Head of PlayStation Studios, Hermen Hulst, announced today that Sony has entered a “definitive agreement” acquiring Savage Game Studios. The company was founded in 2020 and boasts a team of industry professionals with years of experience developing popular mobile games.
Savage Game Studios is already working on a AAA mobile live service action game, but it’s apparently “too early to reveal more.” However, in the announcement post, there’s mention of the studio being able to “potentially tap into PlayStation’s amazing catalog of IP” now that it has been acquired.
The key word here is “potentially,” so it’s probably safe to assume the company’s first game will be unrelated to PlayStation’s existing catalog. Additionally, the game has likely been in development way before this acquisition, so unless massive changes are made halfway through, we’re expecting this to be original.
Welcoming Savage Game Studios to the PlayStation Studios family: https://t.co/xUidwYZrfG pic.twitter.com/9my00c62NLAugust 29, 2022
Hulst reassures players that PlayStation’s efforts on mobile will not distract from its commitment to the PS5, its games and the community. He promises that PlayStation’s mobile content will be “similarly addictive,” while simultaneously seeking to “reach new audiences unfamiliar with PlayStation.”
Savage Game Studios CEO, Michail Katkoff, claims that the team wanted to stay small so they could call their own shots and take the risks or experiments that best suit their vision. As a result, it may seem strange that the team would join PlayStation, but Katkoff claims “we made this deal because we believe that PlayStation Studios’ leadership respects our vision for how we can best operate and succeed, and because they too are not afraid to take chances.”
This isn’t PlayStation’s first time going all-in on mobile gaming, and although there will be inevitable worry when people hear the company is investing in mobile, don’t forget PlayStation has quite the history with the PSP, PSVita, and more recently , launching the Backbone One. If we can expect PSP/PSVita quality titles from PlayStation coming out on mobile devices, this will be an exciting initiative.