Why buy PlayStation Firesprite, one of the UK’s fastest growing studios

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PlayStation is making its third acquisition this summer with the purchase of UK-based Firesprite.

The Liverpool-based game developer may not be a household name — best known for working with PSVR, horror shooter game The Persistence, and for supporting Sony’s Playroom titles — but it is a large studio with more than 250 employees. To put that in context, that’s bigger than the two other major British PlayStation teams – London Studio and Media Molecule – combined.

But what also sets this apart is that Firesprite was formed by employees of the famous Liverpool studio from Sony – the developer who has been with PlayStation from the start and created the Wipeout franchise, before it closed in 2012. To us old-school industry followers in the UK, it looks like Like an important moment.

“It feels great, Chris,” agrees Hermann Holst, President of PlayStation Studios. “To work with people as far back as Wipeout…the entire leadership team we’ve worked with in the past. Graeme Ankers, Stuart Tilley, Dr Lovegrove…I’ve worked with them directly on projects, at Killzone 2. The legacy of the old Liverpool studio with Formula 1… It feels really great to welcome them back into the family.

“This legacy is from an old Liverpool studio… It feels really great to welcome them back into the family”

Hermann Holst, Sony

“But what I really like is that Firesprite has grown a lot. They are now a large developer with 250+ people. They have really built an entrepreneurial spirit as an independent team. They are experimenting with their approach to developing games. I think the combination of that legacy and entrepreneurship… that A great basis for us to collaborate on a few of the great exclusive game projects that we are working on together.”

Graeme Ankers, managing director of Firesprite continues: “It’s almost a historical story, Chris. That’s the way I see it. I’ve always thought the North West is the birthplace of the UK game industry. I’ve loaded people with this story, but it really is. Built on that region and this legacy of innovation and all the things we’ve done over the decades.Trace the origins of Firesprite back to that golden era of gaming.

“All the way through us [PlayStation and Firesprite] It had a tangled history. Personally, I’m with Hermen, and the founding members and senior folks in the studio can trace their roots back to those days. They are all shaped on this innovation and offer something new to everything we touch. This is what we do.”

Firesprite is the third PlayStation acquisition in as many months

Firesprite has collaborated with PlayStation Studios before, working with Team Asobi on Playroom titles for PS4. However, Holst says the developer will be working on his own projects in the future.

“It is a good time for them to join us and double down on the projects we do with them. To solidify the relationship and give them a proper seat at the table where we have a formal knowledge exchange with other studios. They already have some strong relationships with some of the first party studios, but I want to make it clear that we want them to lead the development of Many game projects, rather than helping other teams, even though they have cooperated with us before.

“As Firesprite grows and develops, we believe this is a role now ready for it, developing games exclusively for PlayStation Studios.”

Prior to the acquisition, Firesprite had been recruiting two titles: “a massive game-changing multiplayer shooter and an ambitious dark narrative adventure.” Ankers and Holst couldn’t talk about the products the company is working on, except for the fact that they’ll be in genres outside of PlayStation Studios’ core offerings.

“I encourage a strong and diverse slate of games coming from PlayStation Studios,” says Holst.

“Ideally [the games] It aligns with the culture and what the teams are good at. Firesprite is definitely a team that loves to tinker with the platform. They love to experiment, take something and play with it.

PlayStation Studios President Hermann Holst

“In the sense that maybe it’s a bit similar with Team Asobi, not to indicate that they are creating similar games, but in their own way. They are a flexible team, you can give them any platform and they love the challenge.

“PlayStation Studios teams are culturally diverse from one another. There is overlap, there is always a commitment to quality, there is always that collaboration…but the experiences you can expect [from Firesprite] It will be very different from the teams you know at PlayStation Studios. And I love that. I believe that our audience and our community deserve very rich and very different experiences. Ultimately, that’s what makes us stronger.”

Ankers adds: “I’d like to talk about that [our games] sometime soon. They will be beautiful and amazing universes that players will enjoy for years to come, but we can’t say exactly what or what kind of universe they are.

“Everything we do looks at a different side, whether it’s an innovation that we hope will change the genre, and we hope you can see that in our previous editions. We will always have that philosophy and carry this desire to bring something new to the genre, maximizing whatever the experience.. Whether it’s on a tech platform or not. It’s about creating the best experience possible.”

