On 19 August 2019, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) announced that the company has acquired internationally acclaimed video game development company Insomniac Games.
The official PlayStation Twitter account delivered the news to fans, saying: “Big news: Insomniac Games is joining PlayStation’s Worldwide Studios! We are honoured and thrilled to join forces with this legendary developer. Please join us in congratulating our friends and partners at Insomniac!” The official Insomniac Games Twitter account replied to this statement, saying: “We’re proud to announce we’re joining the PlayStation WWS family! This partnership gives us the best opportunities to achieve our vision of making great games that have positive and lasting impressions on people’s lives,”
Insomniac Games is based in Burbank, California, and was founded in 1994. The developer is the latest studio to join SIE’s Worldwide Studios (WWS). In an official press release, Insomniac Games CEO Ted Price spoke about how the developer’s numerous collaborations with Sony, which spans 20 years across all four generations of PlayStation consoles, 20 games in total and 6 franchises. Speaking about the developer’s decision to join WWS, Price said: “The decision to join forces with Sony extends far beyond familiarity. Our studio vision is to create experiences that have a positive and lasting impact on people’s lives. As we look ahead to our future, we know that joining the WWS family gives us the best opportunities to fully achieve that vision on a much larger scale. Further, we believe that Sony shares a similar vision to positively impact players’ lives, their employees’ lives and the games industry at large.”
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Chairman of SIE Worldwide Studios Shawn Layden discussed the decision to acquire Insomniac Games. “[Insomniac Games] are an impact maker. They are a style-setter. There are just a clutch of studios in that independent sphere who are at an accomplishment level of something like Insomniac. They are a very rare bird, and we felt that this was the time to formalize the relationship,” Layden revealed.
Insomniac Games has developed exclusive PlayStation games, such as 2018’s highly-acclaimed Marvel’s Spider-Man. The developer has also developed games for Microsoft’s Xbox consoles, as well as Xbox-exclusive games. Sunset Overdrive was developed by Insomniac Games and released exclusively for Xbox One consoles in 2014. Insomniac Games has developed some of the most iconic video games and video game characters over the years, including Ratchet and Clank and Spyro the Dragon. Insomniac Games joins other WWS Studios such as Guerrilla Games, Sucker Punch Productions and Naughty Dog. These studios develop games exclusively for Sony’s consoles.
Edited by Kojo Essah
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