Understanding the niché from developer Housemarque, the team is most notable for being the last remnant of talent still eager to pursue arcade cabinet experiences in the modern age of gaming. However, the team with its most recent title Returnal has meshed its knowledge with previous projects to create a third-person shooter experience unique to PlayStation 5.
The game arrived back in April last spring nearly a year ago to differentiate itself from other games releasing at the time. Additionally, the studio went on to find itself being acquired by the PlayStation company itself, Sony Interactive Entertainment. But looking ahead for what is to come next, Housemarque presses on its plans lightly.
Speaking to VentureBeat, Housemarque CEO Ilari Kuittinen explained the team’s thoughts on pursuing live service and where the developer stands in terms of its next project.
Well, the jury is still out there. We’re one of the very last dinosaurs making arcade games. Nex Machina, a few years ago, was very much a shoot-’em-up game in the style of the coin-ops from the ‘80s. That’s sort of a clue. But it’s interesting. We’ve been thinking about that. We had our stint working on multiplayer games, because a few years back it seemed like you needed to have some kind of multiplayer experience. We tried that, and we really didn’t do it as well. But it’s early days with us starting a new game, a new IP, concepting it out. We’ll see what comes with that.
“We’re really trying to hold on to that identity, as you mentioned. It’s wonderful right now that gaming has grown and evolved so much that there’s so much variety and diversity of game experiences,” Harry Krueger, Returnal Game Director added. “They can all peacefully coexist. There can be live service games, multiplayer games, games with many different sensibilities. Returnal is just another voice. At this stage we’re quite proud of what we accomplished with Returnal, and we’re quite excited to pursue that same trajectory as a company.”
In our review for Returnal, critic David Rodriguez frames the title to be one of the most rewarding games to hit the platform last year. “The intense, pulse pounding action experience Housemarque has crafted with Returnal is easily my favorite Playstation 5 game by far,” he wrote. You can read the full report by heading here.
Are you interested in what Housemarque is working on next?
Source: VentureBeat
