Bluepoint Games to join Sony as an internal developer

Bluepoint Games is a developer that doesn’t exactly fit the traditional mold. Founded in 2006, the Austin-based video game company creates remakes of older titles and brings them into the fold of the contemporary console landscape. On Thursday, Sony announced that it has acquired Bluepoint after a long-running partnership. The developer will join Playstation Studios and its next project will apparently be an original game. In some ways, the move feels reminiscent of a filmmaker that has helped create other movies and now gets to realize their own vision.

If you don’t know the developer by name, Bluepoint remade Demon’s Souls, which was originally released for the Playstation 3 in 2009, for the Playstation 5. It has also helmed the remake of Shadow of the Colossus and Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection for Playstation 4.

In a video that welcomes Bluepoint into the Playstation Family, Marco Thrush, president of the company, shared the direction for the acquisition: “We believe this will empower Bluepoint to create even more impactful games for Playstation gamers.” As the gaming industry becomes bigger and bigger, some of the dominant forces are recognizing that smaller studios and indie developers will be key to remaining on the cutting edge of the business.

A deep catalog — Aside from the aforementioned titles, Bluepoint began its relationship with Playstation through the development of the God of War Collection for the Playstation 3 in 2009. Following this, the company moved onto the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for both Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2011. It will be interesting to see what an original looks like from Bluepoint. Exactly how long has this been a goal for the company? Will the game take any cues from the iconic franchises the developer has already worked on? What genre will it slot into? Hopefully these questions are answered sooner rather than later.

To take a big picture outlook, I wonder how the spree of recent acquisitions by high-profile gaming companies will affect the indie scene. While it is possible to exist outside the orbit of a Microsoft or Sony, will these smaller companies change the way they create in order to net a partnership? Hopefully the scene does not get over-saturated with studios that are trying to create games with universal appeal in mind. I want to see the Undertales of the world continue to thrive and break the conventions of the industry.