Housemarque co-founder Ilari Kuittinen has introduced his exit from the PlayStation studio after 31 years.
The Saros developer shared the news with its followers with Kuittinen’s last message, confirming as we speak as his final with the crew. It is a prolonged letter to followers that noticed the studio head wave goodbye after overseeing the launch of arcade-y classics like Saros, Returnal, Resogun, and extra.
“After 33 years within the video games trade and 31 unimaginable years at Housemarque—the studio I co-founded with Harri Tikkanen—as we speak marks my final day on the firm,” he stated. “Beginning out in 1993 with Terramarque, after which becoming a member of forces with Harri to determine Housemarque in 1995, we had a ardour for video games however no actual blueprint for constructing a enterprise. Wanting again, I really feel immensely lucky. We had the luck of being in the fitting place on the proper time throughout three a long time of unimaginable trade development, permitting us to remain fiercely impartial for 26 years earlier than discovering a house inside the PlayStation Studios household.”
“My core function as a frontrunner has all the time been easy: to facilitate an setting the place extraordinary creators have the liberty and safety to do what they do greatest.”
Housemarque has developed in distinctive methods by way of the years. Although its dedication to gameplay has remained by way of the a long time, it branched past easy shoot-em-ups all through the lifecycles of the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles.
PlayStation followers will bear in mind when Resogun helped the PS4 launch in 2013. Twin-stick shooters like Alienation and Nex Machina would then arrive in 2016 and 2017, respectively, however Housemarque then went on to really push the boundaries of its capabilities with its extra story-driven roguelike, Returnal, for PS5 in April 2021.
Sony formally cemented the company as a PlayStation Studio later that very same yr, and in April of this yr, it launched its follow-up, Saros. Kuittinen was there for all of it.
In his letter, he pointed to Housemarque’s evolution right into a AAA developer, its video games, and its standing as a pioneering Finnish recreation studio as three notably noteworthy achievements he and the crew have managed to perform. He additionally clarified that this is not a sudden change; studio veteran Sami ‘Haxu’ Hakala took over as managing director July 1, 2026. It is one thing Kuittinen stated he, Hakala, and the remainder of the crew have been fastidiously planning behind-the-scenes.
“Housemarque’s technique and artistic imaginative and prescient are in distinctive fingers,” he added. “As for me? After 33 steady years with out a main break, I’m taking a uncommon and well-deserved breather looking for out how good I’m at doing nothing! To Harri, our companions at SIE, our international trade buddies, and each single crew member who has ever walked by way of Housemarque’s doorways: thanks for making the previous 31 years the privilege of a lifetime.”
A last message from our co-founder, Ilari Kuittinen pic.twitter.com/ubf0yZJBWq
— Housemarque (@Housemarque) August 31, 2026
IGN gave Saros a 7/10 review upon its launch earlier this yr. We stated, on the time, that it “tries at an attention-grabbing and bold story it is not all the time capable of successfully inform, however Housemarque has as soon as once more proved that its bullet-hell sensibilities mesh extremely effectively with fluid and difficult motion.”
Michael Cripe is a contract author with IGN. He is greatest identified for his work at websites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. You’ll want to give him a comply with on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).