Housemarque has said that Sony‘s acquisition of the studio means it will be able to make bigger and more ambitious games in the future.
Its latest PS5-exclusive title Returnal had already been a departure from the studio’s indie arcade roots into a much bigger budget and narrative-oriented experience.
In a GQ interview, Housemarque cofounder Ilari Kuittinen called Returnal “kind of a stepping stone” for the company.
“When we’re thinking about the future titles, they’ll maybe be even bigger and even more ambitious,” he said.
The acquisition seemed to make sense for the Finnish studio after already partnering with Sony in the past, such as PS4 launch title Resogun.
“I think Sony is the partner that’s best positioned to help develop even further. Let’s face it, these are some of the best game developers in the world. So we’re really proud to be part of that group and hope to collaborate and learn from them.”
The developer does not appear to be working on a new project yet as Kuittinen said the studio’s employees are on a break, including taking “last year’s vacations”.
From a development perspective however, he believes the acquisition will allow Housemarque to push technology further by also concentrating on a single platform.
“we have our own VFX engine in the game that we’re using and, hopefully, we’ll be creating something more on top of that,” he said.
In NME’s five-star review, Tom Regan called Returnal “a bizarre, ambitious and utterly enthralling ride”, and an “alluring and essential gaming experience” in spite of its brutal difficulty.
Elsewhere, Doom Eternal has released its sixth update, which adds ray-tracing and DLSS support to the game.
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