Insomniac joins Playstation

Wow, good move by Sony. But Insomniac better remember the past when Sony didn’t seem at all like they were interested in the developer after they made three Resistance games and the Ratchet & Clank series for the platform-holder. Back then Sony was laser focused on getting a popular shooter hit franchise which they never quite got but thankfully they are back to focusing on their strengths in making unique games with compelling narrative.

Insomniac better remember its “what have you done for me lately”. Spiderman was a huge hit and I’ll gamble good money Insomniac will be on that IP for a while to come. Good news for me since I loved Spiderman and plan on getting back into it to complete the DLC.

But Sony has shown willingness to allow its developers to branch off to create something new so Insomniac shouldn’t be too worried about being stifled creatively and the cash influx from Sony offers much desired stability. Insomniac just needs to keep cranking out hit games and they will be fine.
 
Wow, good move by Sony. But Insomniac better remember the past when Sony didn’t seem at all like they were interested in the developer after they made three Resistance games and the Ratchet & Clank series for the platform-holder. Back then Sony was laser focused on getting a popular shooter hit franchise which they never quite got but thankfully they are back to focusing on their strengths in making unique games with compelling narrative.

Insomniac better remember its “what have you done for me lately”. Spiderman was a huge hit and I’ll gamble good money Insomniac will be on that IP for a while to come. Good news for me since I loved Spiderman and plan on getting back into it to complete the DLC.

But Sony has shown willingness to allow its developers to branch off to create something new so Insomniac shouldn’t be too worried about being stifled creatively and the cash influx from Sony offers much desired stability. Insomniac just needs to keep cranking out hit games and they will be fine.

They never stopped working with them though. There has never been a time where they didn't have a game in development for Sony.
 
They never stopped working with them though. There has never been a time where they didn't have a game in development for Sony.

Yeah, just pointing out how Insomniac has to keep producing hits or its lights out. Sony has a business to run and will not hesitate to shutter the studio like they have done in the past, although they do seem to allow for multiple bombs before exercising the nuclear option to shutter a dev house. Creative vision will be dictated to Insomniac by platform-holder Sony.

As long as Platinum Games remains independent I'm good. :wink:
 
Sunset came out at the wrong time when xbox had still pissed many off. Think it would do much better now.

Would love a 4K patch.


Good move for Sony
 
One of the most creative games to ever grace an Xbox. The talent was obvious.

I really need to play Sunset Overdrive for more than a few hours. It was fun but I suspect with my wondering eye something must have drew my attention from it but for the life of me I can't remember what game that could have been.

MSFT is now finally realizing the importance of platform exclusivity even when a particular game doesn't sell all that well. Said underperforming game still contributes to the strategy for success of its platform. Game Pass finally made MSFT see this and are now investing heavily in internal development which is great. I think MSFT missed out on not getting Insomniac for themselves but who's to say they weren't approached by MSFT and would rather do business with a familiar partner.
 
One of the most creative games to ever grace an Xbox. The talent was obvious.
More like a modern jet set radio.

There was no real incentive for them to buy them. Plus Insomniac always seemed like a studio that want to stay independant.
 
Yeah, just pointing out how Insomniac has to keep producing hits or its lights out. Sony has a business to run and will not hesitate to shutter the studio like they have done in the past, although they do seem to allow for multiple bombs before exercising the nuclear option to shutter a dev house. Creative vision will be dictated to Insomniac by platform-holder Sony.

As long as Platinum Games remains independent I'm good. :wink:

Sure a couple stinkers and they are in trouble just like anyone but given how things went when they didn't work with Sony they are probably safer with them than without them. 20 years of success with them plus Spiderman means those concerns are many years off.

More like a modern jet set radio.

There was no real incentive for them to buy them. Plus Insomniac always seemed like a studio that want to stay independant.

I think if the timeline was different and they released Sunset now and Spiderman didn't exist Microsoft would have been interested. But at the time Microsoft didn't have the vision or available check book to do it.
 
This surprises me about as much as Playground Games joining Microsoft.
 
Thought they owned them lol
I used to think Sony owned Insomniac back when they were making Resistance games, but I never was a researcher of developers back then.
 
Insomniac are a fantastic studio full of talent and creativity. This is not only a big acquisition for talent but also size. Insomniac has to be one of the largest acquisitions in the past 10 years. They have over 300 people will instantly become Sony's 3rd biggest studio behind Naughty Dog and Guerrilla. They will bolster Sony's line up.Remember when UC4 was delayed and Santa Monica's game was cancelled in 2014? Had Sony owned Insomniac Sunset Overdrive could have covered that. It cannot be understated how much this will improve PS5 and PSVR2's line up. They are capable of working on two AAA games along with multiple VR games at the same time and this is without Sony's cash injection to improve the studio.
 
