PlayStation (through Sony Interactive Entertainment‘s PlayStation Studios division) has announced its acquisition of Firewalk Studios, a studio founded in 2018 by ex-Bungie developers that has been working on a AAA live-service game for PS5 and PC since 2021. The acquisition expands on the prior publishing partnership established in 2021 between the two companies.
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Great news: @FirewalkStudios is joining the PlayStation Studios family!
Learn more about this talented team and their plan to connect players in new and innovative ways in their ambitious upcoming multiplayer game: https://t.co/30jQNY3qen pic.twitter.com/8wB3pEsbrH
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) April 20, 2023
Firewalk Studios is a Bellevue, Washington-based game company that was founded in 2018 by a team of Destiny veterans, including Tony Hsu (Studio Head, previously GM and SVP of Destiny at Activision) and Ryan Ellis (Game Director, previously Creative Director at Bungie). The studio formed under independent AAA game company ProbablyMonsters, which is itself headed by former Bungie CEO, Chairman and President Harold Ryan. In April 2021, Firewalk Studios along with ProbablyMonsters entered an exclusive publishing agreement with Sony Interactive Entertainment.
As part of the agreement, Firewalk Studios has been developing a AAA live-service multiplayer game for the PS5 and PC platforms, which will be published by Sony. The latter has now seen fit to acquire the studio altogether from ProbablyMonsters, uniting Firewalk Studios’ team with the likes of Bungie and Haven Interactive Studios in order to expand PlayStation’s live-service game ambitions.
From Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Jim Ryan:
Firewalk Studios is led by a world-class team that is highly experienced and deeply passionate about creating exceptional multiplayer games that foster memorable shared experiences. I’m confident the studio’s upcoming project will be a robust addition to PlayStation Studios’ portfolio, and its live service and technology expertise will be instrumental in helping grow PlayStation’s reach.
Head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst also expressed his excitement about Firewalk’s upcoming work under his division:
We’re thrilled to expand upon our collaborative relationship with Firewalk Studios and formally welcome the team to PlayStation Studios. We’ve had the privilege of working with ProbablyMonsters and Firewalk for several years and our teams share the same ambition to create meaningful experiences for gamers. Firewalk’s innovative approach to connected storytelling and its commitment to high-quality gameplay continues to exceed our expectations. I think fans will be very pleased when they see what Firewalk has in store for them.
Firewalk Studios’ Tony Hsu and Ryan Ellis described the acquisition as the “next natural step” for their company:
Every once in a while, you get to have an adventure.
Over five years ago, we jumped at the chance to set up a new studio and build a new IP from the ground up. Recalling our own favorite times with games, we founded Firewalk Studios around the idea of delivering memorable moments – those amazing, had-to-be-there times shared with other people. Our goal is to deliver those shared moments of joy to players around the world.
Building a new studio at scale has been an incredibly exhilarating and relentlessly daunting task. Fortunately, we’ve been supported by great partners throughout – ProbablyMonsters helped turbocharge us in setting up the studio, and Sony has been supporting our project and our creative vision from the beginning. We’ve assembled some of the most inspired talent in the industry to deliver awe-inspiring new worlds and experiences filled with great core gameplay. The excitement of building something new for players has thoroughly energized the team and our partners, and we’ve been playtesting every day.
Today we’re taking the next natural step and joining PlayStation Studios. We’ve worked closely with Hermen and the very talented team at PlayStation for years, helping to make our new game even better. To join PlayStation Studios is to formally become part of a family that has produced many of the most storied games of our age, and we are honored. We want to thank everyone who’s supported us along the way and those looking forward to our future. It’s been an incredible journey so far, and we can’t wait for the next chapter in this adventure.
Finally, CEO and President of ProbablyMonsters Harold Ryan expressed high hopes for Firewalk Studios’ future:
ProbablyMonsters is incredibly proud of the team and the game we incubated and built over the past few years. Firewalk Studios joining PlayStation Studios is a brilliant move for the team, game, and future players. Our goal at ProbablyMonsters is to find the best path to market for all of our games, and we couldn’t be happier for the Firewalk team.
Firewalk Studios’ 150+ employees will continue to be managed by the studio’s existing management team in collaboration with the PlayStation Studios External Development team. No new details about the company’s upcoming live-service game have been revealed as of yet.
Source: PlayStation Blog