Ankers’ reference to technology refers to Firesprite’s history – to use the word holst – “tampering” with hardware. The latest release of The Persistance Enhanced saw the developer use Sony’s DualSense controller, while the company has worked across console, PC, mobile, and VR during its relatively short eight-year history.

In fact, given the multiple VR releases, the company seems ideally suited to working on new PlayStation VR headset titles. And when I first heard the news, I immediately assumed that was the thinking behind the acquisition.

“We are motivated to create something culturally significant that touches millions of people”

Graeme Ankers, Firesprite

“Not necessarily,” Holst says. “The experience Firesprite has gained in their work with The Persistence and The Playroom is clearly something they are bringing to the table. It’s too early to talk about the specific platforms or experiences we will be collaborating on with Firesprite. But that experience is very valuable.”

Ankers again: “Our philosophy is to really innovate and create on any platform. Whether it’s VR or non-VR. Virtual reality is amazing. It really changes the design paradigm and immerses you in those worlds. What matters to us is what the hardware is, we’ll maximize and create and innovation for these particular devices.

“We have experience with a lot of VR projects and a lot of non-VR projects throughout our history. It’s about being brave and creating those experiences that really showcase what any feature of the platform can offer, and the best game experience, of course.”

Ankers says the innovation Firesprite hopes to introduce isn’t necessarily related to hardware functionality, but rather about doing new things within species. It highlights some of the ideas found in The Persistence, such as lipstick-like items in the game or the ability to engage additional players in the single-player experience through smartphones and tablets.

“We are ambitious and entrepreneurial,” Ankers tells us. “We have set out to be a world-leading team here in the UK. There is a drive for us to create something culturally significant that will touch millions of people and tell the story of where we are at the heart of that.”

“Our values ​​in our studio are built on inclusivity, entrepreneurship, courage and professionalism…it’s all shared with Hermen and the team. That’s why it feels so good and right. You have to have values ​​in common. You have to share the same vision. Intertwined history is a big part of That. We know how we both work, and we know how each of us thinks, even, going forward. It seems like a great time for us to join the group, and hopefully we can continue to do what we do, and bring those new innovations to move that forward. It’s Those shared visions and shared values. That’s why PlayStation is an ideal thing for us going forward.”

Continuation Enhancer is the latest version of Firesprite

Despite the decades-long legacy and friendship, Hulst was careful to remind us that Firesprite is still a relatively young studio. And that part of the excitement about the acquisition is being able to nurture this team into a major PlayStation studio, sitting alongside the likes of Naughty Dog, Santa Monica and Guerrilla Games.

“I don’t think we expand in order to be big. I want to be very selective”

Hermann Holst, Sony

“The team is growing and improving and maturing very quickly,” Holst says. “The level of ambition for the projects we’ve started, I think this really benefits from working together very closely and nurturing Firesprite in one of those great PlayStation Studios outfits. It’s a really good time for us, now that we know exactly what we’re making together, and now that Graeme has found Lots of outstanding talent, to draw on lots of lessons learned from other teams, to share knowledge about game development, storytelling and all these elements that are close to our hearts.

“The idea of ​​nurturing a new studio into just an amazing PlayStation Studio is really exciting to me.

We mentioned in the introduction to the article that this is the third studio to join the PlayStation family this summer, after the acquisitions of Housemarque and Nixxes. It’s a competitive time, with headlines about studio purchases making almost daily. Sony isn’t immune to what’s happening in the market, but its acquisition strategy is targeted, and all of its recent three investments are with developers it’s already closely associated with. “PlayStation Studios is definitely growing, but we’re also very selective in the kind of teams we talk to,” Holst concludes. “Teams we care about share our values. Who love to innovate, who want to grow into world-class innovators.

“I don’t think we scale in order to become big. I want to be very selective. Our growth is measured in that sense. It is very quality driven and based on shared values ​​and good relationships.”

“On the one hand, the Graeme team has a well-known quality. I know the senior leadership team there personally. On the other hand, their strong studio culture has been able to attract such tremendous talent from people I don’t know personally, but I am very excited to work and collaborate on these new and ambitious projects that We started a while ago.

“It’s the organic growth of individuals where together we can become better creators. It’s really exciting: nurturing projects, talent, and studios to the level we all aspire to.”

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