PlayStation has acquired PC port developer Nixxes Software

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has acquired Dutch development studio Nixxes Software.

Founded in 1999, the Utrecht, Netherlands-based studio is a PC port specialist which has worked on multiple Square Enix properties including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Hitman, Thief, and Legacy of Kain.

Most recently, the studio supported Crystal Dynamics on Marvel’s Avengers.

According to a press release, Nixxes “will join PlayStation Studios Technology, Creative & Services Group to provide high quality in-house technical and development capabilities for PlayStation Studios”.

PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst said: “I highly respect Nixxes and am excited for this very experienced team to become part of the world-class development community at SIE. 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.”

Jurjen Katsman, Nixxes founder and senior director of development, also commented: “We can’t wait to get to work and are so excited to bring our technical and development expertise to an IP powerhouse like PlayStation Studios. We’re looking forward to working with some of the most talented teams in the industry to deliver the highest-quality gameplay experiences for PlayStation fans.”

Earlier this week, SIE announced the acquisition of Returnal developer Housemarque, and PlayStation’s Japanese Twitter account also seemingly leaked news that it has acquired Demon’s Souls developer Bluepoint Games, although this has yet to be confirmed.

SIE CEO Jim Ryan said in May that the company intends to bring some of its “iconic IP” to mobile during its current business year ending in March 2022, following its “very successful” first steps into the PC market.

“We are beginning our journey to take PlayStation first-party IP off console,” he said. “We started last year by publishing two of our games on PC, Horizon Zero Dawn and Predator, and both were profitable, and really had a very successful publishing debut. We will continue that in FY21 and we will continue that beyond.”

Further reading

4

PlayStation is bringing ‘a whole slate’ of games to PC including Days Gone

Jim Ryan says further ports are “a fairly straightforward decision for us to make”

Speaking in June, Hulst said the platform holder was “still early on in our planning for PC” but that its PlayStation consoles would always be the priority for new releases.

“Horizon Zero Dawn has been very successful [on PC],” he said. “I think it shows there’s an appetite from gamers outside the PlayStation ecosystem to experience the amazing portfolio of games that PlayStation fans have enjoyed for years.

“But I want to emphasize that PlayStation will remain the best place to play our PlayStation Studios titles at launch. But we do value PC gamers, and we’ll continue to look at the right times to launch each game. Bend Studio just released the PC version of Days Gone on May 18. So that’s about two years after the PS4 release.

“And I hope that a new set of fans can and will enjoy that title. And that’s the goal — we want to reach new gamers who haven’t yet experienced the great stories, characters, and worlds that we’ve built. Releasing games on PC will not come ever at the expense of building an exciting lineup of great console games.”