Sony accidentally let it slip that it was purchasing Bluepoint Games near its acquisition of Housemarque and now it has made the deal more official. Bluepoint Games is now a first-party Sony studio and, more surprisingly, the next game for the team won’t be a remake; a second for the team that was established in 2006.
PlayStation announced this on the PlayStation Blog. Bluepoint Games President Marco Thrush spoke briefly on the topic, saying that it had grown to over 70 people since its inception but kept its culture of having fun making games. Sony shared these ideals, making for a fitting partnership.
“PlayStation has such an iconic gaming catalog and for us there’s been nothing better than to bring some of gaming’s masterpieces to new players,” he said. “Becoming a part of PlayStation Studios, empowers our team to raise the quality-bar even further and create even more impactful experiences for the PlayStation community.”
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Thrush and Head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst spoke to IGN more about the deal. They led with the team’s next game, which is still a secret since Bluepoint only launched the Demon’s Souls remake on PlayStation 5 in November 2020, but is planned to be an original title.
“Our next project, we’re working on original content right now. We can’t talk about what that is, but that’s the next step in the evolution for us,” said Thrush.
The studio has only made remakes like Shadow of the Colossus or less intensive remasters like the God of War Collection since its first game, Blast Factor, one of the PS3’s few digital games at launch and the only original title it has made. Given this pattern, a new game is unexpected, especially as Bluepoint put out an odd cryptic tweet on Halloween in 2019 that hinted at something else. This tweet seemingly contained cheeky references to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Resistance, Syphon Filter, Metal Gear Solid, and ICO, just to name a few, and gave the impression that it was at least remaking or remastering at least one of those classic titles.
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And while remakes weren’t completely ruled out for the future, Thrush said that remaking games like Demon’s Souls and Shadow of the Colossus already takes a lot of original work so a wholly original game just the next step. After all, the studio is filled with people who have made games that aren’t remakes. Sony also isn’t pressuring Bluepoint to get a game out as Sony has games in the meantime to keep players satisfied. Hulst said Sony was in it for the long haul.
“It’s always about making quality games in a way that’s sustainable for the teams, for the individuals on the teams. Because obviously when we acquired team like Bluepoint, this is a long-term play for us, right? We’re not in it to get some quick results,” said Hulst.
The two also agreed that the two entities worked better together as Bluepoint now has access to Sony’s resources and doesn’t need to balloon up to a huge size; Sony will fill in those gaps. And, of course, this affords Bluepoint some security as an independent studio has to focus on staying afloat in addition to actually making games. Hulst, as a former leader of Guerrilla Games, said he could empathize with that struggle.
