The Road to 'Saros': Scaling Housemarque from Independent Roots into a PlayStation Studio

The Road to 'Saros': Scaling Housemarque from Independent Roots into a PlayStation Studio

Monday, August 24, 2026 12:00 AM to 12:01 AM · 1 min. (Europe/Berlin)
Talk
~All~BusinessProduction

Information

Join Housemarque’s Ilari Kuittinen for a candid account of the studio’s transition from small-team working habits to a professionalized, large-scale structure. Following the release of Returnal with a team of 80, learn how the "Towards Better Production" initiative and the Saros development cycle established a roadmap for scaling creative culture without losing its soul.

Session Type
Talk
Target Audiences
The target audience consists of game studio leadership, managing directors, and development directors navigating the complexities of rapid scaling or major organizational shifts. It is particularly tailored for leaders transitioning from "boutique" independent environments to high-stakes AAA production within a first-party ecosystem. Attendees will benefit from a candid, humble account of how to professionalize studio operations and production frameworks without losing their creative soul.
Experience Level
Intermediate
Key Take Aways
Scale makes a difference: Production models for smaller teams become "obsolete and dangerous" at 100+ team size. Learn how our Game Production Framework replaced indie intuition with resilient systems for Saros. From independent to 1st Party: Transitioning to PlayStation Studios shifted our focus from constant pitching to long-term thinking and strategizing. It's never perfect & ongoing Iteration: Change is constant as team is an evolving entity. We didn't meet all the project goals on Saros. Learn how we use these gaps as data to iterate our culture and prepare for the next evolution post-launch.