The Persistence developer Firesprite has become the 14th game developer to join PlayStation Studios, further augmenting Sony's in-house capabilities for developing interesting PS5 and PSVR games.
Firesprite is most recently known for its work with The Persistence, a survival horror game where players are trapped aboard a deep space colony that was first announced all the way in back in 2017. Since then, Firesprite has created a VR edition and enhanced edition of the game. Now, they'll be working much more closely with Sony on their next project.
PlayStation Studios Welcomes The Persistence Developer Firesprite to the Fold
The announcement of The Persistence developer Firesprite joining PlayStation Studios was made earlier today on the PlayStation blog, officially making this company the 14th company to join Sony's growing group of game developers.
"After a number of years closely collaborating on several games together, including The Playroom (PS4) and The Playroom VR (PS VR), I couldn’t be more delighted to welcome Firesprite to the PlayStation Studios family as our 14th studio!" read the blog post from Head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst. "Quite a few members of Firesprite come from SIE’s Studio Liverpool and we’re thrilled to welcome them back."
Critically, Firesprite has a fair amount of experience with virtual reality. That's especially important for Sony with the PSVR 2 in development and the closure of its in-house VR studio Sony Manchester back in early 2020.
"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," Firesprite Managing Director Graeme Ankers said.
GamesIndustry.biz also has an interview with Hermen Hulst and Graeme Ankers which explores the philosophy of the two companies and details a bit of their history. The most interesting part, however, is the fact that Firesprite has two new games on the way with "beautiful, amazing universes that players are going to enjoy for years to come." Aside from that, Firesprite's recruiting efforts summarized the games as a "'game-changing huge multiplayer shooter and an ambitious dark narrative blockbuster adventure."
Considering the recent gap in Sony's VR capabilities, Firesprite's experience with virtual reality, and the upcoming launch of the PSVR 2, I suspect that at least one of these next two games may have VR support at the minimum (if it isn't a VR-exclusive title). For now, you can buy Firesprite's most recent release The Persistence for PC and consoles via its official website starting at the price of $29.99 or your regional equivalent.
What do you think of The Persistence developer Firesprite joining PlayStation Studios? What do you think its next game will look like? Let us know in the comments below!
