Two months into the year and we’ve already had news about massive layoffs, canceled games, and subsidiaries effectively buying themselves, presumably to avoid disolution or disbandment. So, when news of a buyout comes along, it feels like a breath of fresh air.
So, you can only imagine the cheers from the patriots who heard that Sony had formally acquired Arrowhead Game Studios.
The developers of Helldivers 2, the viral Starship Troopers-like co-op shooter that’s been on an absolute tear this past month, has worked closely with PlayStation for years. After the breakout success of Helldivers 2, it only makes sense that Sony welcome it to PlayStation Studios, except this didn’t happen.
After an earlier leak revealed that Sony had bought Arrowhead, the studio’s CEO, Johan Pilestedt went on Twitter to deny the claims, saying that this is the first time that he’s heard of such talks and the original source of the rumors, which has since been deleted, had used an old logo of the company.
Normally, most would suspect Pilestedt for downplaying things. But his honesty – he recently revealed that Helldivers 2 has a game master named Joel, among other things – implies that Sony is either not actively trying to purchase Arrowhead Game Studios or the developer has already declined, preferring a partnership instead.
Sony has a history of buying out studios it has had successful partnerships with, as it should. The best example is Insomniac Games, which joined PlayStation Studios in 2019. It has since become one of the best purchases any company has made despite what we all learned following last year’s security breach and the recent statements made by Hiroki Totoki.
On a more positive note, Sony bought Housemarque and Bluepoint Games after the successful releases of Returnal and Demon’s Souls, respectively.
Thus, it stands to reason that Arrowhead Game Studios is next, but for now it doesn’t feel like it’s a priority for the Stockholm-based studio.
With that said, Arrowhead has all the leverage it needs if in case Sony insists on adding to its portfolio of first-party studios. Helldivers 2 is one of the best-selling games of the year, making history as a sales anomaly, as recently noted by an industry analyst.
As it enters its first month of service, Helldivers 2 has shown zero signs of slowing down where most games would’ve lost traction already. It’s already become living proof that Sony was right to invest in the live service genre. If it can keep up its current trajectory, Arrowhead won’t have any problems receiving support from Sony to ensure Helldivers 2 is in the best state possible, regardless of whether it becomes part of PlayStation Studios or not.
