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Sony Buys Bluepoint Games, Dev Behind Demon's Souls Remake

Confirming rumors, Sony acquires yet another game studio.

39 Comments

Sony has acquired yet another game development studio, bringing on Bluepoint Games to become the company's latest internal game developer. Bluepoint most recently developed the Demon's Souls remake for PlayStation 5. The studio also developed the PS4 remake of Shadow of the Colossus and has a history with Uncharted with Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection.

"Bluepoint has built a name for itself by creating some of the highest-quality remasters and remakes in the industry," PlayStation boss Hermen Hulst said. "With each of its projects, Bluepoint has raised the bar on console-defining visuals and gameplay, and the studio’s vast expertise in world building and character creation will be a huge plus for future PlayStation Studios properties."

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Now Playing: PlayStation Welcomes Bluepoint Games to the PlayStation Family

While Bluepoint is known for its remasters and remakes, the studio will make an original title for PlayStation as its next game.

Bluepoint president Marco Thrush said in a statement, "Becoming a part of PlayStation Studios, empowers our team to raise the quality-bar even further and create even more impactful experiences for the PlayStation community. Thanks to everyone who’s supported us throughout the years – we can’t wait to bring you more amazing games in this next chapter for Bluepoint Games!"

Bluepoint has around 70 developers and is based in Austin, Texas.

"Our next project, we're working on original content right now," Thrush told IGN. "We can't talk about what that is, but that's the next step in the evolution for us."

While most of Bluepoint's work over the years has been on PlayStation properties, the company was hired by EA to develop the Xbox 360 version of the original Titanfall.

Sony's acquisition of Bluepoint is not totally unexpected, as it was rumored back in June when the company bought Returnal developer Housemarque. Sony has been on a buyout spree, of sorts, as it also recently acquired Firesprite, the UK-based team made up of former SIE Liverpool developers. Before that, Sony acquired PC port specialist Nixxes Software. In total, Sony now has 16 internal game development studios. Microsoft has been starting and buying new studios of late, too, and it now has 23 internal game studios--including Bethesda most recently.

Hulst told IGN that Sony is not simply buying more game studios "just to be bigger."

"We're only buying teams because we feel that together, we're going to make something that is going to be even better than if we did it separate from one another," Hulst said.

The executive went on to say that Sony might look to buy even more studios down the road. "We are open always to building new relationships or bringing people in-house, but only if we adhere to the quality-first mentality and the right kind of innovative content, new experiences, diverse experiences," Hulst said. "Because all of these teams, they share a lot, but they're also very different from one another, and that's what I really like. And I think that's what the PlayStation audience, the PlayStation fans, deserve, it's that diverse slate of games coming out of PlayStation Studios."

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nintendians

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i thought that they already done it before?

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nintendoboy16

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Edited By nintendoboy16

I had this question when MS bought Bethesda and I had this question when Nintendo did Next Level Games: When does this crap stop? Anymore buyouts just feels like an assault on the industry.

And more depressing is that gamers are more supportive of these corporate buyouts (so long as it is part of their preferred brand) than anyone ever will of Disney and what they buyout (minus getting most Marvel characters back under Marvel's banner, but besides that). Hell, Sony is getting hell for it in the anime world.

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milehighbossman

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Where is all the outrage? When Microsoft buys a game studio, everyone is up in arms and complaining. All you hear is anger and disgust. Yet when Sony buys a studio, all you hear is "Excellent move" "I'm glad they did this".

Why the difference? If any company should buy studios it should be Microsoft since they have shown that they aren't that good at developing games internally.

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StickEmUp

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@milehighbossman: You completely missed the point. Bluepoint doesn’t make half the games that Bethesda releases. That’s why the outrage. I’m a Sony fan and I still would’ve thought it would’ve been wrong if Sony had bought Bethesda. Bethesda develops and publishes far too many games for any one company to control. Buying smaller studios is all well and good, but buying a company this big was a dick move. Sony should buy Square Enix, now.

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milehighbossman

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@stickemup: The point is that Sony does not need Bethesda since Sony has shown that they can make high quality first party titles. Microsoft has shown the opposite. Therefore if Sony have bought Bethesda, it would have been a "dick move".

Good luck with your hope that Sony buys Square Enix. Don't forget that Sony does not have the deep pockets that Microsoft does. Its most likely that Microsoft would buy Square Enix, especially since they've had a difficult time penetrating the Japanese market.

