Sony makes a strong move and acquires a triple-A studio.
According to a statement made on Thursday, Sony is purchasing Firewalk Studios from ProbablyMonsters Inc. in order to work on creating an original AAA multiplayer game for the PlayStation 5 and PC. Since purchasing Destiny creator Bungie and Jade Raymond-led Haven Interactive Studios last year, Sony has been significantly investing in multiplayer games. In February 2022, Sony announced its plans to produce more than 10 live service titles by March 2026.
Although Hermen Hulst, the head of PlayStation Studios at Sony, made the following observation in a PlayStation blog post, we still don’t know much about the upcoming game: “We continue to be impressed by the team’s ambitions to build a modern multiplayer game that connects players in new and innovative ways”. He also added: “I think fans will be very pleased when they see what Firewalk has in store for them”. Tony Hsu, former GM and SVP of Destiny at Activision, and Ryan Ellis, formerly creative director at Bungie, are the founders and CEOs of Firewalk Studios.
Though activities are still going to be overseen by the studio’s current management group, the agreement will integrate Firewalk Studios and its staff inside the PlayStation brand. The statement made no mention of the PS5-exclusive multi-player game that the group is currently working on, however, it did emphasize the depth of expertise Firewalk crew members have in creating them by noting their work on Destiny at Bungie and Activision.
Herman also added this: “It’s why I used to stay up until 2 AM playing Phantasy Star Online night after night with the same group from Server 9. Or how the neighbours who showed up at my NYC apartment to complain about the noise, ended up jamming with us in Rock Band instead.”. This comment is quite amusing and makes me think about how gaming brings us all together.
Sony is likely most recognized for its large-scale and theatrical single-player games, but it is now seeking to improve its multiplayer gaming options as well. This might appear to be a crucial move after Microsoft completes its closely watched acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the company behind the Call of Duty franchise. Sony already has the well-known sci-fi shooter Destiny 2, owns a multiplayer game that is being worked on at Haven, and is creating a multiplayer title set in the expanding Horizon world at Guerrilla Games in addition to this new purchase.
This tweet back from December was the one confirming the Horizon multiplayer game:
Join Guerrilla in Amsterdam as we work to expand the world of Horizon
It's an exciting time to join us! We have many open roles across multiple departments, so check them out on our Careers page and apply today!https://t.co/G9tvnSkQQQ pic.twitter.com/Xqab1JGabV
— Life at Guerrilla (@LifeAtGuerrilla) December 16, 2022
The moves Sony is making lately seem to be really founded and hopefully they will eventually reach their target of creating a successful triple-A multiplayer game. Also, we can all rest assured that they will not neglect single-player games as soon as this happens. We can’t really wait to see what will Sony bring us!
