ThePlayStation Studiosfamily features some of the world’s greatest developers. With the acquisition of Firesprite, thePlayStation Studiosfamily grows one studio larger, becoming the 14th member of the illustrious group.
Like Microsoft with the Xbox, Sony has had first-party developers ever since the original PlayStation, some of which are still with the company to this day. It was not until 2020 whenSony revealed the PlayStation Studios brandingthat all of its first-party studios would fall under. The PlayStation Studios brand includes developers like Naughty Dog, the creators ofThe Last of Us 2, Insomniac Games, the developers ofRatchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and many others. Complete with a sleek animation of various games flashing along the surfaces of the iconic shaped button icons like the introduction to a Marvel Studios movie, the sense of prestige and quality is immediately conveyed when it plays while starting up a game.
RELATED:PlayStation Studios Has Over 25 Games in Development, Almost Half Are New IPs
The Head of PlayStation Studios, Hermen Hulst, took to the PlayStation Blog this morning to announce that Firesprite would be joining the PlayStaion Studios family. Firesprite is a Liverpool based studio that has worked closely with Sony PlayStation in the past, developing games likeThe Playroomon PS4 andThe Playroom VR. Earlier this year,PlayStation announced that it had acquired Housemarque, the developer of this year’sReturnal, making Firesprite the 14th studio to join the PlayStation Studios family.
Hulst’s blog post includes a letter from Graeme Ankers, the Managing Director of Firesprite, where they express their excitement for joining PlayStation. Both Hulst and Ankers reflect on Firesprite’s PlayStation roots, as some of the team’s developers can be traced back to titles like the originalWipEout. Ankers extends their thanks to PlayStation for not only letting Firesprite help develop PlayStation’s visions for games but helping them create their very own IP inThe Persistence, a 2018 PSVR horror game.
This announcement comes at an auspicious time for Firesprite, it coming justdays ahead of the PlayStation Showcase 2021. While Ankers' closing remarks, “you’ll continue to hear and see more form us all very soon,” may just be a rhetorical statement, they could very well also be pointing towards an announcement during the upcoming showcase. According to their website, Firesprite is currently developingStar Citizen: Theaters of Warfor PC, so an announcement may be in relation to this (perhaps coming to PS5) or something totally unexpected. Regardless, it is great to see another developer be rewarded for their hard work and attaining the pedigree that comes with being aPlayStation Studio.
MORE:Uncharted Fans May Want To Keep An Eye On The Upcoming PlayStation Showcase
