Housemarque

**Housemarque Oy** is a Finnish game developer based in Helsinki, Finland. It was founded in 1995 as a result of a merger between **Bloodhouse** and **Terramarque**, which were originally founded in 1993. It is the oldest existing game developer in Finland, and a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment, operating under PlayStation Studios.

Prior to 2020, Housemarque was best known for its focus on arcade and twin-stick shooters, having developed *Super Stardust* series, based on the *Stardust* games the company's predecessors developed. Since 2007, the studio has been primarily collaborating with Sony Interactive Entertainment to produce titles exclusive to the company's PlayStation consoles. Among those titles are *Dead Nation*, *Resogun*, *Alienation* and *Matterfall*.

Beginning with 2017, Housemarque shifted away from arcade shooters due to the genre's little commercial success. The studio shifted focus on bigger budget titles as well as live-service games. In 2020, the studio announced a new title published by Sony as their first AAA game, *Returnal*. The game's critical and commercial success was followed by Sony's acquisition of Housemarque in June 2021.

Housemarque's games have been well-received by gaming publications for their visual style, playability and action. Commercially their games have not been as successful as their critical reception, with Housemarque citing its financial struggles as a reason to moving away from their original output. Their work on *Returnal* was acclaimed for Housemarque's successful transition into AAA production.

## History

### 2020 - current: *Returnal*, acquisition by Sony

In June 2020, Housemarque's AAA game was announced as *Returnal*, published by Sony for the PlayStation 5. Marketing for the game began to intensify by December, and the game was slated for a March 2021 release before getting pushed to a month later for further polish. *Returnal* was released to highly positive reviews and was noted by Sony to be a commercial success, selling over 560,000 copies by June 2021. A PC port was released in February 2023 to similar acclaim.

By 2020, several companies were looking into acquiring Housemarque; according to Kuittinen, they received proposals from companies based in counties such as Sweden, China and the United States; among potential buyers was Xbox maker Microsoft. Talks ultimately continued with publisher Sony, though they were halted to allow Housemarque focus on finishing development for *Returnal*. In June 2021, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that it has acquired Housemarque.

In March 2022, Housemarque managing director Ilari Kuittinen confirmed the studio was working on a new intellectual property following *Returnal* and the studio's acquisition. By September 2022, Housemarque rose to 100 employees. In October 2023, Housemarque announced that it would be transitioning into a new headquarters facility based in downtown Helsinki by the end of 2024; brand director Mikael Haveri dubbed it as "one of the Nordics' most advanced gaming headquarters".

On November 20, 2023, Krueger announced his departure from the studio after 14 years.

## Relationship with other studios

### Guerrilla Games

Housemarque was a support studio on Guerrilla Games' 2006 *Killzone: Liberation* for the PlayStation Portable.

## Games developed

*The following only includes titles owned and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.*

## References

1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0pz7gESU20&ab\_channel=AcademyofInteractiveArts%26Sciences
2. ↑ https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/playstation-housemarque-acquisition-other-companies/
3. ↑ Xbox Gaming M&A declassified document, page 44.
4. ↑ https://www.axios.com/2021/06/29/sony-playstation-housemarque-returnal-gaming
5. ↑ https://venturebeat.com/2022/03/02/housemarque-looks-back-on-returnals-success/
6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0pz7gESU20&ab\_channel=AcademyofInteractiveArts%26Sciences
7. ↑ https://housemarque.com/news/2023/10/3/housemarques-new-house
8. ↑ https://housemarque.com/news/2023/11/16/harry-krueger-to-depart-from-housemarque-after-almost-15-remarkable-years

***Stardust***
*Super Stardust HD* - *Super Stardust Delta*
**Other Titles**
*Dead Nation* - *Resogun* - *Alien Nation* - *Matterfall* - *Returnal*