Unlike Microsoft who has been buying up all the companies they can, PlayStation has been utilizing who they already have at their disposal. They have a ton of world-class talent and don’t always feel the need to buy new studios but there was one studio Sony couldn’t risk not having: Insomniac Games.
The studio behind the critically acclaimed PS4-exclusive Spider-Man game, Sunset Overdrive, and a number of other great games is now a first-party Sony studio. PlayStation announced that they have purchased Insomniac Games for an undisclosed amount of money and while they’re not saying what specifically they’re doing next, it’s probably obvious.
With the announcement, Sony also revealed Spider-Man has sold 13.2 million copies almost a year after launch. For any game, 13.2 million is a LOT of copies and it’s even more impressive given that it’s only on one console. Sony has been showing off the tech for the next PlayStation by demoing Spider-Man on it which boasts incredible load times and a bunch of technical improvements.
It seems obvious that Insomniac Games will be a flagship studio heading into the next generation for PlayStation, likely leading the charge with the inevitable Spider-Man sequel. Insomniac is no stranger to PlayStation as they made a name for themselves with Ratchet and Clank and Resistance, two franchises that fans would love to see a return to.
One franchise that Insomniac will likely never come back to is the Xbox-exclusive Sunset Overdrive. Whether Microsoft chooses to make a sequel with another studio or abandons it all together remains to be seen.
Insomniac has been developing smaller VR titles for quite a while in between their AAA releases, none of which have hit PSVR. It’s unclear if Sony will allow Insomniac to continue releasing Oculus Rift and Vive titles or if they’re going to have them focus exclusively on PSVR/PS4/PS5 titles.
