250°

Sony buying Insomniac Games is a great response to Microsoft's studio purchasing spree

With both Microsoft and Sony using their sizable wallets to gobble up talented studios, it is certainly a fascinating time for gaming. Sure, you might need to purchase more consoles than ever before to enjoy all of the great releases, but the trade-off is that these talented developers are getting more support and a greater opportunity to succeed thanks to their publisher’s marketing power. All of these moves are ultimately a positive one for gaming as a whole, and it shows that the next console generation is going to be more exciting than ever before as competition pushes these console makers to expand in exciting ways.

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gamerevolution.com
masterfox2113d ago

MS : Buying Game developers like crazy.

Sony: Meh, we got Insomniac, and the best developers of the game industry. :D

Obscure_Observer2113d ago

@masterfox

Insomniac is GREAT, but, Obsidian and Playground is AWESOME!

My Opinion!

2113d ago
Lon3wolf2113d ago

@hawkeye98

Training classes can help with that.

THC CELL2113d ago

Ah well
Insomniac is far better than most ms studios as we speak
If ms was to of snapped em up you would have had a different opinion.
https://wikidiff.com/great/...

xX-oldboy-Xx2113d ago

Obscure - your opinion stinks haha, talk about living off past glories.

xX-oldboy-Xx2113d ago

Obscure - Who in at MGS is better than Naughty Dog? or Sony Santa Monica? or Guerilla Games? or Sucker Punch?

Everyone of those devs listed are infinitely better than anything that ms has to offer.

Keep trying plebs - enjoy 3rd place 🍻

bouzebbal2113d ago

Response?? Each is doing his business.. PS5 is gonna be on fire.
Insomniac release lots of games every gen. I hope Sony make them grow into several teams.

Obscure_Observer2112d ago (Edited 2112d ago )

@xX-oldboy-Xx

"Obscure - Who in at MGS is better than Naughty Dog? or Sony Santa Monica? or Guerilla Games? or Sucker Punch?"

Microsoft has nothing on Naughty Dog, only a fool would deny that. TLOU is one of the best videogames of all time and my personal favorite.

So far, Microsoft has nothing to compare with Uncharted and TLOU. They tried with Quantum Break but failed.

Microsoft has nothing on God of War. They tried with Ryse, but failed. Microsoft may task Ninja Theory with a AAA project and go against God of War, who knows. Until then, Santa Monica wins.

Microsoft has nothing on Infamous. They tried with Crackdown and we know how things turn out.

Now

Sony has nothing on Forza Motorsport. Gran Turismo used to be king of racers but not anymore.

Sony has nothing on Forza Horizon. They tried with Driveclub, but failed.

Sony has nothing on Halo. Guerrila tried with Killzone, but failed. They also tried with Resistence, but failed again.

Sony has nothing on Gears. They tried with The Order, but failed.

For the future:

We shall see how Horizon fares against The Outer Worlds and Playground´s new RPG.

The Initiative might be working on a new IP to go against ND or Santa Monica games.

RARE´s new IP could be something to go against whatever Insomniac´s new project may be.

That´s my HONEST opinion! NO fanboy BS! And that´s why i´m a PS4 and Xbox One X owner, and soon ( i hope), a Switch owner as well.

Come next generation i´ll continue to support both next gen Playstation and Xbox consoles, so I won´t miss anything. ;)

2112d ago
Darkborn2112d ago

Insomniac literally has more talent than all of the studios Microsoft just purchased, with the exception of the initiative that they pulled a ton of prior Sony employees to fill lol.

IamTylerDurden12112d ago (Edited 2112d ago )

Playground has been operating like a MS first party for years, the signing gives great peace of mind, but doesn't really add anything but security. Obsidian is easily the best get out of all the MS acquisitions, but Insomniac blows Obsidian away in terms of hype. Insomniac is a huge, multifaceted, AAA studio coming off the biggest hit of their 20+ year career. Obsidian is excellent, but they haven't shipped a AAA game since Bethesda helped them build New Vegas. Meanwhile, Insomniac ships a AAA game every 1-2 years as well as producing numerous side projects and VR games. Insomniac is a factory with over 300 employees and literally one of the biggest names in the industry....and if rumors are true Sony is far from done.

