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Sony has acquired Dutch developer Nixxes, a long-time Crystal Dynamics collaborator. Effective immediately, the Utrecht-based tech specialists will join the PlayStation Studios Technology, Creative & Services Group to “provide high quality in-house technical and development capabilities for PlayStation Studios”.

Nixxes has worked on games like Marvel’s Avengers and Rise of the Tomb Raider, and is particularly familiar with the PlayStation platforms having handled the ports of those games to the PlayStation 5 and PS4. Unlike developer Housemarque – which Sony also acquired this week – it sounds like the team will be used to provide support across PlayStation’s entire first-party portfolio, rather than as a creative entity.

“I highly respect Nixxes and am excited for this very experienced team to become part of the world-class development community at SIE,” said PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst. “They have a passion for improving games and for delivering the best possible experience for gamers. Nixxes will be a strong asset for everyone across PlayStation Studios, helping our teams focus on their most important goal, which is to create unique PlayStation content at the best possible quality.”

Nixxes is widely considered to be PC port specialists, and will likely contribute towards PlayStation’s larger strategy of bringing more first-party titles to Steam and the Epic Games Store. But its long lineage of 20 years in the industry will also make it an asset when it comes to assisting developers release their titles and ensure they’re as polished as possible.