Earlier this week, when Sony officially announced its acquisition of Housemarque, an image mistakenly uploaded by PlayStation Japan seemingly confirmed Demon’s Souls developer Bluepoint as well. The picture – utilising the same style as the one for the aforementioned buyout – included Returnal’s protagonist in it, suggesting this was slated to be revealed after the Finnish firm.
To put it bluntly, the picture was highly suspicious: it wasn’t an error because additional effort had been invested into designing it. And if the platform holder has marketing materials ready to run, then it’s perhaps fair to assume that the deal is done – or, at the very least, almost done – behind the scenes. However, the remaster specialist has poured cold water on the speculation.
An update to its Twitter profile now stresses that it’s a “fully independent self-funded studio”. It also added the same language to a bunch of recruitment listings, despite it not being there before. Why it would go to this kind of effort if acquisition talks are already at a late stage is beyond us – but then, we’re also baffled as to why Sony has clearly designed an image to announce a buyout that may not even happen. Let’s wait and see if there’s any movement on this over the next week or so.
[source twitter.com, via bluepointgames.com]
Comments 48
Not for long though 🤣
Just a matter of time
Could it be possible that Bluepoint declined an offer so Sony decided to go with Nixxes instead? Just a thought based on Bluepoint’s recent emphasis on being fully independent.
@DeepSpace5D I wouldn't think so if I had to guess. These deals are made months in advance and if you go to there website it's pretty much all PlayStation they are emphasizing.
@DeepSpace5D They wouldn't have cut a deal that quick I don't think.
Have they actually changed their bio or is it just something people have noticed?
This is an acquisition that is looooong overdue. Sony has so many great games over their long history that could all benefit from Bluepoint's expertise. There will be plenty of eager fans ready to buy whatever they put out as we know it'll be good.
This is definitely an odd case. Not sure what to make of it.
Basically, I think Bluepoint is trolling the users, they like to play with their tweets and so on. I am 100 per cent sure that the buyout is completed, it s just a matter of time for us to see the official announcement
I want to stress it out that they did an excellent job with Demon's Souls.
There is no way this isn't happening eventually.
of course they say that because they need to wait for the official announcement to happen.
@AdamNovice @mrtennis1990
Ya they would have to be in talk with Nixxes for a while before the deal could get done. I was just thinking maybe they were talking to them both for some time now in hopes one of them would sell.
But yes, the change to “fully independent” in their Twitter bio was changed just yesterday.
@DeepSpace5D i'm sure they are waiting to officially announce it , unless they still have paper work to finalize as well.
Yeah that miss tweet I don't see how bluepoint won't be a Sony studio, I mean they practically are anyways. Unless they have backed out last minute I just can't see it not happening.
I respect Bluepoint's desire to stay independent, but at this point it hard to imagine what could be holding them back. Everyone thinks they're a first party studio already, and the financial security Sony could give them has to be appealing.
Occam's razor, people. Clearly whoever made the image PlayStation Japan used meant to write Housemarque, but accidentally wrote Bluepoint.
Bluepoint are now going to announce a remake of Steel Battalion exclusive to Xbox Series X. Yes, you need the insanely expensive controller.
And Hasan Kahraman is a real person. Everything posted on Twitter is true!
Just leave them alone, people.
So....shall we chalk this up to another "human error" like what happened when Demon's Souls was listed as being "console exclusive" for a limited time and also coming to PC?
It also says Bluepoint game, not games. Bluepoint trolling:) I believe it's a done deal with Playstation.
Bluepoint: "move along people, nothing to see here."
@Milktastrophe
Good one.
It is not unrealistic that the negotiations were ongoing but fell through at the last minute.
It would be very weird of them to attempt using “fully independent” for recruiting new employees if they honestly were still entertaining offers.
a great marriage if it does indeed happen
I'm guessing they are possibly doing the same thing as Housemarque ; focusing on shipping a new game first and foremost.
