Sony’s Firesprite is moving to an office more than 20 times larger than its current one

PlayStation-acquired studio Firesprite is moving to a new office that’s significantly larger than the one it currently occupies.

The studio is currently based at Liverpool’s Vanilla Factory, a building which contains a number of units converted into offices, retail and leisure spaces.

Firesprite’s office unit at Vanilla Factory covers 2,295 sq ft, according to the building’s floor plan information.

However, the company has now leased a four-building cluster in Liverpool’s Duke Street, which will give it 50,000 sq ft of space.

The new letting, which is only a three-minute walk from the current Firesprite offices, consists of four buildings, including a grade-two building that used to be Liverpool’s public library.

Invest Liverpool says the lease, which lasts until 2032, is the largest letting in Liverpool in three years.

The largest before that was made in 2018 by Firesprite’s parent company Sony, which leased 65,000 sq ft at the Liverpool Echo newspaper’s former building.

The move to significantly larger accommodation will help Firesprite handle the numerous projects it’s currently working on.

The studio is working alongside Guerrilla Games on PlayStation VR 2 title Horizon: Call of the Mountain, and VGC understands it has also taken over development of the as-yet unannounced Twisted Metal reboot.

Recent job listings on the studio’s website also show that it’s working on a “AAA narrative driven horror-adventure game in Unreal 5“.

Firesprite was established in 2012 by former members of SIE Studio Liverpool, after it was closed down by Sony. Sony then acquired Firesprite in September 2021, making it an official part of the ‘PlayStation Studios family’.

Making the announcement, PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst stated: “After a number of years closely collaborating on several games together, including The Playroom and The Playroom VR, I couldn’t be more delighted to welcome Firesprite to the PlayStation Studios family as our 14th studio.

“Quite a few members of Firesprite come from SIE’s Studio Liverpool and we’re thrilled to welcome them back.

Further reading

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Sony’s Firesprite takes over Twisted Metal, as Motorstorm director is hired

The first-party studio has poached Lucid’s director and its reboot project, VGC understands

“Firesprite is a creative and ambitious studio that is exceptional at building incredible experiences that truly showcase the potential of our hardware.

“The team’s technical and creative capabilities will be paramount to growing our stellar catalogue of exclusive games, and I think you’ll be excited for what’s to come.”

Weeks later, Firesprite made an acquisition of its own, announcing the purchase of Manchester-based Fabrik Games. The two studios had collaborated on multiplatform survival horror game The Persistence.