It looks like PlayStation's next major studio acquisition has leaked ahead of a formal announcement from Sony. Over the past couple of years, companies like Microsoft, Sony, Tencent, and Embracer Group have been snatching up various game developers from around the globe. With Sony, in particular, studios such as Bungie, Housemarque, Bluepoint Games, and a handful of others have been brought under the umbrella of PlayStation Studios.
Spotted by Colin Moriarty, a new listing on Pitchbook may have indicated that Sony has already purchased developer Ballistic Moon. When looking at Pitchbook's own dedicated profile for Ballistic Moon, it notes that Sony is the developer's parent company. Furthermore, it's recently noted that the company's latest status is"Acquired/Merged". As such, it seems like Sony may have bought Ballistic Moon already and has yet to reveal as much to the general public.
Founded back in 2019, Ballistic Moon is a much smaller studio compared to many others that Sony has purchased over the past couple of years. The company is only boasts about 50 members in total and is made up of developers that previously worked at Supermassive Games, which is the studio behind Until Dawn. Based on recent job listings, Ballistic Moon is working on a game right now titled"Project Bates", which is said to come to PS5 in the future.
Obviously, since Sony itself hasn't officially announced the acquisition of Ballistic Moon, it's important to take this situation with a grain of salt. Still, Pitchbook is a pretty reputable source for this to come from, which means there's a fair amount of legitimacy here. Whether or not we'll hear more from Sony directly on this front in the near future remains to be seen, but we'll continue to monitor this story moving forward.