Saros Dev’s Co-Founder Is Stepping Down After More Than 30 Years
Housemarque co-founder Ilari Kuittinen is stepping down after 31 years with the Finnish studio, marking the end of an era for what has become PlayStation Studios' longest-running development team. In a farewell message posted to social media, Kuittinen reflected on building the company from scratch in 1995 with "a passion for games but no real blueprint for building a business," and thanked colleagues, partners at Sony and the wider industry community for their support throughout his career.
Kuittinen's history with the studio dates back further still: he entered the games industry in 1993 with Terramarque, which merged with Bloodhouse just two years later to form Housemarque. Sami Hakala, who joined the company in 2021 shortly before the release of Returnal, has now taken over as managing director. Kuittinen said he plans to take a break before returning to the industry in a mentor or consultant capacity.
- Housemarque co-founder Ilari Kuittinen departs after 31 years
- Sami Hakala, who joined in 2021, becomes managing director
- Kuittinen plans a break before returning as a mentor/consultant
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Housemarque is a Finnish video game studio formed in 1995 when two small developers, Terramarque and Bloodhouse, joined together. Co-founder Ilari Kuittinen helped build the company at a time when it had no established plan for growing a games business.
The studio later became part of Sony’s PlayStation Studios, the group of developers that makes games for PlayStation. Its history helps explain why Kuittinen’s long involvement is seen as significant, while Sami Hakala’s role as managing director puts him in charge of the studio’s day-to-day leadership.