In a rumored turn of events, PlayStation has seemingly purchased Arrowhead Game Studios, the revered creators behind the Helldivers franchise. With the success of Helldivers 2, the studio has been in an all-hands-on-deck situation, doing its best to keep the servers up and running, and being transparent with the community about future plans.
The rumor comes as a big surprise since very recently PlayStation laid off about 900 employees from different departments. This information also publicly came out in the context of PlayStation’s vision for the future, and looks like the company is open to experimenting with new devs onboard.
Despite the rumored acquisition of a promising studio, it’s important to address the elephant in the room
At this point, anything vaguely ‘nice for the industry‘ PlayStation chooses to do will seem like a PR stunt. Moreover, there’s little evidence to support the fact that the company can ever make up for the massive layoffs that took place recently, as it has caused a huge wave of career changes for many, as well as the future of PS5 games.
In a post on NeoGAF regarding the acquisition of Arrowhead Game Studios, user Draugoth writes about the latest rumor. There’s little information to back this up, but it will be a surprising deal to see PlayStation actually make such a big move given their recent actions behind the layoffs.
Furthermore, the official Sony Interactive Entertainment blog published recently emphasized the company’s future to make sure that its impact on the industry is positive. A few lines focus on this philosophy:
Our philosophy has always been to allow creative experimentation. Sometimes, great ideas don’t become great games. Sometimes, a project is started with the best intentions before shifts within the market or industry result in a change of plan.
worded by Hermen Hulst, Head of PlayStation Studios
If true, the acquisition of Arrowhead Game Studios could make a positive splash and perhaps give PlayStation Studios another chance at paving the path.
But will it ever truly make up for the jobs people with equal potential have lost in recent times?
What could this mean for the future of Arrowhead and PlayStation?
If the rumors are indeed true, it could change the pace and direction in which the makers of Helldivers 2 are going to lead their projects. Leadership and roles tend to change within a studio (and its parent company) when such deals are made.
We’ve witnessed this before when Microsoft and Activision Blizzard were in a similar space. Although, unlike Xbox, Sony’s vision of the future could be tied to more exclusives.
However, it will be more interesting to see how it impacts the developers’ gameplay and design decisions going forward, since Helldivers 2 is very much a live-service experience that will witness new changes.
What do you think of this rumor? Let us know in the comments below.
