R.I.P. Sony Liverpool.

[KALEL114]

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/sony-s-studio-liverpool-closes-its-doors-campus-survives/0101655

 

[Electro UK]

Yeah, this is pretty devastating news, I think. Sony Liverpool represent such a huge part to the PlayStation brand and have given so much in the form of the Wipeout series that it's really, really sad to see them go.

Of course, Sony is keeping Evolution Studios alive so maybe we'll be seeing a Wipeout reboot from them on PS4, if not the continuation of the MotorStorm series.

 

[KALEL114]

I can't believe they canceled the two PS4 games. Why not just hand them off to a different studio? Especially if the Wipeout game was in development for a year and a half already. There has to be more to the story.

 

[Electro UK]

You know I'd imagine Sony set most of its studios to work on PS4 projects already knowing that it would cancel a few of them. Guerrilla and Media Molecule certainly aren't devoting their whole respective work resources to Tearaway and Mercenary. Meanwhile Sucker Punch, Naughty Dog's Uncharted unit and Evolution have been pretty silent since their last releases. Then there's Lightbox, Sony Cambridge and possible work with Insomniac etc.

At the end of the day, Sony needs to close some of these studios because a lot of their first party stuff doesn't end up selling. It should lead to more refined, effective development and marketing, but this is still a big loss.

It wouldn't surprise me if Zipper also dropped a PS4 game when it closed.

 

[KALEL114]

Here's an update from Eurogamer.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-08-22-sony-closes-wipeout-developer-sony-liverpool-report

 

[hippie_hunter]

Meh, Sony Liverpool was kind of an unneeded studio IMO. Wipeout can easily be done by Evolution Studios. Getting rid of unneeded studios while acquiring better talent (like they've done with Sucker Punch and Media Molecule) is better in the long run.

 

[Soapy]

Unfortunate. I loved Wipeout.

 

[KALEL114]

Wipeout isn't dead I would imagine. Like hunter said, another dev. will take it over.

 

[Havok83]

Meh, Sony Liverpool was kind of an unneeded studio IMO. Wipeout can easily be done by Evolution Studios. Getting rid of unneeded studios while acquiring better talent (like they've done with Sucker Punch and Media Molecule) is better in the long run.

IA. All they made was Wipeout and thats not a huge title these days. I think shutting them down and incorporating some of the key developers from there into another studio (Evolution make sense) is the best move