PlayStation acquires Housemarque and Nixxes Software

[Mort]

And nothing of value was lost to Xbox.

I really dig the organic growth and the stealing of @Klobrille art, nice touch.

[PoderickPayne (Travis Norris)]

In a slightly related topic, do any of you guys know where I can get one of those hats that grow money in them, organically

[SheepDip]

@SpiderLink

…e of you were just being cynical about the hypocrisy that would be on display, but I’m seeing a lot of prevarication and dissembling. It’s just sad. Choose a stance that’s consistent with your beliefs and stick with it, or be honest about changing your mind. Don’t try to talk out of both sides of your mouth to say it’s justified in one case and not in another. It’s obviously not a one-to-one with the Zenimax acquisition for several reasons, but even so, your ideology shouldn’t be so flimsy that you’re unwilling to address the way it’s making you look. At the end of the day, any fanboy just wants to cheer-lead their favorite company instead of thinking of what’s good for themselves as consumers and what’s good for the people directly affected by these big business moves.

People debate and hash out these arguments 75 different ways, but in an amazing coincidence, it always boils down to “It’s okay when the company I root for does it.”

Crazy how that works

[peter42O]

Awesome news!!! Love Housemarque and a perfect fit for PlayStation. Hoping Sony expands them into one big AAA team and one small AA team so I can get my DinoNation game!!!

Pretty sure Sony has also acquired Bluepoint Games especially since it seemed to have been leaked which would be another great acquisition and perfect fit for PlayStation. Hoping their next remake is either the 1998 Metal Gear Solid or Jak & Daxter collection.

Plus, a director’s cut of Ghost of Tsushima has been rated. Oh boy, oh boy!!! Let’s go!! Come on Sony, just announce your showcase before the damn thing leaks.

[Roronoa_Zoro90]

@bigboy1173

prevents a situation like bioware for MS. They may only make PS games, but if someone like tencent/EA comes and buys them, they will go multiplatform, and you lose an exclusive

Yeah, since Insomniac I fell Sony is protecting its turf, they’ll acquire all their longstanding partners to secure their future output. After Insomniac, Housemarque and possibly Bluepoint I cannot think about any other studio, the Jade Raymond one and the other presented at SGF are still in incubation, so no real deal.

[saintsflow20]

As expected, they did not acquire Arc System Works. Not that that matters for Xbox either way, but I always take any rumor involving Japanese devs and Playstation with a grain of salt.

They will also not be acquiring Konami or their IPs, either. Nonetheless good on Housemarque and Bluepoint making it and getting under the wing of a massive corporation. I’ve never played a Housemarque game and only played MGS 2&3 HD and SOTC Remake from Bluepoint, and… not gonna lie, I’m not exactly a fan of Bluepoint’s remakes. They’re very pretty, but I think they lose a lot of the intent and atmosphere of the originals and overall feel a lot more generic. Hopefully Bluepoint isn’t just gonna be a remake studio, and will actually be put to work on a new IP.

[KageMaru]

Huge congrats to the teams at HouseMarque and Bluepoint! I excited to see how them joining Playstation will help bolster their studios.

@Hix

In that same interview he said more acquisitions are possible, so I’m not sure what that has to do with the thread.

[TheRayTracer]

Oh, so the Internet thinks game studio acquisitions are now a good thing for the industry?

Interesting.

[SpiderLink]

@saintsflow20

As expected, they did not acquire Arc System Works. Not that that matters for Xbox either way, but I always take any rumor involving Japanese devs and Playstation with a grain of salt.

I didn’t see anything that de-confirmed this. Like you said though, I don’t believe the rumors in the first place.

[Roronoa_Zoro90]

@TheRayTracer

Oh, so the Internet thinks game studio acquisitions are now a good thing for the industry?

Interesting.

Yeah, the double standard is real, like the media bias.

[peter42O]

No double standard by me. I want Microsoft and Sony to acquire more studios and/or publishers.

[PsyDec]

Only a month old

[Hix]

@KageMaru

In that same interview he said more acquisitions are possible, so I’m not sure what that has to do with the thread.

I’m not sure what your comment has to do with the thread.

But here, let me make it easy for you; Jim Lyin’ Ryan tried to pour cold water on the Zenimax acquisition by selling this story that PlayStation grow organically and Xbox don’t. Meanwhile, he was at that same time discussing the purchase of at least two studios. That he didn’t rule out future acquisitions only makes it more deceptive

[Swanlee]

@Hix

I’m not sure what your comment has to do with the thread.

