The next game from the Housemarque studio, after Returnal, will therefore be an unprecedented franchise. A PlayStation 5 IP which, at this stage, is still far from ready according to the developers.
Housemarque developers were able to savor the commercial success of Returnal but now we have to move on. What exactly is the future of the Finnish studio? A new PlayStation 5 franchise. A confidence made during an interview with VentureBeat.
A new game respectful of the Housemarque DNA
While speculation was rife, Housemarque seems to be sweeping away the release of a DLC for their rogue-lite. The teams are focused on something else entirely: a new IP on PS5 faithful to their previous productions. No Returnal 2 but the former is self-sufficient, not surprisingly.
This confession comes fromIlari Kuittinen, managing director of the studio, who initially answered a question about the identity of the studio and the trajectory that it could take at a time when Sony is investing heavily in service games. For all intents and purposes, we recall that Housemarque became a PlayStation Studios in 2021.
Nothing is decided yet. We are one of the very last dinosaurs to make arcade games. A few years ago we released Nex Machina which was an 80s arcade style shooter. That gives you an idea. But it’s interesting, we thought about that. We had the opportunity to work on multiplayer games, because a few years ago, having an experience of this type seemed necessary. We did, but we got no results. But we are only at the beginning of the design of a new game, a new license. We’ll see what happens.
A battle royale before Returnal
The project referred to by Ilari Kuittinen is the battle royale Stormdivers, which appeared to be the last chance game for the studio. Before exploring the world of multiplayer and its possible microtransactions, Housemarque had made the decision to stop charging with arcade games for “economic reasons”. Despite the quality of their titles (Resogun, Nex Machina etc.), the sales were not high enough.
Finally, Housemarque therefore preferred to suspend the development of Stormdivers to give itself every chance of success. A decision that paid off since the developers are still there and many more players wanted to thwart the cycle of death in Returnal.
