‘Returnal’ Developer Housemarque Conceptualizing New IP

In an interview with several gaming journalists following the DICE Awards, Returnal’s narrative director, Gregory Louden, game director Harry Krueger, and Housemarque managing director Ilari Kuittinen shared their insight regarding their most recently released title, the gaming industry as a whole, and future creative endeavors.

One of the most significant aspects of the conversation was Kuittinen’s reply to a question regarding their team’s gaming identity:

Question: Right now we’re seeing something of a sea change in video games and how they’re made. Sony recently bought Bungie. You’re obviously under the Sony umbrella. Earlier you talked about maintaining your identity and who you are as a studio. In a time where Sony especially seems to want more live service games, more things like this, how do you react to that? Are you interested in making live service games? And in a time where games are changing, the people playing them are changing, how do you hold on to that identity?

Kuittinen: 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.

It seems nothing definitive has been stated regarding what new project Housemarque is working on, but it’ll probably be great. Returnal is a damn good game. Give the entirety of the interview a read on VentureBeat’s official website, as it contains a slew of thought-provoking answers.

Returnal is currently available on PlayStation 5.