Yeah, just pointing out how Insomniac has to keep producing hits or its lights out. Sony has a business to run and will not hesitate to shutter the studio like they have done in the past, although they do seem to allow for multiple bombs before exercising the nuclear option to shutter a dev house. Creative vision will be dictated to Insomniac by platform-holder Sony.

As long as Platinum Games remains independent I'm good.


Sony gives their studios a lot of freedom, they also won't shut this studio down unless they absolutely have to simply because of what it likely took to acquire them, it's not like they are some little studio that hasn't produced any hits. This had to be a massive investment, it's probably the biggest studio they've ever purchased and that actually gives insomniac some nice cover for quite a while.
 
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Sony gives their studios a lot of freedom, they also won't shut this studio down unless they absolutely have to simply because of what it likely took to acquire them, it's not like they are some little studio that hasn't produced any hits. This had to be a massive investment, it's probably the biggest studio they've ever purchased and that actually gives insomniac some nice cover for quite a while.

I’m not sure what it took to acquire Insomniac but I’ll bet the studio’s value got a huge bump from the success of Spiderman. But lets not forget the Resistance series which failed to gain much traction. Their Ratchet & Clank series while cute also hasn’t been that big of a deal. And Sunset Overdrive failed to meet expectations for MSFT which is probably why they passed on offering Insomniac the chance to make a sequel.

Insomniac is a talented studio but they don’t produce sure fire hits. Its likely Sony wants them to produce more Spiderman games and maybe even revisit the Ratchet & Clank series. And speaking of Spiderman I have to wonder how the recent fallout between Marvel and Sony will affect the Spiderman games going forward. Sony only owns the movie rights to Spiderman while Marvel/Disney retains the rights to animation/gaming/merchandising….pretty much everything not live action related.
 
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I’m not sure what it took to acquire Insomniac but I’ll bet the studio’s value got a huge bump from the success of Spiderman. But lets not forget the Resistance series which failed to gain much traction. Their Ratchet & Clank series while cute also hasn’t been that big of a deal. And Sunset Overdrive failed to meet expectations for MSFT which is probably why they passed on offering Insomniac the chance to make a sequel.

Insomniac is a talented studio but they don’t produce sure fire hits. Its likely Sony wants them to produce more Spiderman games and maybe even revisit the Ratchet & Clank series. And speaking of Spiderman I have to wonder how the recent fallout between Marvel and Sony will affect the Spiderman games going forward. Sony only owns the movie rights to Spiderman while Marvel/Disney retains the rights to animation/gaming/merchandising….pretty much everything not live action related.

I think you are looking at it negatively. Spider-man truly showcased how talented Insomniac were they just needed an I.P to showcase their talent just Horizon did with Guerrilla. Spider-man has been huge for them but Ratchet and Clank on PS4 was their most successful game before Spider-man I believe. Sunset Overdrive was not marketed well enough and was on a console which was still reeling from the always online DRM issues plus I would guess 90% of players are on Playstation. Before Sunset Overdrive they did 3 Resistance games and multiple Ratchet games too, they wouldn't continue those franchises unless they were successful. What Spider-man will do is give them even more leverage to make a new I.P but Sony did already allow that with Resistance last gen.
 
I’m not sure what it took to acquire Insomniac but I’ll bet the studio’s value got a huge bump from the success of Spiderman. But lets not forget the Resistance series which failed to gain much traction. Their Ratchet & Clank series while cute also hasn’t been that big of a deal. And Sunset Overdrive failed to meet expectations for MSFT which is probably why they passed on offering Insomniac the chance to make a sequel.

Insomniac is a talented studio but they don’t produce sure fire hits. Its likely Sony wants them to produce more Spiderman games and maybe even revisit the Ratchet & Clank series. And speaking of Spiderman I have to wonder how the recent fallout between Marvel and Sony will affect the Spiderman games going forward. Sony only owns the movie rights to Spiderman while Marvel/Disney retains the rights to animation/gaming/merchandising….pretty much everything not live action related.

Definitely a good bump but probably not as crazy as you might expect since they have no valuable IPs. Good games failing are as much the fault of the publisher. Sony has improved massively in the past 10 years and something like Sunset Overdrive might never be a huge hit it should have done better. That has to fall on Microsoft.

