Sony buys inFamous dev Sucker Punch
Bigs up 2011 PlayStation exclusives.
Sony has bought inFamous and Sly Cooper developer Sucker Punch.
The US studio, which has been making PlayStation games exclusively for over a decade, is now part of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, joining the likes of LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule and Uncharted developer Naughty Dog.
"Sucker Punch Productions is one of the most highly acclaimed development studios in the industry and we have enjoyed a wonderful relationship with the company for over 12 years," SCE WorldWide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida said. "We are delighted to officially welcome them to the SCE family.
"The addition of Sucker Punch to SCE WWS reiterates our dedication to developing world class gaming experiences that can only be found on the PlayStation platform. With one of the strongest exclusive software lineups in the PS3's history, combined with the diverse, innovate content in the works for PlayStation Vita, consumers have a lot to be excited about this year."
Last month, following the launch of PlayStation 3 exclusive superhero game inFamous 2, Sucker Punch advertised for staff to work on a new PS3 game. Is it inFamous 3? Last year Sucker Punch told Eurogamer it would give "serious thought" to a request from Sony to create a third game in the superhero series.
"We'll see where we want to go next," Sucker Punch co-founder Bruce Oberg said. "That could be with Sony. We have a great relationship with them. We love the PlayStation platform. I'm not lying when I tell you it's a really killer technological platform for us to work on.
"The support and marketing, and also their approach to us, to let us make the game we want to make, is really incredible. Our relationship with Sony has been just incredible, all through the Sly series and all through inFamous."
The previously independent studio did not own the inFamous intellectual property – an arrangement it described as a "small price to pay" for the "freedom to make the game we want to make".
Sony did not disclose the financial terms of the acquisition.