Housemarque#Bloodhouse and Terramarque (1993–1995)

{{Infobox company

| name = Housemarque Oy

| logo = Housemarque.svg

| logo_caption = Logo used since 2008

| type = Subsidiary

| industry = Video games

| predecessors = {{Unbulleted list|Bloodhouse|Terramarque}}

| founded = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1995|07|19}}

| founders = {{Unbulleted list|Ilari Kuittinen|Harri Tikkanen}}

| hq_location_city = Helsinki

| hq_location_country = Finland

| key_people = {{Unbulleted list|class=nowrap|Ilari Kuittinen (CEO)|Harri Tikkanen (creative director)}}

| num_employees = 110

| num_employees_year = 2023

| parent = PlayStation Studios {{nowrap|(2021–present)}}

| website = {{URL|https://housemarque.com/}}

}}

Housemarque Oy (or Housemarque Inc.){{Cite web |url=https://www.kauppalehti.fi/yritykset/yritys/housemarque+oy/1002012-8 |title=Housemarque Oy |website=Kauppalehti |language=fi |access-date=13 February 2025}} is a Finnish video game developer based in Helsinki. The company was founded by Ilari Kuittinen and Harri Tikkanen in July 1995, through the merger of their previous video game companies, Bloodhouse and Terramarque, both of which were founded in 1993 as Finland's first commercial developers. Housemarque is the oldest active developer in Finland and has about 110 employees as of 2023. It was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment in June 2021, becoming a part of PlayStation Studios.

History

= Bloodhouse and Terramarque (1993–1994) =

Bloodhouse and Terramarque were founded in 1993, becoming Finland's first commercial video game developers.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tGRiCQAAQBAJ |title=Finnish Video Games: A History and Catalog |first=Juho |last=Kuorikoski |publisher=McFarland & Company |date=5 June 2015 |pages=43–44 |isbn=9781476621197}} Bloodhouse was led by Harri Tikkanen, and released their first game, Stardust in 1993, with a version updated for the Amiga 1200, titled Super Stardust, released the following year. Terramarque was founded by Ilari Kuittinen and Stavros Fasoulas, and hired Miha Rinne in 1994. Fasoulas, at the time, was working on a clone of Bubble Bobble titled Galactic, but failed to find a publisher, wherefore the game ended up on a covermount in British magazine The One. The first game from Terramarque was Elfmania, released in 1994 to mixed reception. The company started work on a second game, P.I.D. (short for Private Investigator Dollarally), to be published by Renegade Software. When the Amiga was discontinued mid-development, production on P.I.D. was halted; when Terramarque members discussed whether the game should be ported to PlayStation, Fasoulas decided not to and quit game programming. A demo of the game has been released, but the game itself was not finished.

= Formation of Housemarque and initial games (1994–1997) =

In December 1994, Kuittinen began working closely with Tikkanen, and their two companies formally merged in 1995 to form Housemarque. Housemarque Oy, the legal entity, was registered on 19 July 1995.{{cite web |url=http://www.housemarque.com/company/investors/ |title=Investors |publisher=Housemarque |access-date=26 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826183046/http://www.housemarque.com/company/investors/ |archive-date=26 August 2018 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-29/sony-buys-game-developer-of-playstation-bestseller-returnal |title=Sony Buys Game Developer of PlayStation Bestseller Returnal |first=Jason |last=Schreier |author-link=Jason Schreier |date=29 June 2021 |website=Bloomberg News |access-date=29 June 2021 |archive-date=5 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005093032/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-29/sony-buys-game-developer-of-playstation-bestseller-returnal |url-status=live}} Housemarque is the oldest active video game developer in Finland. Both Bloodhouse and Terramarque were developing games for personal computers (PCs) at the time, with the joint team deciding to focus specifically on the evolving PC gaming market. The company started out by freelancing, and after setting up their first office in the Punavuori area of Helsinki, started hiring employees and ceased freelance work. The first PC games developed by Housemarque were the MS-DOS conversion of Bloodhouse's space shooter Super Stardust (1996), adventure game Alien Incident (1996), and shooter game The Reap (1997), all of which gained favourable reception but failed to succeed commercially.{{cite web |url=https://www.pelit.fi/artikkelit/super-stardust/ |title=Super Stardust – Kahdesta en luovu... |language=fi |author=JTurunen |date=1 April 1996 |website=Pelit |access-date=25 August 2018 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709191432/https://www.pelit.fi/artikkelit/super-stardust/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.pelit.fi/artikkelit/muukalaisten-yo/ |title=Muukalaisten yö – Suomalaisia muukalaisia |language=fi |first=Tytti |last=Paananen |date=1 August 1996 |website=Pelit |access-date=25 August 2018 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185034/https://www.pelit.fi/artikkelit/muukalaisten-yo/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.pelit.fi/artikkelit/reap/ |title=Reap – Tuhosinfoniaa |language=fi |first=Kimmo |last=Veijalainen |date=1 October 1997 |website=Pelit |access-date=25 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825180130/https://www.pelit.fi/artikkelit/reap/ |archive-date=25 August 2018 |url-status=live}}

