In the last few years, Microsoft has greatly expanded its gaming sector by purchasing quite a few studios. The most notable acquisition was of ZeniMax, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, for a whopping $8.1 billion. In comparison, PlayStation has been rather conservative with its acquisition of studios. When the company does purchase studios, it tends to prefer to do so with the ones it has worked together with for years.

In 2021, Sony acquired five studios, and most of them will be familiar to PlayStation fans. Team Asobi, which was originally part of Japan Studio, also became a member of the PlayStation family. The studios purchased are varied, specializing in several niches including remasters and virtual reality. With these new teams under the PlayStation banner, the platform is in a prime position to churn out more great exclusives for gamers.

RELATED: PlayStation's and Xbox's Studio Acquisition Strategies Highlight Key Differences

Housemarque

returnal atropos dlc expansion housemarque cryptic tease rumor

The Finnish studio Housemarque is no stranger to working with Sony. Over the years, it has released many PlayStation exclusives, including 2013's Resogun which was released as a PS4 launch title. The game highlights the studio's strength, which is making visually impressive bullet-hell games. In 2021, Housemarque released its most ambitious PlayStation game to date. Titled Returnal, it is a roguelike sci-fi game that has the astronaut Selene trapped in a time loop after she crash-lands on an alien planet.

The studio was acquired by Sony on June 29. In an interview with GQ, Ilari Kuittinen, Housemarque's co-founder and managing director, explained that under Sony the studio will be able to pursue more ambitious ideas and collaborate with other PlayStation studios. Although Housemarque has yet to reveal what its plans are now that it is a Sony studio, Ilari did state that the studio intends to use Returnal as a stepping stone to craft future titles that are "bigger and even more ambitious."

Bluepoint

Wander and Shadow of the Colossus

Bluepoint Games has worked with Sony for so long that one would be forgiven for thinking that it has already been a PlayStation studio for ages. The studio is known for crafting quality remakes and remasters, including Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection as well as Shadow of the Colossus. The latest offering from the studio is Demon's Souls, which is a remake of the popular FromSoftware game originally released on PS3. By remaking it for the PS5, Bluepoint breathed new life into the game and led more gamers to discover the frustrating fun of FromSoftware games.

Bluepoint was acquired by Sony in September 2021. The acquisition was a mostly expected one, and it was a popular belief already that it was only a matter of time before the studio would officially become part of the PlayStation family. For its next release, Bluepoint is detouring from its typical focus on remakes, and instead, it is working on an original game.

Firesprite

title art for The Persistance

Based in the UK, Firesprite is a studio that is no stranger to working with Sony. It helped work on The Playroom, a PS4 launch game that requires the PlayStation Camera. It also worked on The Playroom VR, a virtual reality game made to show off PSVR. The studio's work on VR does not stop there, however. Firesprite also worked on the sci-fi VR game The Persistence VR which was later ported to standard television format as well.

Sony acquired Firesprite in September 2021, and Firesprite is expected will help with Sony's VR ventures, which will be important with the upcoming release of the PSVR 2. The studio's next title is Star Citizen, an online multiplayer shooter that will be released on PC. However, with Firesprite's expansion through its acquisition of Fabrik Games, it will have plenty more resources and staff to produce more great PlayStation exclusives.

Nixxes Software

shadow of the tomb raider cover art logoless

Nixxes Software is perhaps the most unexpected acquisition. It is a Dutch studio that specializes in making PC ports of games. Titles it ported to PC include Tomb Raider games, Marvel's Avengers, and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Although gamers should not expect new titles from the studio, it can be relied upon to produce excellent PC ports for PlayStation games.

Nixxes Software was acquired by Sony in July 2021. As Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, explained in an interview with Famitsu magazine, Nixxes Software was invited into the PlayStation family to help with porting more PlayStation games to PC. In the past years, Sony has released a number of its games onto PC including Days Gone, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Detroit: Become Human. It seems Sony has no plans of slowing down with its PC ports, and Nixxes Software will be the one to help it with that endeavor.

Valkyrie Entertainment

God Of War Ragnarok

Valkyrie is probably the least known studio Sony acquired in 2021. It is based in Seattle, and it provides co-development services for other studios. The studio has helped with work on several triple-A games including God of War (2018), Forza Motorsport 7, and inFAMOUS.

Valkyrie is Sony's latest, and like last, acquisition of the year. According to Hermen Hulst, who is head of PlayStation Studios, Valkyrie will "aid in the development of key PlayStation Studios franchises." The studio is helping with God of War Ragnarok which is scheduled to be released in 2022. Although it seems that Valkyrie will not be making any original games, its broad range of knowledge and experience should be of great aid to the rest of the PlayStation family.

Sony's acquisitions in 2021 paint a clear picture of the company's plans for the future. With Nixxes Software, PlayStation will be able to port more games to PC, increasing Sony's footprint in the PC gaming market. Firesprite is around to assist with more VR products, and the remaining studios will ensure that PlayStation also has a steady stream ready to release. While Sony may not be nearly as aggressive as Microsoft when it comes to studio acquisitions, it is clear that it is following a clear strategy to ensure the few acquisitions it does make matter.

MORE: 2021 Was a Great Year for PlayStation Exclusives