I'm sure they are locked into their deal for x number of games/years. Whatever Marvel hoped to get out of Sony making a game they got and then some so its nothing I would worry about. Even if they can get out of it and were petty enough to try its a terrible PR situation.
 
Hey Timmy, Sunset Overdrive paved the way for Spiderman. The Insomniac devs stated when Marvel offered them their catalog of characters to choose from to make a game they went with Spiderman because of the experience and tech they developed from Sunset Overdrive. So in a very real sense we got the awesome Spiderman game because of Sunset Overdrive.

I apologize if I seem negative about the acquisition. I think Insomniac are a great studio with a lot of talent and have made games that went a little underappreciated. I just think we should remember their past which is something I'll bet Sony is more aware of than anyone since they worked with them for so long before buying them. But don't forget Resistance franchise was funded for so long because they did get a moderate amount of success but it was more about Sony so feverishly looking for a shooter flagship title that would put up huge numbers.
 
Hey Timmy, Sunset Overdrive paved the way for Spiderman. The Insomniac devs stated when Marvel offered them their catalog of characters to choose from to make a game they went with Spiderman because of the experience and tech they developed from Sunset Overdrive. So in a very real sense we got the awesome Spiderman game because of Sunset Overdrive.

I apologize if I seem negative about the acquisition. I think Insomniac are a great studio with a lot of talent and have made games that went a little underappreciated. I just think we should remember their past which is something I'll bet Sony is more aware of than anyone since they worked with them for so long before buying them. But don't forget Resistance franchise was funded for so long because they did get a moderate amount of success but it was more about Sony so feverishly looking for a shooter flagship title that would put up huge numbers.

But Sony wouldn't continue the franchise if isn't wasn't successful. Sony will be aware of their past but I am sure Insomniac are determined to eventually make an I.P synonymous with their studio (that they own) just like Uncharted with ND. I just feel we are seeing a much more confident, talented and bold Insomniac after Spider-man and it as truly put them on the map and I am sure Sony will invest heavily in their future. I understand why you are sceptical but this is a SIE and Insomniac who have now found their footing and confidence and I truly cannot wait for their future games.
 
I’m not sure what it took to acquire Insomniac but I’ll bet the studio’s value got a huge bump from the success of Spiderman. But lets not forget the Resistance series which failed to gain much traction. Their Ratchet & Clank series while cute also hasn’t been that big of a deal. And Sunset Overdrive failed to meet expectations for MSFT which is probably why they passed on offering Insomniac the chance to make a sequel.

Insomniac is a talented studio but they don’t produce sure fire hits. Its likely Sony wants them to produce more Spiderman games and maybe even revisit the Ratchet & Clank series. And speaking of Spiderman I have to wonder how the recent fallout between Marvel and Sony will affect the Spiderman games going forward. Sony only owns the movie rights to Spiderman while Marvel/Disney retains the rights to animation/gaming/merchandising….pretty much everything not live action related.

They likely had contracts worked out for sequels in the original deal, the movie division and the gaming divisions are separate anyway.

Insomniac has a pedigree of success, the resistance games weren't flops at all, the first two sold several million copies each, the 3rd one didn't do as well and they moved on. Ratchet and Clank was a big series for a long time and the recent rebuild was the best selling in the series and they also did the Spyro the dragon games in the past, it's a shame they don't own the IP to that series as well.
 
I'm kind of with Busterman. Insomniac are great. But their games just aren't amongst my most favorite.

Good acquisition though, and I look forward to whatever they do next.
 
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I'm kind of with Busterman. Insomniac are great. But their games just aren't amongst my most favorite.

Good acquisition though, and I look forward to whatever they do next.

Other than Ratchet and Spider-Man they aren't among mine either but I can't argue with results and they've had a lot of success and very few "failures"
 
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What about all their mobile, pc and be games? I heard only one of their vr games was any good, whilst the rest of their titles have been kinda shovelware to stay open, kinda like what ninja theory had to do, only they didn’t have to moonlight at other studios to get a check.
 
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What about all their mobile, pc and be games? I heard only one of their vr games was any good, whilst the rest of their titles have been kinda shovelware to stay open, kinda like what ninja theory had to do, only they didn’t have to moonlight at other studios to get a check.

I wouldn't count mobile simply because we don't play those on console, they probably aren't even handled by anyone who works on the console games, people are still trying to figure out how best to handle VR, I think it's a waste of resources but that's just me.
 
Great investment there, as some are pointing out on other boards Insomniac doesn't own most of the IP's they've worked on so that must be why they came so "cheap"
 
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IMO Microsoft missed the boat on a great developer, for pocket change to boot.
 
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