Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced it has acquired Insomniac Games, the developers behind Marvel's Spider-Man and Ratchet and Clank, as a first-party PlayStation studio.

Sony and Insomniac are in "definitive agreements" to acquire Insomniac, who have long held a partnership with PlayStation throughout the four generations of home PlayStation consoles, from Spyro the Dragon on the original PlayStation through to 2018's Spider-Man on PS4.

Insomniac will become the 14th studio in Sony's current lineup of Worldwide Studios development studios.

"Insomniac Games is one of the most highly-acclaimed development studios in the industry and their legacy of best-in class storytelling and gameplay is unparalleled," Shawn Layden, Chairman of SIE WWS, said in a statement alongside the announcement. "We have enjoyed a strong collaborative partnership with the studio for many years, and are thrilled to officially welcome them to the Worldwide Studios family. The addition of Insomniac Games to SIE WWS reiterates our commitment to developing world class gaming experiences that can only be found on the PlayStation platform."

Joining the WWS family gives Insomniac even greater opportunities to achieve our studio vision of making positive and lasting impressions on people's lives," Ted Price, Insomniac Games founder and CEO, said in an additional statement. "We've enjoyed a special relationship with PlayStation practically since our inception. Our partnership amplifies our potential, and Marvel's Spider-Man was a testament to this. We're excited to take the next step in our growth alongside our longtime WWS partners. Most of all, we look forward to delivering fresh, new experiences for our fans."

We took a look at the state of Sony's first-party studios earlier this year, and we know that Sony has considered acquiring studios ahead of the PS5. Bringing Insomniac officially into the first-party fold cements a relationship that has produced a number of beloved PlayStation-exclusive franchises, from Spyro and Ratchet to Resistance and Spider-Man. For a time, Insomniac appeared to be exploring other partnerships, having produced the Xbox One exclusive Sunset Overdrive several years ago, but the return of Ratchet and Clank to PS4 and Spider-Man's acclaimed debut last year resolidified the relationship between Sony and Insomniac.

No game announcements were made alongside the acquisition announcement, but given that Spider-Man on PS4 has sold over 13.2 million copies worldwide as of July 28, 2019, it's clear Sony and Insomniac have made a great pair, and will continue to do so as PlayStation enters the next generation of consoles.

Speaking of the next generation, Sony has recently discussed Sony is considering cross-gen play thanks to the PS4 backward compatibility. Spider-Man has also played a big role in what we've seen of the PS5 so far, as Sony's demo of the PS5's impressive load times involved a comparison between Marvel's Spider-Man running on PS4 and PS5. And even though many are looking ahead to what the PS5 may bring, Sony is still planning to bring several major exclusives to the PS4.

For more on Insomniac's PS4 output, be sure to read both our Marvel's Spider-Man PS4 review and our Ratchet and Clank PS4 review. And be sure to stay tuned to IGN's weekly PlayStation show Podcast Beyond! for analysis of what this means for Sony later this week.

Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor and host of Beyond! Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.