PlayStation Studios Acquires 'God Of War' Co-Dev Valkyrie Entertainment

PlayStation's first-party studio family just got a bit bigger.

(Photo : Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)
CHIBA, JAPAN - SEPTEMBER 20: An attendee walks past the PlayStation logo in the Sony Interactive Entertainment booth during the Tokyo Game Show 2018 on September 20, 2018 in Chiba, Japan. The Tokyo Game Show is held from September 20 to 23, 2018.

Valkyrie Entertainment, a long-time co-developer for the iconic "God of War" series, has officially been acquired by PlayStation Studios, reports GamesRadar. Valkyrie will now join a growing first-party developer stable that is working on multiple big-name releases for Sony's consoles.

PS head honcho Hermen Hulst formally announced the acquisition on his Twitter account:

As you can see in the tweet, Hulst stated that Valkyrie "will be making invaluable contributions to key PlayStation Studios franchises." This would be right up Valkyrie's alley, considering their track record. The studio has offered its services to a wide variety of projects, and not just Sony projects, too as per IGN.

Valkyrie helped co-develop "Forza Motorsport 7" ("Forza" being an Xbox-exclusive franchise), and even this year's biggest Xbox-exclusive in "Halo Infinite" alongside long-time dev 343 Industries.

(Photo : Steam )
Photo taken from Halo Infinite Steam page

But perhaps the studio's biggest contribution was to 2018's "God Of War," which it worked on with preeminent Sony first-party developer Santa Monica Studios. And now, its acquisition confirms that it will help out once again with "God Of War: Ragnarok." which is scheduled to launch next year.

Valkyrie will be the fifth studio acquired by the gaming giant this year, and the 17th such studio added to its first-party developer stable. There were no details shared as to how much the purchase cost, but one can assume that the studio cost a pretty penny.

Before Valkyrie, Sony made a slew of acquisitions that included Housemarque (makers of the PS5-exclusive "Returnal"), Bluepoint Games (who helmed the "Shadow of the Colossus" and "Demon's Souls" remakes), and Firesprite, who was responsible for the augmented reality experience "The Playroom."

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PlayStation: Looking Ahead

With Valkyrie Entertainment now under their wing, how is Sony's first-party developer roster faring so far?

As previously mentioned, the new studio will now focus on co-developing "God Of War: Ragnarok" with Santa Monica, which was finally revealed during PlayStation Showcase 2021 back in September:

As for the PC port of 2018's "God Of War," Valkyrie likely won't be helping out because the port is being handled by a different studio: Jetpack Interactive, according to PCGamer.

Another big-name, highly anticipated release set for next year is "Horizon: Forbidden West," which is being worked on by "Killzone" developer Guerilla Games. The game is set to launch on February 18, 2022 for the PS4 and PS5, though it wasn't without controversy (it was in the spotlight for shoddy next-gen upgrade deals).

(Photo : screenshot from PlayStation website)
“Horizon Forbidden West” PS4 to PS5 Upgrade is coming to its users for FREE after backlash against Sony's previous decision that removes a direct path to upgrade.

"Ratchet & Clank" developer Insomniac Games is deep into the making of "Marvel's Spider-Man: 2," which is slated to be a PS5 exclusive, writes PushSquare. They're also working on "Marvel's Wolverine," meaning they're going all-in on the comic book IP for the foreseeable future.

Lastly, Naughty Dog (makers of "The Last Of Us" and "Uncharted") hasn't announced anything new, aside from a so-called standalone multiplayer title set in the universe of "The Last Of Us," which was first rumored back in late September, as per PushSquare. 

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Written by RJ Pierce