If u combine Obsidian, Ninja Theory, and inXile u get roughly the same number of employees as Insomniac Games. Microsoft signed many studios, but they were mostly smaller teams. Sony signed a truly big fish. Both moves were highly impactful in my opinion.

The difference is, Microsoft was starving for first party talent while Sony already had fully stocked cupboards. Microsoft filled a need, while Sony made a great strength even greater. Should be fun to see if Sony acquires anymore studios. Even if they don't, they still have an embarrassment of riches.

IamTylerDurden12112d ago (Edited 2112d ago )

Obscure

You are leaving out numerous studios. You claim MS has nothing on Naughty Dog, Santa Monica, and Sucker Punch's Infamous and then go on to claim that MS has 4 advantages over Sony.

How about Japan Studios? Bloodborne, Gravity Rush, Puppeteer, Astro Bot. What does MS have to compete with any of that?

Media Molecule? LBP, Tearaway, Dreams. Let me guess, Minecraft..?

Guerrilla Games also makes Horizon Zero Dawn. You vaguely speculate on some weak bullshit, BUT WHAT DOES MICROSOFT HAVE TO COMPETE WITH HZD? Outer Worlds is coming to PS4 homie.

San Diego - MLB The Show. What does MS have to compete with that?

Insomniac Games has R&C, Spider-man, and VR. What does MS have to compete with any of that?

London made Blood n Truth. What does MS have to compete with that?

Sucker Punch also has Ghost of Tsushima coming and Sly Cooper if they so choose. What does MS have to compete with that?

Sony has more than just Naughty Dog, Santa Monica, and Infamous. Sorry.

Btw, because of worldwide appeal Sony also has numerous other games that MS doesn't. Yakuza, Dragon Quest, Persona ect. Microsoft really can't compete in numerous areas. Sony has the first party advantage, the diversity, and the second party/publisher relationship advantage.

+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 2112d ago
THC CELL2113d ago (Edited 2113d ago )

One of the best
Naughty dog is far better

Worry whoever gets rockstar lol

Crazyglues2113d ago

RockSt@r can't be bought they are too big... They have a net worth of $2.59 billion...

They also fought over a EA hostile takeover just to make sure they would never be a target for a buy out ever again... So buying RockStar is an absolute No, won't happen, ever.

They are not for sale..

THC CELL2113d ago

Crazy glue money talks.

Don't say Sony or ms can't afford too Sony was gonna buy fox for over 30 billion at one point

SpeedDemon2112d ago

@Crazy that's just a little more than what MS gave for Mojang.

Mr Marvel2112d ago

Rockstar are overrated.
GTAV was better than GTAIV, but boring compared to GTAIII, VC & SA.
RDR2 is technically brilliant, but manages to be one of the most boring open world games I’ve played. I stopped after about 10 hours and have never gone back.

Master of Unlocking2111d ago (Edited 2111d ago )

R* definitely have a couple great IPs under their belt, they're ambitious and have innovative ideas in terms of narration, but they're not so great on the technical aspect of things. I'm reminded of that every time I gaze at the horizon from my yacht in gta online, only to be appalled by the unsightly jaggies on the railing. For a port of a last gen game this is especially cringeworthy. You can add to that the subpar 4K mode on the PS4 PRO for RDR2, for example, when a developper like Guerilla Games have really done a top-notch job when it comes to that on Horizon Zero Dawn.

Plus, I think they'll never sell out to any particular manufacturer. They like their independence too much. And the money that comes from publishing on several platforms, too.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 2111d ago
specialguest2113d ago (Edited 2113d ago )

Remember when Insomniac went totally 3rd party and you Sont fanboys started talking crap about them? You guys didn't start to sing Insomniac praises until the PS4 Spiderman game was created and gained great reviews. Most of you are all a bunch of fake fans.

