Sony Buys Sucker Punch, Stops 'Em From Pulling an Insomniac

Sucker Punch and Insomniac Games were in similar places for a while, both producing games exclusively for Sony platforms without actually being a wholly owned entity of Sony.

Whereas Insomniac Games struck a deal with EA Partners to expand onto Xbox 360 with OverStrike, Sucker Punch is headed in the other direction. Sony announced it's purchasing the studio in the wee hours of this morning (or, if you're me, late at night).

No financial terms of the deal were disclosed, but this deal puts another solid studio (16 total!) under Sony's roof.

"We've enjoyed an incredible relationship with Sony that has allowed us to combine our creative design capabilities with their guidance to make some of the best franchises to hit the PlayStation platforms," said Sucker Punch managing partner Brian Flemingin the press release. "Equally important, the relationship with SCE has provided us the flexibility and trust to take creative risks and invent new properties."

Sucker Punch and Sony most recently collaborated on inFamous 2, released back in June.

I'm surprised Sony didn't buy them earlier, but good for Sucker Punch.

but i still hope Sucker Punch's next title is something new.

I thought they already owned them.

They should give them more money to make games.

Hmm I liked Infamous and played the demo of infamous 2 and said yeah more infamous....Oh wait you mean I'm still underpowered and easily overwhelmed. Count me out. But this is good news for them cause obviously Sony is doing something right to keep David Jaffe around.

Most people would be sleep right now, but Patrick? He's all like 'naw son, f that noise. Sleep is for chumps!'
 
Also, can't wait to see what Sucker Punch does next.

Those Naughty Dogs.

@buhssuht: Isn't Sucker Punch's next title Sly 4?

@Little_Socrates: it's being developed by different company

@Jazzycola said:

Hmm I liked Infamous and played the demo of infamous 2 and said yeah more infamous....Oh wait you mean I'm still underpowered and easily overwhelmed. Count me out. But this is good news for them cause obviously Sony is doing something right to keep David Jaffe around.

David Jaffe doesn't work for Sucker Punch...?

Oh man, I had totally forgotten about OverStrike until just now. That game looked cool.

Hmmm, I'd like to see them do something new.

@Jazzycola said:

Hmm I liked Infamous and played the demo of infamous 2 and said yeah more infamous....Oh wait you mean I'm still underpowered and easily overwhelmed. Count me out. But this is good news for them cause obviously Sony is doing something right to keep David Jaffe around.

David Jaffe doesn't work for Sucker Punch...?

Their Europe studios are kinda lame, fix that!

Sony definitely has the best 1st party studios out there.

"Holy shit, inFamous fucking rules!" said Sony. 
 
"Fuck! inFamous 2 rules too!" said Sony. 
 
"Gonna fucking buy these guys... putting in PayPal info now..." and Sucker Punch was bought. 
 
And that's how business works.

Anyways, this is pretty good news. I've enjoyed Sucker Punch's games over the past decade, and I'm looking forward to whatever they have next. Yes, even if it's Infamous 3.

@zakkro said:

@Jazzycola said:

Hmm I liked Infamous and played the demo of infamous 2 and said yeah more infamous....Oh wait you mean I'm still underpowered and easily overwhelmed. Count me out. But this is good news for them cause obviously Sony is doing something right to keep David Jaffe around.

David Jaffe doesn't work for Sucker Punch...?

Wasn't saying he worked for Sucker Punch...I meant that Sony is doing something right with their first party developers to keep David Jaffe with them considering his personality. Most of the developers that Sony has under its belt seem pretty happy

Sony has so good first party games. I remember when I had to decide between 360 and PS3 I looked at the exclusive line up and Microsoft just had nothing for me. They still don't beside some of their great DLC games.

@Jazzycola said:

@zakkro said:

@Jazzycola said:

Hmm I liked Infamous and played the demo of infamous 2 and said yeah more infamous....Oh wait you mean I'm still underpowered and easily overwhelmed. Count me out. But this is good news for them cause obviously Sony is doing something right to keep David Jaffe around.

David Jaffe doesn't work for Sucker Punch...?

Wasn't saying he worked for Sucker Punch...I meant that Sony is doing something right with their first party developers to keep David Jaffe with them considering his personality. Most of the developers that Sony has under its belt seem pretty happy

Ah, okay. Just wanted a clarification; I agree.

A great company to acquire, good on sony. hopefully Sucker Punch is given creative freedom.