Announcement, if any, will have to wait.
@Milktastrophe Yup. And added two games in the background instead of just one while at it. Honest mistake, could happen to anyone.
Maybe the deal wasn’t finalised, talks fell through at the last minute. Maybe Sony expected them to be on board, hence the image, but they’re not….?
I am just going to assume a deal fell through for now. If Bluepoint's more happy independent, then that's how it has to be!
They're obviously joking around.
I sincerely hope this is just a formality and already a done deal.
If not it wouldn't be the first time a business acquisition was incorrectly leaked early or even terminated at the eleventh hour due to hubris. I hope that isn't the case.
Its clearly just a placeholder till its formally announced. Otherwise Sony announce Housemarque after Nixxes, as that generates bigger excitement within the community. They clearly have another announcement to make, and are just waiting for the right time to reveal their hand. I still say this goes hand in hand with the reveal of Bluepoint's next game - like heres a state of play. Here is metal gear solid remake. Then after the show a blog post drops announcing the acquisition or something
@Jayslow bluepoint...bluebox...blue... bluepoint = 9 letters bluebox =7 letters...9+7 = 16....there's been 16 silent hill games!....bluepoint = silent hills!!!!
I honestly won't speculate too much. When it's done it'll be done and everything will just change accordingly.
Sony also said demons souls was releasing day one on pc and later on other consoles, mistakes happen.
@Amppari They literally never said that.
The video had like small print at the very end that had been copy and pasted from a different video(from the same event)that implied it was a timed exclusive instead of exclusive, or something to that effect.
The blueprint graphic was specifically created to have not only their name and logo, but also edited to include demons souls in the image, where every game image represented one development team on a one for one basis.
That’s a whole different story.
The more I think about it, the weirder it is. I would just be fascinated to learn what happened if Sony isn't actually acquiring Bluepoint.
In order for Sony Japan's Twitter to make that mistake, two people must have independently screwed up — the graphic designer and the Twitter community manager. One person making a mistake is normal, but two independent mistakes is weird.
My guess is that either the Bluepoint acquisition fell apart at the very last minute or they're just being quiet about it.
@ChrisDeku Correct.
As seen with the Bethesda deal, the employees didn't have a clue until shortly before the deal was announced.
So how a Social Media Manager for Bluepoint would know they are NOT getting acquired is quite comical.
Wouldn't be a shock to see an announcement later today.
As a long as they keep making us amazing fan-service remakes, idgaf lol.
They're all independent, right up until they sign the deal.
@Milktastrophe Well no, the Japanese Twitter didn't write anything. They used a different logo, and added a Demon's Souls blade to the image next to Returnal. I'm not sure occams razor can explain that, a little too much effort for a mistake.
There's obviously plans by Sony to acquire Bluepoint. Maybe the plans fell through, or it's still being worked out and they're being cheeky on Twitter again. We'll find out eventually, but that image was definitely made intentionally by Sony.
I'll believe it if nothing changes within the next year...secretly hoping Sony does add Bluepoint though.
Given the lack of original IPs, Sony need someone to keep pumping out endless remakes...
I always thought Bluepoint and Sony had a relationship similar to Disney and Pixar. Working pretty closely for a long time with an eventual buyout. But who knows
50/50, this is either like when Nintendo said they had no new hardware to announce and the n3ds rumors were wrong, days before they announced n3ds, or there was a deal that went as far as a letter of intent, and something went wrong and blue point isn't for sale anymore.... Nintendo Playstation type last minute change, or like when MS was going to buy Squeenix, had the LoI, and then Sony bought bought significant shares and they went off market.
Equal chances it's either.
You would think if this wasn't the case the studio (aka Bluepoint) would have already written a tweet about it completely denying it (any sensate studio would have done that already)…. but they haven't... yea, so...
I think the deal is real and I hope we see a Bloodborne remaster at some point.
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