Firesprite Games, the most recent developer to join PlayStation Studios, has taken a leaf out of its new-found parent company and bought its own new studio.
Firesprite Limited has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Manchester-based studio Fabrik Games – not long after being bought by Sony itself.
“I’m delighted to announce that we will be bringing Fabrik Games and Firesprite together as part of our exciting next step with PlayStation Studios,” says Managing Director of Firesprite, Graeme Ankers. “They are a team of passionate and committed developers, led by industry veterans who have worked on many AAA franchises. We’re looking forward to bolstering our creative talent as we continue on our journey to offer truly unique experiences for PlayStation fans.”
The acquisition of Fabrik Games brings the studio's total number of employees up to 265 as it begins to start life as part of the PlayStation family. The move was subsequently also praised by Fabrik's own studio head, Errol Ismail. “We have a history working and collaborating closely with Firesprite,” he says. “There’s a huge amount of creative and cultural alignment already and the entire team is excited to be on board. We can’t wait to show everyone what we’re capable of.”
Firesprite itself was acquired by Sony as a first-party studio earlier this month. However, the studio is no stranger to developing PlayStation titles. In the past, the studio has worked on both The Playroom and The Playroom VR. Firesprite is also the developer behind the horror-shooter game The Persistence. The studio actually worked with Fabrik on the game, which was originally released for the PlayStation 4 as a PSVR title before also coming out as a non-VR game.
Sony has certainly done well with its acquisition of first-party studios so far. From the likes of Naughty Dog's Uncharted and The Last of Us series to Santa Monica Studios' God of War, the games produced by its family of developers have tended to do exceedingly well. While Sony hasn't officially confirmed any new projects that Firesprite is working on, a recent job listing at the studio confirmed that it is is hiring a writer for a new narrative adventure AAA title. With little known about what's in store for the game so far, fans will likely be excited to see what content the English studio delivers in the future.
To check out the latest games heading to PlayStation consoles from across a range of the company's first party developers, make sure to check out our rundown of everything announced at this year's PlayStation Showcase.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.