Housemarque co-founder Ilari Kuittinen is stepping down from the Finnish developer after 31 years, bringing one of the longest-running leadership tenures in the country’s games industry to an end. Kuittinen helped establish Housemarque in 1995 and most recently served as the studio’s managing director and studio head. His departure comes several months after the release of Saros, Housemarque’s second major game as part of PlayStation Studios.
Housemarque was formed in July 1995 through the merger of Bloodhouse and Terramarque, two early Finnish game developers. Kuittinen had founded Terramarque, while Harri Tikkanen came from Bloodhouse, with the combined company becoming one of Finland’s longest-running active game studios. Over the following three decades, Housemarque moved from PC and console projects into a reputation for technically demanding arcade-inspired games.
The studio became particularly closely associated with PlayStation through games including Super Stardust HD, Dead Nation, Resogun and Matterfall. Housemarque later released Nex Machina in 2017 before publicly announcing that it would move away from the traditional arcade genre after the game failed to meet commercial expectations. That shift ultimately led the studio toward the much larger third-person action projects that now define its current era.
Returnal, released for PlayStation 5 in April 2021, marked the most significant change in Housemarque’s history. The roguelike third-person shooter combined the studio’s fast arcade-style combat with a larger production, narrative structure and persistent progression systems. Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired Housemarque later that year, bringing the developer formally into PlayStation Studios after years of collaboration between the companies.
Kuittinen remained in charge through the acquisition and the studio’s subsequent expansion. He has previously described joining Sony as giving Housemarque the ability to plan further into the future rather than repeatedly moving from one independent project to the next. The studio also grew its production processes substantially as it moved from the roughly 80-person team that shipped Returnal toward the larger organization required for Saros.
Saros launched for PlayStation 5 in April 2026 and continued many of the ideas established by Returnal while introducing a new setting, protagonist and progression structure. The game stars Rahul Kohli as Soltari Enforcer Arjun Devraj and takes place on the hostile planet Carcosa, where environments change as players repeatedly return after death. Housemarque described the project as the next evolution of its gameplay-first philosophy and its largest production to date.
Only days before news of his departure emerged, Kuittinen appeared at gamescom dev 2026 to discuss Housemarque’s transition from an independent studio into a first-party PlayStation developer. His presentation focused on how the company changed its production structure as its development teams and projects grew larger. The timing means his exit follows the completion of the studio’s latest major project and a period in which he had been publicly reflecting on Housemarque’s transformation.
Kuittinen had also recently discussed what could come after Saros, suggesting Housemarque may explore projects that are not necessarily as large as its latest release. He said the studio had several areas it wanted to investigate while continuing to preserve the gameplay-focused identity that has remained consistent throughout its history. Housemarque has not announced its next game or publicly detailed how Kuittinen’s responsibilities will be redistributed following his departure.
His exit represents a significant leadership change for a studio whose history has been closely tied to his own career. Kuittinen was involved from Housemarque’s formation through its independent years, its pivot away from arcade games, the success of Returnal and its eventual acquisition by Sony. After more than three decades, Housemarque now enters its next development cycle without one of the figures who helped create the company.
