PlayStation recently announced that they have officially acquired one of their long-time partner studios, Bluepoint Games, the studio behind the PlayStation 5 remake of Demon's Souls that ended up being one of the system's earliest hits. Bluepoint was also responsible for remaking the PlayStation 2 classic Shadow of the Colossus, delivering what many fans considered a dream remake.
This acquisition could be seen as somewhat incredible, especially given just how instrumental Bluepoint has been for PlayStation's recent success. Both of their high-profile remakes have gotten tons of praise from critics and fans alike for capturing what made the original names so well-loved. While Bluepoint has certainly proven their skill with remakes, it seems as though their first big game as a part of PlayStation is going to be something totally original.
According to a statement given to IGN, Bluepoint Games stated that their next game is "original content," though they couldn't say much more about it than that. While some fans may have expected the studio to tackle something like the long-requested Bloodbourne remaster, an original Bluepoint game is equally as exciting and should not be underlooked. There's been a sense of style that Bluepoint injected into their remakes and remasters that points towards an original game from them being something special.
Bluepoint's remakes have seen a ton of praise due partly to the level of polish they end up having. Remakes require a dedication to the original game to get right. Remasters, while still a considerable undertaking, typically only require assets and graphical systems to be upgraded for the newer generation. With the Demon's Souls and Shadow of the Colossus remakes especially, Bluepoint has a keen eye for detail and what fans love when it comes to those games.
While being able to remake classic games doesn't always lead to original projects going well, Bluepoint has demonstrated that they can remake games and update them for modern audiences. Their remake of Shadow of the Colossus kept the feel of the original alive while also introducing an updated control scheme, managing to enhance what players loved with the original. This attention to detail and their clear recognition of why fans love certain games should lead to them being able to craft some great original games.
There are plenty of reasons to be excited for an original Bluepoint Games project, though it should be noted that up until this point, the studio was entirely self-funded. Them being bought by PlayStation means that they'll have much more funding to put towards their projects. While the usual expectation from a publisher is that they'll restrict a developer's vision, hopefully, Bluepoint's previous success with remakes of classic PlayStation titles will help Sony trust their vision.
While that concern is certainly valid, Sony actually has a pretty good track record when it comes to trusting devs. They're known to give teams as much time as they can to help ensure that a project ends up meeting expectations and have always been understanding that games take a long time to make. If any big publishers would trust and support Bluepoint, Sony would absolutely be one of them.
Whenever a popular development team gets bought out, there are always grounds for some degree of worry over the future. Fans are often concerned that the publisher will step in too much and compromise what made the development team's games enjoyable to begin with. While Bluepoint working on an original project instead of a classic remake may reinforce some of this concern, Bluepoint's existing success with a much more limited budget will hopefully show PlayStation that they're capable of delivering amazing content.
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