Well, it’s official! It was announced at Gamescom, Sony owns Insomniac Games. Here are 6 reasons why you should be excited about the acquisition.
Insomniac Games started off with a relatively good relationship with Sony PlayStation. They developed Resistance: Fall of Man which was one of, if not, the first launch exclusives for the PlayStation 3. Additionally, they also developed Ratchet and Clank; a beloved cartoon-y platform game that eventually earned a film adaptation.
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However, in spite of their good relationship with Sony, Insomniac Games were impressed by Microsoft’s philosophy toward the development of Xbox One, and the capabilities of Xbox Live features, which allow the initiation of a “two-way dialogue” with players and they decided to release Sunset Overdrive as an Xbox One exclusive.
Ratchet & Clank is owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment – thus it's permanently exclusive to PlayStation consoles.
— Insomniac Games (@insomniacgames) March 5, 2018
After the critical success of Spider-Man Sony quickly realised just how much of an asset the developer were and acquired them. But, in all honesty, Sony should have noticed this sooner. Insomniac Games has made nothing but top-notch games, and that’s why you should be excited.
For example, here are 6 games and 6 reasons why you should be excited that Sony owns Insomniac Games.
Spider-Man
The first game on the list is the most obvious one. It is Insomniac Games’ first PlayStation 4 exclusive, and only exclusive since Resistance 3. In Spider-Man you freely move around New York City, interacting with characters, undertaking missions, and unlocking new gadgets and suits by progressing through the main story or completing tasks. Outside the story, the player is able to complete side missions to unlock additional content and collectable items. Combat focuses on chaining attacks together, and using the environment and webs to incapacitate numerous foes while avoiding damage.
Ratchet & Clank series
The games take place in a science fiction setting and follow the adventures of Ratchet (a feline-like humanoid known as a Lombax, who is a mechanic) and Clank (a diminutive, sentient Zoni robot) as they travel through the universe, saving it from evil forces that consistently threaten it. The series is noted for its inclusion of many exotic, unique and over-the-top weapons and gadgets, a concept that Insomniac Games has also expanded into their other games.
Sunset Overdrive
The game is set in 2027, in a fictional metropolis called Sunset City. The player controls an employee of FizzCo, who has to fight off the OD, short for Overcharge Drinkers: humans who have turned into mutants after drinking FizzCo’s energy drink beverage. In the dystopian Sunset City the player character can wall-run, use zip-lines, and grind rails to swiftly navigate through it, with a large arsenal of weapons to use. The game also has a cooperative multiplayer mode called Chaos Squad, which tasks players to complete a series of missions with seven players. As the game puts emphasis on momentum, the game does not feature any cover system.
Sunset Overdrive was a critically acclaimed success and inspired the creation of similar open-world survival games like DayZ. It currently has a score of 81 on Metacritic.
Spyro the Dragon
Spyro the Dragon is a 3D platform game; the player controls the titular character as he ventures across the realms of the Dragon World to defeat the antagonistic Gnasty Gnorc, as well as rescue his fellow dragons and recover all of their stolen treasure.
The Resistance series
The series takes place in an alternate history 1950’s, in which an alien civilisation known as the Chimera have invaded and conquered Earth, expanding their armies by capturing humans and transforming them into monster-like supersoldiers to fight for them. The player takes the role of one of the remaining human armed forces as they fight against the Chimera invasion.
Resistance: Fall of Man truly demonstrated the power of the PlayStation 3. It introduced some epic set-pieces along with some larger than life alien bosses.
The Unspoken
This is an Oculus Touch‐enabled VR action game that pulls players into a hidden world of spellcasting and magician’s duels. Manipulate the environment around you with the powerful arcane forces that flow through your fingertips, summon unfathomable monstrosities with your bare hands, and rise up through the ranks of an urban magic fight club.
I am convinced that this is the game that truly sold Sony. We know that they are deeply invested and heavily focused on Virtual Reality. Public patents reveal that the PlayStation 5 is going above and beyond with VR. Insomniac Games latest game, The Unspoken, showcases their understanding for the virtual world.
There you have it. 6 good reason why you should be excited now that Sony owns Insomniac Games!