= Expansion and acquisition by Sony (2014–present) =

At the end of 1997, Housemarque had just 18 employees.{{cite magazine |title=NG Alphas: Shot |magazine=Next Generation |issue=40|publisher=Imagine Media |date=April 1998|pages=62–65}} In February 2014, Housemarque had over 50 employees.{{cite web |url=https://venturebeat.com/community/2014/02/18/know-your-developer-housemarque/ |title=Know your developer: Resogun creator Housemarque |first=Derek |last=Nichols |date=18 February 2014 |website=VentureBeat |access-date=21 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821160511/https://venturebeat.com/community/2014/02/18/know-your-developer-housemarque/ |archive-date=21 August 2018 |url-status=live}} In November 2017, the company announced that it would be stepping away from the arcade genre, which it had incorporated in all of its games since Super Stardust, as it was not generating enough revenue to justify developing further games in the genre.{{cite web |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/11/01/housemarque-say-arcade-is-dead/ |title=Housemarque declare "arcade is dead," ditch the genre |first=Alice |last=O'Connor |date=1 November 2017 |website=Rock Paper Shotgun |access-date=21 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821223138/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/11/01/housemarque-say-arcade-is-dead/ |archive-date=21 August 2018 |url-status=live}} The following April, it announced Stormdivers, a battle royale game, anticipating a 2019 release.{{cite web |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/04/23/housemarque-announce-stormdivers/ |title=Housemarque hint at battle royale flirtation with Stormdivers |first=Alice |last=O'Connor |date=23 April 2018 |website=Rock Paper Shotgun |access-date=21 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821223152/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/04/23/housemarque-announce-stormdivers/ |archive-date=21 August 2018 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/08/21/housemarque-reveal-battle-royale-game-stormdivers/ |title=Housemarque's Stormdivers is a flashy battle royale |first=Alice |last=O'Connor |date=21 August 2018 |website=Rock Paper Shotgun |access-date=21 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821124434/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/08/21/housemarque-reveal-battle-royale-game-stormdivers/ |archive-date=21 August 2018 |url-status=live}} In December 2018, Housemarque's staff count was approaching 70 people.{{cite web |url=https://housemarque.com/news/jumping-on-the-bandwagon-from-arcade-is-dead-to-aaa-5rn7t |title=Jumping on the bandwagon: From 'Arcade is Dead' to AAA |first=Ilari |last=Kuittinen |date=20 December 2018 |publisher=Housemarque |access-date=6 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509025940/https://housemarque.com/news/jumping-on-the-bandwagon-from-arcade-is-dead-to-aaa-5rn7t |archive-date=9 May 2019 |url-status=live}} Housemarque eventually put all of its in-development projects, including Stormdivers, on halt in January 2020. Instead, it shifted its focus on a project the company considered to be its most ambitious thus far and had been in pre-production for three years. At the time, Housemarque had close to 80 staff members.{{cite web |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-01-23-housemarque-puts-all-other-projects-on-hold-to-focus-on-most-ambitious-game-to-date |title=Housemarque puts all other projects on hold to focus on "most ambitious game to date" |first=Rebekah |last=Valentine |date=23 January 2020 |website=GamesIndustry.biz |access-date=24 January 2020 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184929/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-01-23-housemarque-puts-all-other-projects-on-hold-to-focus-on-most-ambitious-game-to-date |url-status=live}}

