Housemarque has announced that Returnal director Harry Krueger is to leave the company after a 14-year tenure.
In an announcement post on Housemarque's website, Krueger says he's been "incredibly fortunate" to work with the studio, and that leaving the team was "a very difficult decision".
He doesn't give a specific reason for his departure, but he does say he's leaving behind a developer that has an "exciting new project in the works" and a "fantastic team that's stronger than ever".
Housemarque general manager Ilari Kuittinen says Krueger's "passion and direction" have been essential for shaping the studio, and that his time presiding over what Kuittinen calls "the rebirth of Arcade" will provide a great point for future Housemarque leaders to build on.
The announcement post concludes by looking ahead to the studio's "new big project", which it promises will be "the next best thing from Finland".
As well as Returnal, Krueger's other credits at Housemarque include programming work on Resogun, Outland, and Angry Birds Trilogy, the latter being a co-development effort with Rovio, Exient, and Fun Labs.
Krueger also served as director on Nex Machina, a colorful arcade shooter which our very own Samuel Guglielmo rather enjoyed when he reviewed it back in 2017.
Housemarque was purchased by Sony in mid-2021, just a couple of months after the studio released Returnal, arguably its biggest and most elaborate project yet.
Neither Krueger nor Housemarque's next moves are entirely clear at the moment. Krueger does say he has a "glowing optimism for the future", but he doesn't say what he's moving onto after Housemarque.
Similarly, Housemarque hasn't revealed anything about its next game just yet, so we'll have to wait and see what the Finnish developer has planned for the future.
Stay tuned for more info about Housemarque and whatever it might be up to next.
