Sony acquires Returnal developer Housemarque to expand PlayStation Studios

Sony Interactive Entertainment has acquired Returnal developer Housemarque for an undisclosed fee. 

The Finnish studio has been a long-time partner of SIE, having created eight PlayStation exclusives including Nex Machina, Alienation, Resogun, and Returnal -- the latter of which launched on the PlayStation 5 in April this year. 

The deal will see Housemarque become the 13th studio in the first-party PlayStation Studios family, joining the likes of Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Media Molecule, Bend Studio, Santa Monica Studio, and more. 

PlayStation boss Jim Ryan said the move shows the company is committed to "elevating the best development teams in the industry and delivering new experiences that can only be found on the PlayStation platform."

Housemarque co-founder and managing director, Ilari Kuittinen, said the Helsinki-based studio chose to join PlayStation Studios in order to "amplify" its potential.

"After more than 15 years of successfully collaborating, we’re excited to amplify our potential even further and join PlayStation Studios,” said Kuittinen in a press release. "Returnal is a testament to our strong relationship with PlayStation Studios and the organization believing in us to take a risk and give us the freedom to explore our creativity and develop something unique. We can’t wait to bring PlayStation fans more fresh, new experiences."

The Finnish company will continue to be run by its current management team in conjunction with the external PlayStation Studios dev team post-acquisition.