Today Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the acquisition of a new team that will join the PlayStation Studios family, Firewalk Studios.
Firewalk was already working on a new multiplayer IP for PlayStation Platforms under the ProbablyMonsters umbrella, with a publishing deal announced in 2021 already in place, but now the developer will move into the first-party fold.
The move revealed today aims to help grow Sony's live services operation, which has been a publicly-stated focus since the acquisition of Bungie announced in 2022.
At the moment, not much is known about Firewalk Studios' game, so we'll have to wait and see what they bring to the table. In the meanwhile, the announcement came with a statement by Studio Head and Game Director Tony Hsu, which you can read in its entirety below.
Every once in a while, you get to have an adventure.
Over five years ago, we jumped at the chance to set up a new studio and build a new IP from the ground up. Recalling our own favorite times with games, we founded Firewalk Studios around the idea of delivering memorable moments – those amazing, had-to-be-there times shared with other people. Our goal is to deliver those shared moments of joy to players around the world.
Building a new studio at scale has been an incredibly exhilarating and relentlessly daunting task. Fortunately, we’ve been supported by great partners throughout – ProbablyMonsters helped turbocharge us in setting up the studio, and Sony has been supporting our project and our creative vision from the beginning.
We’ve assembled some of the most inspired talent in the industry to deliver awe-inspiring new worlds and experiences filled with great core gameplay. The excitement of building something new for players has thoroughly energized the team and our partners, and we’ve been playtesting every day.
Today we’re taking the next natural step and joining PlayStation Studios. We’ve worked closely with Hermen and the very talented team at PlayStation for years, helping to make our new game even better. To join PlayStation Studios is to formally become part of a family that has produced many of the most storied games of our age, and we are honored.
We want to thank everyone who’s supported us along the way and those looking forward to our future. It’s been an incredible journey so far, and we can’t wait for the next chapter in this adventure.
Firewalk Studios is based in Bellevue, Washington, and was founded in 2018, with a team of multiplayer development veterans at the helm.