SyntheticForm2113d ago

PlayStation fans have always liked Insomniac, except for that one time they went off to make a game for Xbox. "Sunset Overhype" was a term used well in advance of the game's actual release, which is telling. You know nothing about a game but will lambaste it, because it was exclusive to Xbox.

I'd classify that type of person as a fair weather fan in this context.

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bluebenjamin2112d ago

That they are Nothings cool unless Sony is doing it blind fanboy crapp

IamTylerDurden12111d ago

Insomniac has always been my favorite studio and last gen they earned massive praise from Sony fans. Fall of Man was the best PS3 launch title and Resistance 2 and 3 were excellent as well. Tools of Destruction was fantastic and actually has a higher aggregate score than Spider-man at 89. A Crack in Time was also great and obviously they created Spyro before that. Insomniac has an incredible lineage and is much more than just Spider-man, but things did get a little choppy from 2013-2014, it's just the truth. Insomniac ventured off and worked with EA and then Microsoft. Both projects were failures, but since then they've come back strong.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 2111d ago
HeisenbergX2113d ago

Oh stop it already with these “purchasing sprees” articles from MS to make them seem like it’s some big deal and that they bought a fifty studios.. makes me cringe

ILostMyMind2113d ago

Insomniac is safe from Microsoft now. Thanks, Sony.

ApocalypseShadow2113d ago

Microsoft bought most of their new studios at their lowest and barely holding on with kick starter donations.. Sony buys Insomniac at their highest.

The value of just one and a tweet was worth more than the sum of all those developers purchased by their competitor.

Atom6662113d ago

Well there's something you don't see in too many econ classrooms.

Yeah take that MS! Buying studios full of creative and hardworking devs before they go bankrupt is soooo dumb! Lulz!!

The smart move would be to sign them up for an exclusive 3rd party contract, have them develop a game based on the most popular ip on the planet, sell millions of units, and then pay exponentionally more for the studio afterward.

GTFO with the fanboy nonsense. The fact that both companies are investing significant funds into an industry wrought with layoffs and financial insecurity is a good thing for us all. It's good for Insomniac, those new MS studios, and those of us who are actually fans of gaming.

Quit trying to spin it to meet some childish console war crap.

ApocalypseShadow2112d ago

You tried very hard. But failed just as much. Microsoft's move was borderline vulture capitalist than a friendly gesture. Those companies are only being used to prop up game pass. Nothing more.

And Microsoft also only bought them to stop the bleeding exodus of gamers leaving the platform for more and better quality output of games. But gamers will still have to wait until next gen for any results. A whole gen wasted.

Nintendo fans, PC fans and Sony fans didn't have to wait. You praise Microsoft for saving jobs but only really deflecting their mediocrity in game making. A trillion dollar market cap company shouldn't be in the position they are at now being 17+ years in the industry. Suck on that. They got greedy by trying to take game ownership away and paid for it. They get no respect from me for supposedly saving jobs. They were only saving their own @$$ from dying as a console brand.

mandingo2112d ago

Oh yea ninja theory and obsidian are game pass fillers. Good try

ApocalypseShadow2112d ago (Edited 2112d ago )

Bleeding Edge is straight up game pass quality. That's not going to stop Xbox fans from leaving just like state of decay, sea of thieves and that trash of a lie crackdown 3.

Deflect all you want. Microsoft wouldn't have to buy anyone if they were doing their job right in making games. But they're 50+ million behind. And there's multiple Xbox fan podcasts that show they gave up too. Keep being lead by them Boydingo. They need blind followers to buy their next system as they put their exclusives on other platforms.

Atom6662112d ago (Edited 2112d ago )

"Suck on that"

For real, kid. Just stop.

Vulture capitalism? Seriously? First, please share the source for your claim these acquired companies were near bankruptcy. Second, if these studios are so bad, who do you think MS intends to sell them to once they invest millions into them to just make "Game Pass filler?"

Been enjoying Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo, and PC for a long time. Despite the exorbitant efforts and mental gymnastics you're going through, I'm going to keep on enjoying them, but feel free to keep at it!

