Sony Interactive Entertainment Buys Up The Persistence/The Playroom VR Team Firespite Games

In the realm of virtual reality gaming, Facebook-owned Oculus is slowly buying up all the talent. For nearly two years now, the firm has welcomed roughly a handful of teams to its internal first-party network including Beat Saber’s Beat Games, Echo VR’s Ready at Dawn, and Onward developer Downpour Entertainment. However, Sony Interactive Entertainment appears to be paving ahead for the next PlayStation VR.

With a minimal announcement last year, fans become engrossed on the new peripheral being prepared for PlayStation 5. In a previous report later on, it was said by Upload VR that the new headset is to feature better resolution per eye in comparison to the Oculus Quest 2 & Valve Index. Additionally, third-party release are said to be emphasized more with support in post-launch as well.

On Wednesday, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced to be acquiring developer Firespite Games, the team responsible for The Playroom VR & The Persistence.

We’ve had the pleasure of working with many talented developers and publishers across the industry and PlayStation in particular has been a friend and co-development partner for the best part of a decade, collaborating together on many exciting projects including The PlayRoom, Run Sackboy! Run and The PlayRoom VR.

PlayStation also gave us the opportunity to create our own IP, The Persistence, and we were given the creative freedom to explore, innovate, and release a survival horror game we are immensely proud of. Now, as a first party studio, we know we have the full support of PlayStation in furthering our heritage of combining creativity and technical innovation to offer some truly unique experiences for PlayStation fans.

Graeme Ankers, Firespite Games Co-Founder and CEO

“We are delighted to welcome Firesprite into the PlayStation family,” said Sony Interactive Entertainment President & CEO Jim Ryan. “We have a rich history of working with the founders of Firesprite and are excited to grow the PlayStation presence in Liverpool. The portfolio of titles Firesprite has developed has continually demonstrated the team’s ability to transcend traditional gameplay experiences and brilliantly showcase the potential of our hardware.”

PlayStation Studios Head Hermen Hulst added, “Creating quality, state-of-the-art games has always been at the forefront of Firesprite’s work and I’m confident they will push the bar even further as part of PlayStation Studios. Firesprite’s ability to weave best-in-class gameplay with new technology is exceptional and I think fans will be excited about their creative vision for the future.”

This is not the first instance we witnessed Sony Interactive Entertainment buy up teams for ventures outside of PlayStation consoles. In that, the PlayStation company previously acquired Nixxes Software to “further elevate PlayStation exclusive titles” suggested for PC. In a later statement, it was told that the team was preparing to start work on a new project then. You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you interested on what Firespite Games will deliver to PlayStation?

Source: PlayStation Blog, Firespite Games