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TECHASPiKE

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@milehighbossman: I imagine it's because Bluepoint was already mostly Sony-exclusive anyway, whereas Microsoft bought studios that would have otherwise likely kept their games multiplatform.

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MoogleStar

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Excellent move from Sony.

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Valgaav_219

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Nice acquisition. Excited to see their new IP once they give us more info. I'm also cool with more remakes, though, as long as they're as good as the other ones that they've made thus far.

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deactivated-64a3ced8b46b8

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The Demon's Souls remake is legit. Let's get that new Silent Hill now! 🤫

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StickEmUp

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Hell yeah. This is a great studio.

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Abdulrahman1981

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I expect either Konami or Sega is next in line, but who will buy them 😉

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deactivated-64efdf49333c4

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@Abdulrahman1981: MS for Sega, Konami...not so much the company, but Sony for the IPs since that rumour has been around for a few years, now.

Both scenarios are rumours either way.

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xNSHD

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completely expected. yet while sony is quietly going about making this small acquisitions Microsoft has been suspiciously silent. im sensing a big bethesda level acquisition announcement soon.

microsoft isn't just gonna sit back and let sony acquire studios without doing anything in response, that response is coming and something tells me its gonna be another massive shock to the industry.

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Laurenriley3332

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@xnshd: Sony does not buy Studios like Microsoft. Sony is not even buying studios that have worked with Microsoft often if at all. Sony only purchases studios that it has a had a long term relationship with. Sony and Microsoft are not even competing anymore really. Microsoft is going completely service based while Sony is still in the hardware business. Sony is also buying studios who focus on single player games. Microsoft does not care about what Sony is doing and vice versa. All three console makers are doing something different and people want something different from all three companies.

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xNSHD

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@laurenriley3332: sony and microsoft are absolutely competing against each other/ sony IS only buying these studios BECAUSE microsoft has been buying alot of studios.

sony in the last year have acquired more studios than they have done in the past decade which says alot. they haven't felt a need to add to their studio portfolio in the last decade but now that microsoft have acquired like 10+ studios i can't be bothered to look up the proper figure lets just says its alot. they feel the need to then go out and buy some studios themselves.

also the reason they went for the studios they did is one, they are relatively cheap which is more in line with sonys budget and two, have been making exclusives already for sony so it would be easier to get an acquisition considering they already have good working relations with these studios.

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Laurenriley3332

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@xnshd: Sony is not buying these studios to compete with Microsoft. Most of these studios have never made an Xbox game in their careers. Sony is not saying, "we better buy Insomniac Housemarque, and Firesprite. There is no competition. None of the studios that Sony has purchased make similar games to what is popular on Xbox. None of these studios are making open world medieval games or multiplayer first person or third person shooters. Housemarque makes fast paced arcade style games. Insomniac makes action adventure games Firesprite makes VR games and is just developers who were once part of Sony Liverpool. They have already said that they are working on a game in a genre that none of Sony's other studios are working on. It is probably a racing game. It could be a new Wipeout game that is different from the mobile phone game announced. I like single player games more than multiplayer. Action adventure games are my thing. I do not really care about western medieval RPGs that much. Microsoft's offerings are not going to appeal to me that much. Even with Gamepass, it does not matter because the games I like are not there. The only ground Microsoft and Sony share are sports games, fighting games, and retro styled games. Microsoft has Killer Instinct as an exclusive while Sony owns EVO. I am sure that Sony is not going to own a fighting game organization and not have an exclusive fighters of its own, be it first party or third party deals. Guilty Gear has always been represented more on Sony platforms. There is no competition. There would be competition if Sony or Microsoft were buying Square, Activision, or Rockstar.

Each console maker is doing its own thing. This is the first time that we have seen anything like this. Nintendo has the portable market locked down, Microsoft is exiting the console market and going all service and cloud based. Sony wants to stay in the console business. Sony is staying primarily in the single player market while Microsoft is more multiplayer focused.

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xNSHD

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@laurenriley3332: sorry to tell you this but YES they are. sony hadn't really bought anyone for like a decade then microsoft acquires 10+ studios and then sony responds with buying 4. thats a direct response to microsoft acquiring studios whether you like to admit it or not.

