Sony is also expanding and acquiring Housemarque. The Finnish development studio, which can look back on a long cooperation with Sony and most recently produced the PlayStation 5-exclusive Returnal, will become part of PlayStation Studios.
The takeover is less significant compared to the purchases made in recent months. On the one hand, it is to be understood as a safeguard, because an associated studio will be taken off the market for competitors. At the same time, Sony is relying on producing a few but outstanding titles, which suggests a careful expansion of studio capacities.
The procedure is different elsewhere. Microsoft is buying large amounts of Game Pass in favor of the “Games Netflix” offering. After individual studios such as Obsidian Entertainment and Double Fine Productions, the buying process ended for the time being with the acquisition of ZeniMax. Electronic Arts, however, acquired the racing game publisher Codemasters, bought Playdemic for 1.4 billion US dollars and Glu Mobile for 2.1 billion US dollars.