EA continues its march towards video game world domination today with the inking of a deal with top independent studio Insomniac Games for the development of an all-new franchise. The kicker: this new franchise, whatever it turns out to be, will be released for PS3 and Xbox 360.
That may come as somewhat of a surprise given Insomniac’s decade-plus alliance with PlayStation consoles, but the fact is Insomniac is not owned by Sony, and in these harsh economical times it only makes sense for independent, third-party developers to create games for multiple platforms. Insomniac makes great games, and if a broader audience of gamers can play them that’s only a good thing.
Also, before all of the rabid Sony fanboys start spouting off about how “Insomniac has betrayed you” — you know, the same crazies who raged against Square Enix for bringing Final Fantasy XIII to the Xbox 360 — you should know that Insomniac is still working with Sony on future PlayStation titles, so, for now at least, the Ratchet & Clank and Resistance franchises aren’t going anywhere.
Insomniac’s new franchise is currently in development at the company’s Burbank studio, but details beyond its multi-platform status are being held under lock and key.
“Working with EA Partners allows us to extend the reach of our games to a multiplatform audience while retaining ownership of the intellectual property,” said Ted Price, founder and CEO of Insomniac Games. “We are excited and eager to introduce Insomniac to a new group of gamers while reinforcing to our loyal fans what makes our games special.”
“This is an exciting day for all of us at EA Partners and for gamers everywhere,” said David DeMartini, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EA Partners. “Insomniac is renowned for their commitment to quality and their ability to create unique, exciting worlds for gamers to explore. We look forward to help them bring their next blockbuster franchise to the millions of diehard Insomniac fans on PlayStation and the soon to be millions of diehard Insomniac fans on Xbox 360.”
I’m really excited to see what their next game is! I hope it’s good as all of their other games.
Yep, I can’t think of a single poor game Insomniac has made. The Resistance games aren’t favorites of mine, but they are still very good FPSs, and all of the Ratchet & Clank and Spyro games have been excellent. Disruptor is often forgotten about as well, but it was a cool game for a PS1 FPS.