A new patent filed in Europe may have just revealed that Sony is acquiring a new studio under the PlayStation family. If true, PS5 owners might be getting more exclusive indie titles from the team that created Abzu.
Patent Fuels Rumors of PlayStation Acquiring Giant Squid Studios
Rumors of Sony PlayStation acquiring a new studio first popped up after eagle-eyed fans spotted a patent that was filed with the European Union Intellectual Property Office. According to EUIPO’s site, Sony Interactive Entertainment filed a joint patent with Giant Squid in July 2025. The trademark was specifically filed for the studio’s recent title Sword of the Sea, which launched on PlayStation Plus in August 2025.
The reason this is interesting is that Sony never announced that Sword of the Sea was a Sony PlayStation–produced title. The new indie title was also never revealed to be a PS5 exclusive, either. Although it is only launching on PlayStation and PC platforms, it may have been a hint of some kind of deal. Regardless, the joint patent immediately sparked speculation among PlayStation fans that Sony had possibly acquired the studio behind Abzu.
Interestingly, Giant Squid actually has a unique history with the PlayStation brand. For example, Sword of the Sea was directed by Matt Nava, who was the Art Director for Journey. The beloved 2012 title became massively popular on PlayStation 3. Given that PlayStation hasn’t acquired a major studio since Firewalk Studios in 2023, it also wouldn’t be too far-fetched for them to have bought a smaller indie team that they have a history with.
Sword of the Sea Could Be a PS5 Exclusive
Before we get too excited for a new PlayStation studio, there are some things to consider. It should be pointed out that a patent being filed doesn’t necessarily mean that Sony has purchased Giant Squid. It could mean that SIE just owns the rights to Sword of the Sea instead, which would make sense as to why it debuted on PlayStation Plus first.
Another explanation is that the indie game was actually co-produced by Sony or funded by the Japanese publisher. However, what makes this joint patent intriguing is that Sword of the Sea was never labeled as a Sony-funded project. In all fairness, though, publishers don’t always make these kinds of deals public. It’s actually fairly common for funding to not be announced in marketing.
With all that said, I would take this latest studio acquisition rumor with a major grain of salt. Yes, SIE and Giant Squid both being listed as owners on the European patent is definitely interesting. But it might be as simple as Sword of the Sea being a PS5 exclusive or partially funded by PlayStation.
It also honestly fits into Sony’s previous strategies of financially backing indie projects. And with the Abzu studio’s rich history with PlayStation, the collaboration actually makes a lot of sense.
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