(Reuters) - PlayStation console maker Sony Interactive Entertainment said on Monday it would buy privately held Insomniac Games Inc, known for developing games such as Marvel's "Spider-Man" and third-person shooter "Ratchet & Clank" franchise.
The deal will help the console maker, a unit of Japan's Sony Corp (T:6758), boost its game offerings ahead of the launch of rival game streaming services from companies, including Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc's Google, and as it prepares to unveil PlayStation 5 next year.
In its bid to maintain market share in the $150 billion (£123.6 billion) global video gaming market, Sony in March partnered with main rival Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), the maker of Xbox game console, to stream games and content to consumers as well as offer game makers new development tools.
Founded in 1994, Insomniac Games has worked with Sony for more than 20 years, starting with the first PlayStation. Last year, it developed "Spider-Man" in partnership with Marvel Games, which is owned by Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) Co. More than 13.2 million copies of the game have been sold as of end of July.
Insomniac will also release https://www.oculus.com/stormland/?locale=en_US Stormland, an action-adventure virtual reality game for Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) Inc's Oculus Rift headset, later this year.
Sony did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.