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Laurenriley3332

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@xnshd: No it isn't. As stated before, None of the studios Sony purchased made multiplatform games. That makes a lot of sense. "Let's compete with Microsoft by buying studios that hardy ever put out out a game on the Xbox." That makes no sense. Microsoft is not crying the blues because those developers were bought by Sony. They never worked with Microsoft that much. Sony and Microsoft are hitting different markets. Most people probably thought Sony already owned Insomniac as well as Bluepoint anyway. Microsoft actually bought studios that developed multiplatform games like Bethesda, Double Fine, and Ninja Theory. Psychonauts 2 is on PS4 for crying out loud. It would be competition if the studios Sony purchased actually made games for Xbox, but they never did outside a one off here and there. When people think of Housemarque games, they automatically think of Sony. Same thing with Insomniac and Bluepoint. Until Sony purchases a developer that puts games on multiple platforms, then we can say it is competition.

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xNSHD

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Edited By xNSHD

@laurenriley3332: the fact they only made multiplat games is irrelevant. do you think its just a coincides than sony acquired more studios in a year than they did in a decade right after microsoft bought bethesda and over 10 other studios? its just a coincides right that it happened like that.

naaaa its not its because they are competing and ill tell you why playstation bought the studios they did. like you say they all had a long history with playstation so they are much more likely to be open to an acquisition. the studios they acquired aswell are relatively small so would be open to an accusation. they purchased these in direct response to microsoft purchasing all the studios they did because they didn't want to be left behind in terms of output. they needed to get more in house studios so they can more games coming out.

if you think that microsoft and sony are not competing against each other then i duno what world you live in but its clearly not the one the rest of us who follow this industry are living in. sure they might have different strategies microsoft has game pass playstation believes in the 70 dollar blockbuster yet they are still competing.

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Laurenriley3332

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@xnshd: Why not bring Nintnedo into the conversation. Yes in the sense, all three companies are competing for people's leisure time. Sony is not buying those studios in order to strengthen its brand and entice people to play on PlayStation. If you have played the games that these studios have made, then you are already playing on PlayStation. Microsoft bought studios to strengthen its brand because Xbox does not do so well outside of America. Sony is only formally buying what has been theirs for a long time. The company is buying studios to keep people playing on PlayStation. These acquisitions are not trying to bring new people into the ecosystem. Everyone knows that if you want to play a game from Insomniac or Bluepoint, then the only way you can do so is on PlayStation. Sony dominated the last generation. It will not have the same dominance in the same way this time around. PS5 is selling just as well if not more than PS4 was in the same time frame. Sony has had more quality exclusives in the first year of the PS5 than the PS4 did. The PS5 is the best selling console in Europe. Sony raised the price of games because the company knows it can raise the price and people will buy their games. Ghost of Tsushima was rereleased and shot up to number 2 on the NPD charts in August. How well did Psychonauts 2 do? All Sony has to do is rerelease a year old game to climb the NPD charts and the only number Microsoft keeps breaking is the subscriptions to Gamepass because that is all Xbox is now. Microsoft wants you to keep renting their games over and over, so that when the company doubles the cost, no one will care. Sony wants people to buy it's games and keep playing on PlayStation. Microsoft wants new consumers so it is hiding its fees under the guise of everything being free only to take it away bit by bit so people don't feel it.

Let's use hosiery as a comparison. Do you think Wolford and Falke are competing with Walmart selling pantyhose? In the broad sense, they are in competition with one another, but do you honestly Falke or Wolford is scared that Walmart is selling pantyhose and $10 a pair while they are charging $50 plus a pair? Not really. Do you think the consumer buying hosiery at Walmart is the same person that will buy at Wolford or Falke? No. Wolford and Falke know that their quality is a lot better than what Walmart is offering for their cheap prices. People are willing to pay them five times more than what Walmart charges because it lasts longer. The person buying pantyhose from Walmart is doing so just to look nice for a funeral and then the person will never wear the pair again.

Microsoft is the Walmart of gaming while Sony is Wolford or Falke.

This will be my last response.

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xNSHD

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@laurenriley3332: nintendo is competing in a different space they are more competing in the handheld arena not so much home consoles were as both microsoft and sony are directly competing in that front.

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PrpleTrtleBuBum

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what are the chances of a new console manufacturer coming into the business now?

