Sony has acquired Dutch porting and technical studio Nixxes, which is best known for its work on several Square Enix properties. Nixxes' work includes Marvel's Avengers, Tomb Raider, and Deus Ex, among other games.
What does Sony's acquisition of Nixxes mean for both studios?
Speaking via Twitter, PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst said that Nixxes joining the PlayStation brand is "a real pleasure". Hulst praised Nixxes' "deep technical expertise and vast experience" and congratulated the team for joining PlayStation. Nixxes founder Jurjen Katsman says the team is excited to bring its expertise to bear on PlayStation Studios' IP, and that it will be delivering "the highest-quality gameplay experiences" for PlayStation gamers going forward. The terms of the deal haven't been disclosed due to contractual obligations, but it's understood that the acquisition is effective immediately.
Sony says that Nixxes' role within PlayStation Studios will involve providing "high quality in-house technical and development capabilities". Nixxes isn't a studio that develops original games; rather, the team essentially augments existing development studios in order to support the technical side of the process. As such, we won't be seeing any original properties come from Nixxes, but we'll certainly be seeing their name appear in first-party PlayStation games in future.
What other acquisitions has Sony made recently?
This is the second studio Sony has acquired this week. Just two days ago, Sony announced that it had acquired Returnal and Resogun developer Housemarque. Alongside that announcement, Sony Japan's Twitter account mistakenly tweeted an image featuring the logo of Demon's Souls developer Bluepoint, suggesting that Sony was eyeing up Bluepoint for acquisition. However, Bluepoint recently updated its Twitter bio to proclaim that it's "fully independent", which could be indicating that the studio won't be acquired by Sony any time soon, and addressing the questions about that.
Of course, Nixxes isn't quite on the same level as Bluepoint, but it's still a solid acquisition for Sony, especially on the technical side. We'll have to wait and see what other surprises Sony has in store in terms of studios and companies it's looking to acquire to strengthen its PlayStation brand. As ever, we'll bring you more on this as soon as we get it.
What studios would you like to see Sony acquire? Let us know in the comments below!
