As part of its massive restructuring, Sony has just sold off its subsidiary, Sony Online Entertainment, to investment management firm Columbus Nova, according to an announcement by a member of the company on Reddit. SOE, makers of the popular massive multiplayer online role-playing game Everquest, has now been renamed Daybreak Game Company, shedding its Sony branding altogether. The studio originally began as an in-house product at Sony Interactive Studios America back in 1995, when John Smedley, Brad McQuaid and Steve Clover began the project. The studio currently has proprietary rights over the brands EverQuest, PlanetSide 2, DC Universe Online and H1Z1, and previously played host to Star Wars Galaxies, The Matrix Online and others.
The announcement hints that the former SOE might be looking to take some of its properties to systems aside from the PC and PlayStation consoles they currently live on. “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,” Daybreak president John Smedley said in a statement. Even more telling was Smedley’s tweet shortly afterwards, “”Can’t wait to make Xbox One games!” And in a post on the company’s official forums, the Daybreak team states outright that they will be developing for “PlayStation and Xbox, mobile and more!”
Daybreak also expects to have access to more resources for future projects than it did under Sony ownership, according to a statement from the company.
