http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2008/02/12/insomniac-shoots-down-acquisition-speculation
Insomniac ends acquisition rumor, eyes multiplatform titles
By Frank Caron | Published: February 12, 2008 - 12:15PM CT
Insomniac is one of the strongest developers focusing on Sony's platform at the moment, and the company's status as a "second party" developer has led many to question whether Sony would finally make a move and scoop the firm up. Insomniac CEO Ted Price has debunked that notion, saying that the company is not looking to be acquired.
With two of the biggest PS3 titles, Resistance: Fall of Man and Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, under its belt, Insomniac has become an attractive company in an acquisition-heavy business. Price conceded that he is constantly approached by those "who are wondering if we want to sell, if we want private equity money." The company remains satisfied with its independent ownership.
However, that's not to suggest that the company isn't looking to expand. Price did note that although the company "doesn't have the bandwidth to be able to" create multiplatform games, he did say that he thought it was "impressive to see some of the sales numbers for people who are going cross-platform."
Price ended his comments on the matter by expressing his belief in the PlayStation 3 as a platform, referencing the growing install base and better network services which the team is hoping to leverage with its fall release of Resistance 2.
While many assume that Sony has some stake in Insomniac, in 2007 during a question and answer session on his blog Ted Price repeated the fact that Insomniac is completely independent; Sony has no ownership at all. "We work directly with the first-party divisions at SCEA, SCEE and SCEI," he wrote. "These divisions are responsible for Sony-published titles whether or not the developer is a part of Sony. Therefore even though I guess we're technically 'second party' (or perhaps even 'third party' since agreed-upon definitions don't seem to exist) we've always used the term 'first party.' I realize that it gets pretty confusing."
How long until the financial rewards of cross-platform games give us a Ratchet and Clank title on the Xbox 360, or even the Wii? Who knows, but independence allows Insomniac to react to the market and do what's best for the company, and that could be a positive thing for gamers.
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Gotta love having that installed base and having so many 3rd party games sales over 1 million. In the end all those developers have to earn a living :)