But here, let me make it easy for you; Jim Lyin’ Ryan tried to pour cold water on the Zenimax acquisition by selling this story that PlayStation grow organically and Xbox don’t. Meanwhile, he was at that same time discussing the purchase of at least two studios. That he didn’t rule out future acquisitions only makes it more deceptive

I’m not sure why but Kage seems to always play Devils advocate in most threads.

I think it is fine for us to point out and dissect the hypocrisy going on in the Game community, it is obvious and no need for a Devils Advocate viewpoint on it.

Their is ZERO consistency as to when it is ok and not ok for a platform holder to buy a game studio besides the observation it is almost always OK in the gaming community when Sony does it regardless of the circumstances.

[KageMaru]

@Hix

I’m not sure what your comment has to do with the thread.

But here, let me make it easy for you; Jim Lyin’ Ryan tried to pour cold water on the Zenimax acquisition by selling this story that PlayStation grow organically and Xbox don’t. Meanwhile, he was at that same time discussing the purchase of at least two studios. That he didn’t rule out future acquisitions only makes it more deceptive

So saying acquisitions are possible and then doing just that is deceptive?

Discussing when these companies take jabs at each other is fair game but I don’t think we should be going into extremes to the point of any level of nuance is lost in the conversation.

@Swanlee

I’m not sure why but Kage seems to always play Devils advocate in most threads.

I think it is fine for us to point out and dissect the hypocrisy going on in the Game community, it is obvious and no need for a Devils Advocate viewpoint on it.

Their is ZERO consistency as to when it is ok and not ok for a platform holder to buy a game studio besides the observation it is almost always OK in the gaming community when Sony does it regardless of the circumstances.

I don’t play devils advocate. I just don’t tend to lean into the extremes you often see on the internet.

[peter42O]

@Hix

I’m not sure what your comment has to do with the thread.

But here, let me make it easy for you; Jim Lyin’ Ryan tried to pour cold water on the Zenimax acquisition by selling this story that PlayStation grow organically and Xbox don’t. Meanwhile, he was at that same time discussing the purchase of at least two studios. That he didn’t rule out future acquisitions only makes it more deceptive

Can’t argue this. It’s exactly what Ryan is and does.

[Hix]

@KageMaru

So saying acquisitions are possible and then doing just that is deceptive?

Discussing when these companies take jabs at each other is fair game but I don’t think we should be going into extremes to the point of any level of nuance is lost in the conversation.

Saying PlayStation’s growth is organic, attempting to pour cold water on the hype from the Zenimax acquisition, while seeking to acquire studios in an inorganic way is certainly deceptive.

I think a bigger nuance lost here is your failure to read the room in an attempt to somehow find some semblance of balance. It can just be that Jim is a liar and that’s ok.

[robrezende (Roberto Rezende)]

@Boosted_Gear

Honestly, I hope Bluepoint will be able to do more than just remaking games.

I hope they do more remakes, but from games from PS1/PS2 era. I’m looking for a Syphon Filter remake for a long time.

[Swanlee]

@Hix

Saying PlayStation’s growth is organic, attempting to pour cold water on the hype from the Zenimax acquisition, while seeking to acquire studios in an inorganic way is certainly deceptive.

I think a bigger nuance lost here is your failure to read the room in an attempt to somehow find some semblance of balance. It can just be that Jim is a liar and that’s ok.

Yep it is very similar to the " We believe in Generations" issue where Jim was trying to dunk on Xbox while in the end Sony was doing the exact same thing with it’s generation transition.

No need for others to come in and try and sugar coat it, Sony execs lie on a regular basis to paint themselves in a good light while trying to dunk on the competition even if Sony end up doing the exact same things as their competition.

[Kals_Els]

I am happy for Housemarque, this means they can have a stable environment to keep making games with less risk than it would normally have. I just wish Jim Ryan didn’t go frasing Xbox aquicsitions as throwing money around, as Xbox and Zenimax have had a long history together that helped decide the acquisition going forward, like Housemarque has with Sony or Playground games has with Xbox.

Specifically because just how strong the PS brand has been since last gen, going with Sony would have been something that I think Zenimax more than considered.