Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California, and part of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is most known for developing several early PlayStation mascots, Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet and Clank, as well as the Resistance franchise, 2014's Sunset Overdrive and the Marvel's Spider-Man series with Marvel Games. In 2019, the studio was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment, becoming a part of SIE Worldwide Studios (now known as PlayStation Studios).
The company's first project was Disruptor, for PlayStation, whose poor sales almost led to the company's bankruptcy. Insomniac's next project was Spyro the Dragon, a successful video game that spawned two sequels within two years. Insomniac closely collaborated with Sony Computer Entertainment (later renamed Sony Interactive Entertainment) and created two game franchises, Ratchet & Clank, and Resistance. The two franchises proved to be both a critical and financial success for the company. The company began work on its first multiplatform game Fuse in 2013 (with Electronic Arts as its publisher), but the game turned out to become one of Insomniac's worst-reviewed games.
Since 2014, Insomniac has actively expanded its portfolio of games. The company worked with Microsoft Studios on 2014's Sunset Overdrive, partnered with GameTrust to release the underwater Metroidvania game Song of the Deep, and released several mobile games and virtual reality projects. In 2016, Insomniac released a remake of the first Ratchet & Clank, and in 2018 released its first licensed title, Marvel's Spider-Man for the PlayStation 4; an additional game, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, was released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in 2020. The studio's most recent project is Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (2023); it is currently developing Marvel's Wolverine for the PlayStation 5.
Before 2019, Insomniac remained as an independent studio working for Sony and other publishers such as Microsoft, EA, and Oculus. In August 2019, Sony announced it had agreed to acquire Insomniac as the 14th internal studio within SIE Worldwide Studios. Over the years, Insomniac Games has received considerable recognition from critics as an acclaimed video game developer. It was named the twentieth-best video game developer by IGN, and one of the best places to work in America by the Society for Human Resource Management.
History
Founding and Disruptor (1994–1996)
Insomniac Games was founded by Ted Price, who was determined to work in the video game industry since the release of Atari 2600 in 1977, when he was nine years old.[2] The company was incorporated on February 28, 1994.[3]
Price was joined by Alex Hastings, his fellow graduate and an expert in computer programming, in June 1994.[4] Hastings' brother Brian Hastings joined Insomniac shortly afterwards. The studio was named "Xtreme Software" for a year but in 1995 it was forced to rename itself by another company with the same name. The studio shortlisted "The Resistance Incorporated", "Ragnarok", "Black Sun Software", "Ice Nine" and "Moon Turtle" before choosing the name "Insomniac Games". According to Price, the company chose this name because "it suddenly makes sense", even though it was not their first choice.[3]
Games developed
Spyro (1998–2000)
Insomniac is the creator of the Spyro series and developed the first three games, Spyro the Dragon (1998), Ripto's Rage! (1999) and Year of the Dragon (2000) for the first PlayStation console. It is a series of platform games that follow Spyro the Dragon as he progresses through a medieval-styled world. The dragon can glide, charge and exhale fire. The original trilogy has collectively sold 8,000,000 copies.[5] The series continued after Insomniac ceased developing further Spyro games. Universal Studios outsourced the game development via Universal Interactive; two subseries, The Legend of Spyro and Skylanders, were then developed. Microsoft Gaming is now the owner of the franchise.[7]
Ratchet & Clank (2002–2021)
Related companies
The company has a close relationship with video game developer Naughty Dog and they often share technology with each other.[3] Some employees left Insomniac Games to form High Impact Games, which later collaborated with Insomniac on Ratchet & Clank projects and Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier.[91] Nathan Fouts, an ex-Insomniac employee, founded his own studio and developed Weapon of Choice.[92] HuniePop was designed by Ryan Koons, who used to be an employee of Insomniac.[93] Between 2022 and 2025, Insomniac Games closely collaborated with sister studio Nixxes Software, who ported some of its PlayStation 5 games to Windows PCs.[94]
Accolades
In 2015 IGN named Insomniac Games the 20th best video game developer of all time.[96] The Society for Human Resource Management called it one of the best places to work in America.[13] It was listed in 2016 by Fortune as the 69th best place to work for Millennials.[97]
External links
References
- Ted Price looks back on over 30 years in gaming VentureBeat, February 16, 2025^
- Ben Hanson. Insomniac's Giant Leap: Developing Disruptor And Spyro The Dragon Game Informer, October 22, 2012, retrieved August 22, 2015^
- Always Independent: The Story of Insomniac Games