SOE Turns Independent, Eyes Xbox Support

Sony Online Entertainment, the company responsible for MMOs such as Planetside 2, H1Z1, and DC Universe Online, has broken away from Sony and is now operating as an independent company.

The extraordinary transition was made possible after Columbus Nova, an investment management firm based in New York, had bought out the company for an undisclosed sum.

"This means that effective immediately SOE will operate as an independent game development studio where we will continue to focus on creating exceptional online games for players around the world, and now as a multiplatform gaming company," the studio wrote.

"Yes, that means PlayStation and Xbox, mobile, and more!"

Jon Smedley, the president of the company, has already stated his intent to make Xbox One games.

The sale of the business comes with a name change for SOE, which henceforth will refer to itself as Daybreak Game Company.

"This name embodies who we are as an organization, and is a nod to the passion and dedication of our employees and players. It is also representative of our vision to approach each new day as an opportunity to move gaming forward."

The company urges that there will be no disruption to its current online games during the transition.

"It will be business as usual and all SOE games will continue on their current path of development and operation. In fact, we expect to have even more resources available to us as a result of this acquisition. It also means new exciting developments for our existing IP and games as we can now fully embrace the multi-platform world we are living in."

Sony Online Entertainment was founded in 1995, starting with the name Sony Interactive Studios America, and in 1998 became SOE. It was originally tasked with making PlayStation-only games, though in recent years has focused specifically on free-to-play PC games.

"Our games and players are the heart and soul of our organization, and we are committed to maintaining our portfolio of online games and pushing the limits of where we can take online gaming together."