I'm glad MS and Sony are heavily investing. It's good for the industry and for me.

I'm still baffled that you'd think making acquisitions that are good for the consumer, good for their portfolio, good for their potential ROI, and good for the devs is somehow console war ammunition.

Donnie812113d ago

Playground and obsidian are just as good probably better. Insomniac is a quality dev no doubt though. The more games the better

BLow2113d ago

I get it. Playground make some great racing games but let's see what else they can do before we put them on that level. Hell I would love for them to do an original IP and not Fable in my opinion. I mean even Forza isn't original.

Again I'm not knocking them but I really want to see something original from them. Obsidian is a nice pickup too and Outer Worlds looks good. But it's also coming to PlayStation. It's not exclusive.

Insomniac just came off of selling the highest Superhero game ever and they also have a really good track record. I mean fanboys sure were excited when they decided to make Sunset Overdrive exclusive to Xbox and now it's like they're no big deal lol. You can't make this stuff up.

I mean we gonna downplay Spyro back in the day, Ratchet and Clank, Resistance, and now Spiderman? What else has Playground done? I might give you Obsidian but that even is a stretch.

No disagree from me but I would say Insomniac is on top and the others good but not on their level yet. Notice I said yet. They have huge potential though....

SyntheticForm2113d ago

I haven't seen enough of Playground's work to make such a claim, and the jury's still out on Obsidian, imo. Both need more time and games in their portfolio - again imo.

I've played many Insomniac games, and have enjoyed them all. They're quite proven.

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140°

Introducing Project Defiant, the first wireless fight stick designed by Sony

First look at the upcoming controller, which uses PlayStation Link technology to deliver wireless connectivity with ultra-low latency for fighting games.

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blog.playstation.com
darthv721d 17h ago

Interesting.... I'll get one.

1d 14h ago
Babadook71d 14h ago (Edited 1d 14h ago )

Great for Marvel Tokon Fighting
Souls (which looked amazing).

Disccordia1d 9h ago

It can also be used wired which is fairly important to note. Anybody using this thing competitively won't go anywhere near wireless.

170°

CD Projekt RED History Suggests The Witcher 4 Demo May Be More Marketing Than Gameplay

The history of CD Projekt RED suggests that the recently shown demo for The Witcher 4 may be more marketing than actual gameplay.

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twistedvoxel.com
Sonyslave32d ago

Not only CDPR but Epic Games as well i still haven't seen any game with that fidelty of that Ps5 tech demo .. that was 2020

VenomUK1d 16h ago (Edited 1d 16h ago )

Digital Foundry in its reaction video said they believe the demo reflects real performance, as overstating it’s competence on PS5 could bring significant risks to Epic Games’ shareholders and legal risks.

https://youtu.be/5PIyPpB83V...

Eonjay1d 1h ago

Actually Horizon Forbidden West exceeds this in image quality. So it seems very plausible. Intergalactic is actually beyond this presntation in IQ, RT and resolution and thats locked 60FPS as well. As far as the usage of hardware RT in UE, they were able to reduce the CPU overhead.

This was a tech demo for UE 5.6. That was clearly stated and is evident by the presentation itself where several of the new features of UE are highlighted

This article title is inaccurate because this was not a demo for Witcher 4. It was a technical demonstration of Unreal Engine 5.6.

Christopher1d 23h ago (Edited 1d 23h ago )

***Cyberpunk 2077’s gameplay features that were showcased in initial footage but never made it into the final game***

They literally made a big deal of telling everyone that they changed the gameplay of CP2077 during development and then did a new demo of the game with the new gameplay. There was no hiding this to the public. CP2077's problem with the buggy as heck and obviously too early release.

This is really bad journalism to promote this line of thinking. It's an attempt to rewrite history. You can definitely say you preferred the initial demo, but they were very open and clear when they moved from third-person to first-person that it would include major changes in gameplay and showed those off multiple times a year prior to the game's release.