At the PlayStation 5 reveal event in June 2020, Housemarque announced its first AAA title, Returnal.{{cite web |url=https://www.polygon.com/2020/6/11/21279232/returnal-housemarque-ps5-reveal-sony-event-new-game-release-date-details-trailer-playstation |title=Resogun creators announce PlayStation 5 game, Returnal |first=Ryan |last=Gilliam |date=11 June 2020 |website=Polygon |access-date=15 June 2020 |archive-date=29 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029085055/https://www.polygon.com/2020/6/11/21279232/returnal-housemarque-ps5-reveal-sony-event-new-game-release-date-details-trailer-playstation |url-status=live}} It was developed for the PlayStation 5 in April 2021,{{cite web |url=https://www.engadget.com/housemarque-returnal-ps5-204525796.html |title='Returnal' for PS5 is Housemarque's most ambitious game yet |first=Jon |last=Fingas |date=11 June 2020 |website=Engadget |access-date=15 June 2020 |archive-date=7 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207210937/https://www.engadget.com/housemarque-returnal-ps5-204525796.html |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.polygon.com/2021/1/28/22254241/returnal-release-date-delay-ps5-housemarque |title=PS5 exclusive Returnal delayed to April |last=Gilliam |first=Ryan |date=28 January 2021 |website=Polygon |access-date=22 April 2021 |archive-date=8 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208191708/https://www.polygon.com/2021/1/28/22254241/returnal-release-date-delay-ps5-housemarque |url-status=live}} with the game selling over 560,000 copies by July.{{cite press release |url=https://www.sie.com/en/corporate/release/2021/210728.html |title=PlayStation 5 Surpasses 10 Million Units Sold, Remains the Fastest Selling Consolemin Sony Interactive Entertainment History |date=28 July 2021 |publisher=Sony Interactive Entertainment |access-date=6 August 2021 |archive-date=28 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728144143/https://www.sie.com/en/corporate/release/2021/210728.html |url-status=live}} Returnal{{'}}s commercial performance and Housemarque's increased collaboration with Sony Interactive Entertainment for this game led the latter to acquire the studio by 29 June 2021, with Housemarque becoming a part of SIE Worldwide Studios.{{cite web |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/housemarque-sony-playstation-acquisition |title=Why PlayStation bought Returnal developer Housemarque: the inside story |first=Robert |last=Leedham |date=29 June 2021 |website=British GQ |access-date=29 June 2021 |archive-date=29 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629102331/https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/housemarque-sony-playstation-acquisition |url-status=live}} As of April 2023, the studio has 110 employees.{{cite web |url=https://rebootdevelopblue.com/speakers-2023/ |title=Speakers 2023 |website=Reboot Develop Blue |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406115403/https://rebootdevelopblue.com/speakers-2023/ |url-status=live}} Harry Krueger, the director of Returnal who had been with Housemarque for more than 14 years, left the studio in November 2023.{{cite web |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/returnal-director-leaving-housemarque-after-14-years |title=Returnal director leaving Housemarque after 14 years |first=Victoria |last=Kennedy |date=20 November 2023 |website=Eurogamer |access-date=4 December 2023 |archive-date=29 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129152055/https://www.eurogamer.net/returnal-director-leaving-housemarque-after-14-years |url-status=live}} The company intends to move to new offices of {{convert|3000|m2|sqft}} within Helsinki by 2024.{{cite web |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/housemarque-is-relocating-within-helsinki |title=Housemarque is relocating within Helsinki |first=Sophie |last=McEvoy |date=5 October 2023 |website=GamesIndustry.biz |access-date=4 December 2023 |archive-date=15 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015001614/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/housemarque-is-relocating-within-helsinki |url-status=live}}{{Update-inline|date=January 2025}} In February 2025, Housemarque announced during State of Play its new game, Saros, which is scheduled for release on the PlayStation 5 in 2026.{{Cite web |last=Carpenter |first=Nicole |date=12 February 2025 |title=Everything announced at Sony's February 2025 State of Play |url=https://www.polygon.com/playstation/522584/everything-announced-sony-state-of-play-february-2025-trailers |access-date=12 February 2025 |website=Polygon |language=}}

