Sony Online Entertainment to Become an Independent Company

Sony has sold Sony Online Entertainment, creators of EverQuest, PlanetSide 2, DC Universe Online and the recently released H1Z1 to an investment firm by the name of Columbus Nova. Sony Online Entertainment, now with the name of Daybreak Game Company, will now be able to release games onto the Xbox platforms, along with continuing to release games on the PC, mobile, and PlayStation platforms.

John Smeadley, the president behind Sony Entertainment Online, will continue his run as president for the company. “We are excited to join Columbus Nova’s impressive roster of companies,” said Smedley, “They have a proven track record in similar and related industries and we are eager to move forward to see how we can push the boundaries of online gaming. We will continue to focus on delivering exceptional games to players around the world, as well as bringing our portfolio to new platforms, fully embracing the multi-platform world in which we all live.”

From the investor firm’s side, Senior Partner Jason Epstein said in a press release that “SOE is a great addition to our existing portfolio of technology, media and entertainment focused companies. We see tremendous opportunities for growth with the expansion of the company’s game portfolio through multi-platform offerings as well as an exciting portfolio of new quality games. The recent Early Access launch success of H1Z1 is just one testament to the talent and dedication of the studio’s developers to create great online gaming experiences.”

Daybreak Game Company has confirmed they will continue to work on H1Z1 and PlanetSide 2, amongst the list of games it continues to update and run.

“So what exactly does this mean for you? It will be business as usual and all SOE games will continue on their current path of development and operation,” the developer said in a post on Reddit. “In fact, we expect to have even more resources available to us as a result of this acquisition. It also means new exciting developments for our existing IP and games as we can now fully embrace the multi-platform world we are living in.”

Sony Online Entertainment has developed online games since 1996 including EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies, DC Universe Online, PlanetSide 2 and more. The company is currently in development on PlanetSide 2 for PlayStation 4, the newly released H1Z1 and a new EverQuest game. The sequel to the wildly popular, genre-defining MMO, Everquest is set to be called EverQuest Next and is to be released on PS4 and PC.