Housemarque’s CEO reveals pivotal role of Sony acquisition in enabling Saros development
“You couldn’t have made such investments as an independent studio,” Ilari Kuittinen says
The CEO of Housemarque says the studio’s next game Saros would never have been possible had Sony never acquired it.
Housemarque was acquired by Sony in July 2021, three months after the release of its critically acclaimed game Returnal.
Now, in an interview with Finnish publication Helsingin Sanomat (paywalled), CEO and co-founder Ilari Kuittinen has explained that the company’s decision to join PlayStation Studios made it possible to develop a big-budget game like Saros.
Although the budget for Saros is still not confirmed, the article says it is in the tens of millions of euros, and “can be compared to Remedy‘s Alan Wake 2, which has an estimated development and marketing budget of around €70 million… the most expensive cultural production in Finland to date”.
Kuittinen told the publication that development for the game started in 2022, and that “you couldn’t have made such investments as an independent studio”.
Discussing the studio’s past, he also explained how Housemarque previously took on a wide variety of smaller projects to stay in business, including the likes of Flo-Boarding on the Nokia N-Gage and Gizmondo Motorcross 2005 on the ill-fated Gizmondo handheld.
“On every sales and conference trip, you wondered if this was the company’s last outing,” Kuittinen recalled. “The difficult times were made easier by the fact that we were constantly negotiating new projects, so there was always a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Things changed for the company with its relationship with Sony, leading to a string of popular shoot ’em ups like Super Stardust HD on PS3 and Resogun on PS4. It was Returnal, its first big-budget AAA game, which changed its fortunes, however, due to the Sony acquisition which followed.
“We had the feeling that it was better to try to get into a big family than to stay independent for the next few years,” Kuittinen said. “We thought we had to do the deal now.”
Though the amount Sony paid for Housemarque hasn’t been disclosed, it’s thought to be in the tens of millions of euros. The article notes that, according to tax records, Kuittinen and co-founder Harri Tikkanen each raised €9.8 million in capital income in 2022.
“The sale seemed like the best solution for everyone,” Kuittinen explained. “And this has been a long stretch of life.”
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Explaining why he didn’t sell the company before this, when other game developers were being sold for huge amounts during a start-up boom, Kuittinen replied: “Our time was not yet ripe. We have tried to be realistic, even if we have been aiming for the moon.”
Saros was revealed last month. The game stars Rahul Kohli and will continue Returnal‘s theme of sci-fi action, but the games don’t appear to be connected narratively.
“Saros is an action game with the haunting story of a lost off-world colony on Carcosa under an ominous eclipse,” director Gregory Louden said at the time of the game’s reveal. “You play as Arjun Devraj, a powerful Soltari Enforcer who will stop at nothing to find who he is looking for. Our goal is to create an emotional and powerful character study that explores the cost it takes to create a new future.
“Arjun is performed by Rahul Kohli (Midnight Mass, The Fall of the House of Usher). Rahul is truly bringing Arjun to life in a stunning performance. He has been a brilliant collaborator to tell our story and champion for the game. He is also not alone on Carcosa, and we will reveal more of our fantastic ensemble npc cast and story information ahead.”
