PlayStation head says Sony’s studio acquisitions should not be seen as “arms race” with Microsoft

PlayStation recently came into the limelight as they acquired Housemarque, the studio behind Returnal. There have also been leaks about Playstation soon to be acquiring Bluepoint, the studio behind Demon Souls and the Shadow of the Colossus remake.

Welcome to the family, @Housemarque! Developer of Returnal, Super Stardust, and Dead Nation is the newest member of PlayStation Studios. Full details: https://t.co/2QboOOzQ1r pic.twitter.com/1NXMw0cwXf

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) June 29, 2021

However, in an interview with British GQ, Hermen Hulst, the head of PlayStation Studios, made it clear they are not in an “arms race” with Microsoft when it comes to studio acquisitions.

With Microsoft recently acquiring a bunch of studios to bolster their Xbox first party lineup, it is no wonder that Sony’s moves would be categorized in the same vein. But Hulst rejected the idea and emphasized their specific criteria when it comes to studio acquisitions.

Sony is not in an 'arms race’ with Microsoft, says PlayStation boss

Head of PlayStation Studios, Herman Hulst, said:

“We're very selective about the developers that we bring in,” Hulst said. “Our last new acquisition was Insomniac [for $229 million in 2019], which has worked out very well. I'm always looking for people that have a similar set of values, similar creative ambitions and work very well with our team that we can further invest in and help grow as creators. It's not like we're going around and just making random acquisitions.”

Referring to Sony's acquisition of Housemarque, which was announced today, Hulst said,

“They’re very, very targeted acquisitions of teams that we know well. The amount of collaboration between our external development group and Housemarque on the technical side, the production management side and even on the creative side has been so deep. So for us, it just makes so much sense to do that.”

Compared to the last two studio acquisitions by PlayStation, Microsoft has added several studios to its stable - ranging from medium to astonishingly large purchases. Microsoft bought Zenimax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, in a painstaking $7.5 billion deal.

This brought several high-profile studios under Xbox’s first party wing including Bethesda Game Works, Arkane Studios, id Software, and MachineGames.

..so apparently PlayStation Japan uploaded the wrong image with their first tweet on Housemarque's acquisition, and it actually mentions a Bluepoint acquisition pic.twitter.com/yQBHtLbG5c

— Nibel (@Nibellion) June 29, 2021

Although Hulst denied the idea of an arms race with Microsoft, it clearly looks like one with PlayStation’s acquisition of Housemarque and Bluepoint - although the latter is only a leak at this point.