Returnal developer Housemarque confirms it is working on a new IP

Housemarque, the developer behind the PlayStation 5 exclusive Returnal, is officially working on a new IP VentureBeat reports. The Finnish studio revealed the information during a post-award interview during the DICE Awards in Las Vegas last week.

With Sony’s recent acquisition of Bungie, the industry is theorizing that the company is working more to cover its bases in the multiplayer and live service market. With Housemarque being a studio that creates single-player experiences, the leaders at the studio don’t seem too worried about losing the creative freedom that it currently has.

As a response regarding the topic in the DICE Awards winners room, Housemarque Managing Director Ilari Kuitttinen said “Well, the jury is still out there. We’re one of the very last dinosaurs making arcade games. Nex Machina, a few years ago, was very much a shoot-’em-up game in the style of the coin-ops from the ‘80s. That’s sort of a clue. But it’s interesting. We’ve been thinking about that. We had our stint working on multiplayer games, because a few years back it seemed like you needed to have some kind of multiplayer experience. We tried that, and we really didn’t do it as well. But it’s early days with us starting a new game, a new IP, concepting it out. We’ll see what comes with that.”

In the past, Housemarque is known for making traditional arcade gameplay titles including Resogun and Nex Machina both of which were PlayStation console exclusives leading up to their acquisition last year.