Deviation Games is a new, independent studio that's working on a brand new IP for PlayStation. We know absolutely nothing about the game, but thanks to a new interview with Eurogamer, we do know how PlayStation prefers to go about acquiring new IPs.
Unlike Microsoft, which has no problem dropping $7.5 billion on a studio even as large as Bethesda, Sony prefers to pay for IPs rather than studios. Hulst made that notion clear when discussing the new IP coming from Deviation Games.
"New IP is amazing. We're always looking to offer fresh new experiences to the audience, to the PlayStation community," said Hulst. "And it doesn't really matter to me, at the end of the day, how we set it up organisationally. It's all about, how do we get eventually the best possible experiences to our community?"
There is certainly no shortage of large independent studios for Sony to contract to get new IPs, but it does put into stark contrast the differences between Sony and Microsoft. It looks like Sony prefers to limit its liability by just paying for IPs rather than purchasing an entire studio. If Rare, Obsidian, or Ninja Theory produce a flop, Microsoft still has to keep paying the studio’s salary, but if Deviation’s game is a flop, Sony only loses their initial investment.
Of course, remaining independent has its advantages too, and considering Deviation Games was founded by two 13-year Treyarch veterans (Jason Blundell and Dave Anthony), they probably see a lot of value in being their own boss.
As for the game Deviation is making, Blundell told Eurogamer that development is "going really well," with Anthony only adding that "this game is gonna be big in scope." Deviation now has over 100 employees working on this new IP, and although we don’t know anything about it, Treyarch is a studio that’s mostly worked on Call of Duty for the past decade, so a first-person shooter seems the likeliest possibility.