Sony buys 'Playroom' and 'The Persistence' developer Firesprite
It's the 14th member of the PlayStation Studios roster.
Sony has added another developer to its growing stable at PlayStation Studios. Firesprite, which is behind The Playroom and The Playroom VR, has become the company's 14th studio.
"Firesprite is a creative and ambitious studio that is exceptional at building incredible experiences that truly showcase the potential of our hardware," PlayStation Studios chief Hermen Hulst wrote in a blog post. "The team’s technical and creative capabilities will be paramount to growing our stellar catalogue of exclusive games, and I think you’ll be excited for what’s to come."
Several developers will be returning to Sony as part of the deal. Hulst noted that "quite a few members of Firesprite," including all of the founding team, came from Wipeout developer Studio Liverpool. Sony bought that studio in 1993, when it was known as Psygnosis, but shut it down in 2012.
Sony and Firesprite have been working together more or less since the latter was formed that same year. Firssprite teamed up with Team Asobi on The Playroom, a 2013 collection of augmented reality minigames designed to show off the PlayStation Camera's capabilities. Its most recent game is The Persistence, a survival horror title that hit consoles and PC last year after debuting on PlayStation VR.
The Firesprite team is working on something new, but it's not entirely clear what. Other than The Playroom and Vita and mobile title Run Sackboy! Run!, all of the studio's games have had a virtual reality aspect. Given Hulst's comments and that Sony's working on a second-gen PS VR headset, it wouldn't be a huge surprise to learn Firesprite's next game is for that platform.