---

As to the point of this article? Yeah, the whole event is a marketing event. I don't trust anything until it's released, tbh. No matter who is making it. I can still be excited by what I see, but it's not going to get me to pre-order a game or get me to go out there and sell what I saw as if it will be just like that in the full release.

neutralgamer19921d 18h ago

What about the fact CDPR showed gameplay behind closed doors which wasn't real? They dusnt allow anyone to bring their phones or any tech so once media came out of that gameplay reveal CP2077 was hyped to the moon and back. CDPR didn't show console gameplay so let's not act like they were transparent when they switched from 3rd to 1st person when they lied at launch of the game

Christopher1d 17h ago

You mean rumors? You want me to comment on rumors from Bloomberg? We arguing the belief of rumors now and not news?

Here's that fake demo - https://www.youtube.com/wat...

If you've played the game, you know how much that lines up with the final product. That's what I know.

***let's not act like they were transparent when they switched from 3rd to 1st person when they lied at launch of the game***

They literally re-demoed the game with the change, so they were transparent. You're just acting like they weren't when in 2018 they literally demoed the new gameplay. That's 2 years prior to release.

I don't know what they 'lied at launch of the game' is supposed to mean.

-

This game had enough wrong with it at release that we don't need to be arguing rumors and online hatred of the gameplay changes shown in 2018.

neutralgamer19921d 17h ago

Christopher, just to clarify — I'm not trying to be overly negative or dismissive. I fully acknowledge that CD Projekt Red was transparent when they switched from third-person to first-person and even re-demoed the game to reflect that. Credit where it’s due — they did show that change publicly.

But the real issue for me is how the game launched. Despite that transparency earlier on, they deliberately withheld gameplay from the console versions and still charged full price for something that was nowhere near ready. That’s where trust was broken. The game was released in a clearly unfinished and broken state, and it took years to get it into a playable condition. That goes beyond mistakes — that’s a serious failure in leadership and consumer respect.

So when I see something like the Witcher 4 tech demo — and yes, I understand it’s Epic showcasing Unreal Engine 5 — I can’t help but approach it with caution. It’s not blind skepticism, but earned skepticism. A lot of the original developers have left CDPR, so we can’t assume this next game will automatically reach Witcher 3 levels of excellence.

I want it to be amazing. We all do. But I’m not going to fully believe the hype until independent gamers and trusted content creators — people with a reputation for honesty and not being paid off — get their hands on it and say, “Yes, this is great.” Until then, it’s just marketing.

They built up enormous goodwill after The Witcher 3 and the free DLCs — but they lost much of that with Cyberpunk's release. Even platform holders like PlayStation and Xbox, who once trusted CDPR to self-certify, don’t anymore. That alone speaks volumes.

Again, it’s not hate — it’s caution born from experience

CrimsonIdol1d 16h ago

"Despite that transparency earlier on, they deliberately withheld gameplay from the console versions"
It was a multiplatform release, and yes they botched it, but clearly consoles weren't lead development platform, PC was. They clearly were hoping that they could get everything together by launch, and this was a mistake. I think them showing this running on a PS5 is a clear indicator that they've learnt from this.

But there are plenty of reasons not to get too excited about this, and it's not hidden behind any lies, it's right there watermarked on the footage. this is a technical presentation of the Unreal 5 engine, running on the PS5 at 60fps. This is technology that may be in the Witcher, this is not the Witcher.

Lightning771d 23h ago

Because it is marketing. Epic did the flying sand girl in 2020 now this with Witcher. I still wanna see what games shows the original showing of Unreal 5? It's been 5 years exactly.

Michiel19891d 18h ago

ofc it is, no real gameplay suddenly xrays a horse to show how its muscles are moving realistically.

CrimsonIdol1d 16h ago

It literally had text telling you it wasn't gameplay.

Extermin8or3_22h ago

They were literally showing off the fact it seamlessly can transition from gameplay to ctsceme those aspects of presentation were clear cutscenes....

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90°

Giant Skull, A Studio Founded By Respawn Veterans, Is Making A D&D Game

The studio was founded in March of 2024 by Stig Asmussen, director of the Star Wars: Jedi games.

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gameinformer.com