Sony buys Firesprite, the studio behind The Playroom

Sony has added another developer to its PlayStation Studios lineup. On Wednesday, Sony announced that it has acquired Firesprite, a Liverpool-based studio that has worked with Sony several times in the past.

Several of Firesprite’s members were formerly part of Sony Interactive Entertainment Studio Liverpool, making this a return to Sony for many at the studio. Firesprite was founded in 2012 and has since developed a number of games for Sony’s PlayStation consoles. Firesprite’s previous games include The Playroom and The Playroom VR, Run Sackboy! Run!, as well as the horror game The Persistence.

Earlier this year, Firesprite announced that it has been working with Cloud Imperium Games on Star Citizen: Theater of Wars, a multiplayer game mode that will combine many different types of combat from Star Citizen. Sony and Firesprite’s announcement of the acquisition did not mention Theaters of War or any other specific upcoming projects. The announcement does include a statement from Firesprite’s managing director Graeme Ankers, which mostly focuses on the relationship that Firesprite and Sony have had so far, with few clues as to what might be in the studio’s future.

This is the second major addition to Sony’s PlayStation Studios so far this year. In June, Sony acquired Returnal developer Housemarque. A month later in July, Sony added Nixxes, a studio that’s worked on Marvel’s Avengers and several recent Tomb Raider games, to the PlayStation Studios roster as well.