Sony to acquire Firesprite – the studio born out of Sony’s Studio Liverpool closure

Sony has today announced that it will be acquiring Liverpool-based Firesprite to bolster its PlayStation Studios lineup. The studio was founded by industry veterans after the closure of Sony’s own Studio Liverpool (previously Psygnosis) in 2012. 

Now almost ten years later Sony has moved back to the Mersey with an acquisition for an unknown amount. The studio has bloomed in numbers in recent years, with well over 200 staff. You can read more about what it’s like to work at FireSprite in our recent Develop Jobs. 

It has retained strong ties with PlayStation, working on titles such as The Playroom and The Playroom VR, as well as initially making The Persistence exclusively for PlayStation VR, later bringing it to regular console formats with PS5 DualSense improvements. 

The studio becomes the company’s single largest UK operation to our knowledge. Joining PlayStation London Studio and Media Molecule. 

“We are delighted to welcome Firesprite into the PlayStation family,” said Jim Ryan, President & CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment. “We have a rich history of working with the founders of Firesprite and are excited to grow the PlayStation presence in Liverpool. The portfolio of titles Firesprite has developed has continually demonstrated the team’s ability to transcend traditional gameplay experiences and brilliantly showcase the potential of our hardware.”

“Creating quality, state-of-the-art games has always been at the forefront of Firesprite’s work and I’m confident they will push the bar even further as part of PlayStation Studios,” said Hermen Hulst, Head of PlayStation Studios. “Firesprite’s ability to weave best-in-class gameplay with new technology is exceptional and I think fans will be excited about their creative vision for the future.”

“At Firesprite, we’re always striving to bring something new to a game or genre and developing for new technologies is a driving force of our passion,” said Graeme Ankers, Managing Director, Firesprite. “Joining PlayStation Studios will allow us to amplify this passion, working more closely on cutting-edge hardware without any limitations and furthering our studio’s heritage of creativity and technical innovation to offer some truly unique experiences for PlayStation fans.”