Sony has bought US game developer Firewalk Studios. The amount of money involved in the transaction is not known. As a result of the acquisition, Sony now has 20 so-called “first-party studios”, i.e. its own development companies, which primarily create exclusive games for the Playstation.
Firewalk Studios is located in the city of Bellevue in the state of Washington and is largely unknown as an entity: the company, founded in 2018, has not yet launched its own game. However, the team is said to consist of experienced developers who have worked on game series such as “Destiny”, “Mass Effect” and “Call of Duty”.
The self-proclaimed claim of the Firewalk is therefore AAA quality. The studio is currently working on an unannounced multiplayer game for which Sony has already been chosen as publisher in 2021. The fact that Sony now strikes directly shows that internal demos of this multiplayer title have made a good impression on the gaming giant.
Sony buys studios together
The procedure is reminiscent of the purchase of the Haven developer studio over a year ago. Even then, Sony was apparently persuaded to buy by prominent names and internal product demonstrations. To date, Haven has not released a trailer for his upcoming game. Other gaming acquisitions in recent years include Destiny developer Bungie, mobile developer Savage Game Studios and Housemarque, the team behind shooter Returnal.
On the other hand, Sony wants to prevent major takeovers of its direct competitors by all means: The Japanese company is vehemently opposed to Microsoft’s plans to take over the US games company Activision Blizzard. Sony describes the deal as anti-competitive: Microsoft could raise prices after the takeover, which could harm independent developer studios. The “Call of Duty” series belonging to Activision is irreplaceable because of its huge reach.
In the medium term, a “significant” portion of Playstation users would switch to Microsoft if the takeover including “Call of Duty” games were approved. Microsoft has repeatedly assured Sony that it will continue to offer “Call of Duty” games on the Playstation even after a takeover.
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