to compete in every which way, but has found mixed success (at least so far). Whether that’ll change in the near future still remains to be seen but we’d definitely love to see it!