Never a good thing when major publishers gobble up studios. Though it may make business sense for Sony, I'm not going to applaud them for looking out for their corporate self-interest.

At best, gamers lose potential platform choice for future Sucker Punch games, Sucker Punch are unaffected by this purchase, and they get some extra marketing heft behind them. At worst, they lose creative/administrative control, or get dissolved.

Good luck to them - I enjoyed inFamous 2 - but I never like it when this happens. As Jeff said on the podcast - these kinds of acquisitions are always great for everyone... until they aren't. All it takes is one dud, one sales target not met, and you're potentially dust.

I'll never understand why gamers like and/or "applaud" these moves, unless you're a shareholder in the publisher involved.

- Scott

@Little_Socrates said:

@buhssuht: Isn't Sucker Punch's next title Sly 4?

No, it's being developed by a different studio.. Sadly it will probably go the way of the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro games after the original developers left those.

I just hope these guys aren't stuck developing inFamous sequels until the end of time now. I loved the first two, but the second didn't leave much room for a sequel (yes, I'm aware how they could work around it) but it just doesn't need to happen any time soon. Let's see some new IP's.

I can only imagine the Sucker Punch employees being pulled into a tall, black skyscraper on a conveyor belt with suited Sony businessmen all around chanting "One of us".

Thought they already owned them.

Make. More. Sly.

Say what you will, these tactics have done Sony some good as their exclusive games are certainly more impressive then what Microsoft have offered. Wise purchase for the future I think.

Looking forward to seeing their next project!

I vaguely remember Sucker punch saying somewhere that they would love to be a part of the Sony family as in first party. So good news.

I approve of this. 
A fine addition to the already impressive line-up of companies creating games exclusively for Sony. 

Guys, Microsoft doesn't need to buy any studios. The sales of the Xbox have been kicking the ass of the PS3 for years.

It's nice that they will probably have more money and support, but at the same time, being wholly owned by another company means that your parent corp can axe you if it wants to.

I hope Sony works with Sucker Punch, instead of working Sucker Punch, if you get what I mean. Sony have been pretty smart about how they handle their relationships with their various studios, but when you control something there is always the temptation to mess with it. I hope the suits at Sony know when to leave a good thing alone.

inFamous and sucker punch are meh!

I don't like this at all, system exclusives are bad for the end consumer.

While I found inFAMOUS 2 to be just an alright game (at least Story wise) it was very addicting, I think I pulled 12 hours in a single day over like 2-3 sessions to finish it off. I see this certainly being a good thing.

@Korolev said:

It's nice that they will probably have more money and support, but at the same time, being wholly owned by another company means that your parent corp can axe you if it wants to.

I hope Sony works with Sucker Punch, instead of working Sucker Punch, if you get what I mean. Sony have been pretty smart about how they handle their relationships with their various studios, but when you control something there is always the temptation to mess with it. I hope the suits at Sony know when to leave a good thing alone.

while that may be a concern, with the way Infamous has been selling (ok, but not too great, sadly) sucker punch was also in danger of just shutting down from not making enough money and not being able to survive on its own. Also, since sony bought Naughty Dog, you could argue they got even better than when they were independent (but Jak and Crash were still awesome)

Patrick, you are awesome getting this story first before the other gaming publications, at least the ones I follow. Keep up the awesome work man. You are some trooper

Wow Sony has the best butt barn of first party studios out of anyone. Their next systems are probably going to have amazing launch titles. Good investment for the future, but I'm surprised that Sucker Punch weren't already owned by Sony.

Make. More. Sly.

Good for Sony. 

I don't like this at all, system exclusives are bad for the end consumer.

@LordCmdrStryker: How annoying are spoiler warning's really? I guarantee they're less annoying that reading REAL spoilers.

I haven't played through Portal 2 yet so thanks for fucking that up - only realised halfway through the sentence. Congrats.

And for the record, not everyone has time to play games as soon as they're released. Douche.

Yay! I'm happy for them.

Their Europe studios are kinda lame, fix that!

@TheJollyRajah said:

@Snapstacle said:

Their Europe studios are kinda lame, fix that!

I think Sony owns Media Molecule? If they d then LBP would like to have a chat with you.

UK's fine, I meant the rest of it. Mostly Guerrilla and some third parties not doing much of anything.

There's only one problem with this deal: every game Sucker Punch has ever made SUCKS! 

@JohnPaulVann said:

                There's only one problem with this deal: every game Sucker Punch has ever made SUCKS!