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deactivated-64efdf49333c4

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@PrpleTrtleBuBum: Everything is headed towards streaming. Even the big boys have stated that's where they're steering the ship. That model is far more competitively friendly. Frankly, I'd be surprised if we see another generation of traditional gaming. WAY too much momentum has swung in the favour of digital this last generation, and coming hardware will refine a digital economy even further.

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StickEmUp

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@PrpleTrtleBuBum: The same as they have been for the last two decades. Slim to none. It’s beyond hard to break into the console scene, and crazy expensive. They tried with Steam machines, and those failed almost immediately. Idk if you consider Stadia a console, but that’s not going to last either. Even Sega had to bail on consoles. Microsoft is the only company that has had any success competing with Sony and Nintendo, and they’re dead last in sales.

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rosen22

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Loved that remake on Ps5, hope they do more or something of their own

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StickEmUp

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Edited By StickEmUp

@rosen22: “While Bluepoint is known for its remasters and remakes, the studio will make an original title for PlayStation as its next game.”

I see that you like to skip articles and just comment based off of the title. Rookie mistake.

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rodoxthedark

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@rosen22: says in the article they are doing a new game of there own 🙄

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RSM-HQ

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Edited By RSM-HQ

Demon's Souls was also more of a graphical overhaul, the quality of life improvements are numerous and welcoming. DeS was always one of my favorites and the remake made it even better.

I look forward to what they're working on next for this new IP, and curious if the two Konami remakes are more than rumors.

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SabreDJ

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In other news... the sky is blue

Great acquisition for PS. Congrats to Bluepoint!

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jenovaschilld

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I did not know Demon Souls remake was done by Texas based Bluepoint, I thought all of the Souls and souls R was by FromSoftware and Atlus. Two of my favorite devs that punch well above their weight.

Good that Bluepoint gets to branch out and make their own, best of luck.

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RSM-HQ

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@jenovaschilld: Atlus was never a developer for DeS, they acted as a publisher for North America. Demon's Souls (original) was developed by Sony Japan Studios and From Software.

The Blue Point remake uses the same code as the SJS and FS game, and BP made some minor quality of life improvements to make the experience more fluid and have less tedium; many of which are from Dark Souls III.

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Kizza_Soze

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Nice move, hopefully a few more to come that aren't remaster or port specialists. Sony need a few more smart acquisitions to get back to delivering the amount of diverse, quality exclusives they did with PS3 & PS2.

I would love for them to purchase Lightbox Interactive to give us another game of Warhawk/Starhawk ilk. Surely Lightbox Int. are not happy making limited mobile games, if they are even still around, as I have not seen or heard of anything since the announcement after the brilliant, underrated, ahead of it's time Starhawk flopped.

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deactivated-64efdf49333c4

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@kizza_soze: Firesprite is doing new stuff.

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videogameninja

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Edited By videogameninja

Smart move on Sony's behalf.

Bluepoint has done some amazing work over the years giving older games that next gen treatment so their acquisition is a no brainer from a financial point of view.

Perhaps this means we will see some remakes of other amazing classic games from the past in the near future.

-VIDEOGAME REMAKE KING NINJA APPROVED-

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dts15

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@videogameninja: If their next project after this New IP is another remaster I hope against hope that hope that it will be Legend of Dragoon. Somebody has to do something with that at some point lol

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deactivated-64efdf49333c4

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@dts15: Their studio director has said outright it's a dream of his to remake Legend of Dragoon, so I think it's a safe bet they will do that one day.

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Valgaav_219

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@Barighm: Man, that would be so epic! And it'd be a great non Square Enix JRPG. Those are kind of few and far between.

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HOLYSHMUCK

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Edited By HOLYSHMUCK

@dts15: If you both read the article above, it states they are making their first original game next, so not a remaster. Direction can change quickly after a buyout though.

*edit - first original game since 2006, possibly first AAA game ever made though coming up.

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deactivated-64efdf49333c4

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@HOLYSHMUCK: They could still do something remake-y and call it an original game. Legend of Dragoon 2, for example, would be a new game, or Secret of Dragoon. Totally original title.

Not that I expect they will, I'm just saying don't be surprised if that is what happens. These days game devs lie so often you can safely dismiss most of their "official" announcements and get by just fine speculating on what would be best for the studio from a business standpoint.

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