Games developed

= Bloodhouse =

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
scope="col" \| Year ! scope="col" \| Title ! scope="col" \| Platforms ! scope="col" \| Publisher
scope="row" \| 1993 \| Stardust \| Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS \| Bloodhouse
scope="row" \| 1994 \| Super Stardust \| Amiga, Amiga CD32 \| Team17

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Title

! scope="col" | Platforms

! scope="col" | Publisher

scope="row" | 1993

| Stardust

| Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS

| Bloodhouse

scope="row" | 1994

| Super Stardust

| Amiga, Amiga CD32

| Team17

= Terramarque =

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
scope="col" \| Year ! scope="col" \| Title ! scope="col" \| Platform ! scope="col" \| Publisher
scope="row" \| 1994 \| Elfmania \| Amiga \| Renegade Software
scope="row" \| Cancelled \| P.I.D. \| Amiga \| Renegade Software

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Title

! scope="col" | Platform

! scope="col" | Publisher

scope="row" | 1994

| Elfmania

| Amiga

| Renegade Software

scope="row" | Cancelled

| P.I.D.

| Amiga

| Renegade Software

= Housemarque =

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
scope="col" \| Year ! scope="col" \| Title ! scope="col" \| Platforms ! scope="col" \| Publisher
scope="row" rowspan="2" \| 1996 \| Super Stardust \| rowspan="2"\| MS-DOS \| rowspan="2"\|GameTek
Alien Incident
scope="row" \| 1997 \| The Reap \| rowspan="2"\| Microsoft Windows \| Take-Two Interactive
scope="row" \| 1999 \| Supreme Snowboarding \| rowspan="2"\| Infogrames
scope="row" \| 2002 \| Transworld Snowboarding \| Xbox
scope="row" \| 2005 \| Gizmondo Motocross 2005 \| Gizmondo \| Gizmondo
scope="row" \| 2007 \| Super Stardust HD \| PlayStation 3 \| Sony Computer Entertainment
scope="row" rowspan="2" \| 2008 \| Golf: Tee It Up! \| Xbox 360 \| Activision
Super Stardust Portable \| PlayStation Portable \| rowspan="2"\| Sony Computer Entertainment
scope="row" \| 2010 \| Dead Nation \| PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
scope="row" \| 2011 \| Outland \| Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 \| Ubisoft
scope="row" rowspan="3" \| 2012 \| Furmins \| iOS, PlayStation Vita \| Housemarque
Super Stardust Delta \| PlayStation Vita \| Sony Computer Entertainment
Angry Birds Trilogy \| PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 \| Activision
scope="row" \| 2013 \| Resogun \| PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita \| rowspan="3"\| Sony Computer Entertainment
scope="row" \| 2015 \| Super Stardust Ultra \| rowspan="2"\| PlayStation 4
scope="row" \| 2016 \| Alienation
scope="row" rowspan="2" \| 2017 \| Nex Machina \| Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 \| Housemarque
Matterfall \| PlayStation 4 \| rowspan="3" \| Sony Interactive Entertainment
scope="row" \| 2021 \| Returnal \| PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows
scope="row" \| 2026 \| Saros \| PlayStation 5

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Title

! scope="col" | Platforms

! scope="col" | Publisher

scope="row" rowspan="2" | 1996

| Super Stardust

| rowspan="2"| MS-DOS

| rowspan="2"|GameTek

Alien Incident

scope="row" | 1997

| The Reap