Studio Liverpool
Latest
Sony axing Liverpool game studio, ends Psygnosis' 28-year history
Sony has confirmed that it's shuttering Studio Liverpool, more famously known as Psygnosis. The publisher was founded in 1984 and is responsible for a legion of best-selling titles including Lemmings, Colony Wars, Destruction Derby, Wipeout and the Formula One games. In a statement, the company said that after a review of its "commercially viable" projects, it's focusing on projects in other parts of the business -- after slashing the studio's remit in a cost-cutting exercise in 2010. The facility is also the location of the company's European Quality Assurance team, which will reportedly remain in operation.
Wipeout dev seeks designer with racing game experience
Following a hiring surge in late July for an apparent "action" project, SCE Studio Liverpool is once again in need of a senior designer with "an encyclopedic knowledge of games," only this time with an "especially racing" kind of intelligence. Said know-it-all should have put this in-brained database to good use, too, and must have "shipped at least one successful racing title within a senior design role." According to GamesRadar, an earlier version of the job listing was more candid, describing the position as one in which the new hire would "work with a talented and experienced team on a high profile, futuristic racing franchise." Though it's unclear what prompted the edit (was that a spoiler?), Studio Liverpool's newest designer will likely be working on the WipEout franchise. Earlier this year, Studio Liverpool underwent a drastic reduction in size, with reportedly half of all staff laid off. Shortly before the restructuring, Sony confirmed that a number of projects within the studio had been canceled. Studio Liverpool's last significant release was the WipEout HD add-on "Fury" in mid-2009 -- unless you count this summer's grand opening of the "WipEout Museum" ... in PlayStation Home. [Pictured: Studio Liverpool; source: SCE Worldwide Studios]
Sony Studio Liverpool staffing up for new project, probably not Wipeout
Despite having culled its workforce earlier this year, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's Studio Liverpool -- which has historically produced the Wipeout franchise and is bunked up with former Evolution Studios (MotorStorm) staff -- is hiring once again. In this case, it's looking for a senior designer to pitch in on a yet-unannounced title. One that, from the want ad, sure sounds like a third- or first-person (or both) action game. Last we checked, neither Wipeout nor MotorStorm would fall under that heading. The job posting calls for an individual who has "shipped at least one successful action game" and possesses an "encyclopaedic knowledge of games, especially 3rd / 1st person action." The studio also desires that its ideal candidate be an "enthusiastic, confident, positive personality," which pretty much rules out any of us for the position, though we probably never had a chance and couldn't care less. There's no specific platform experience mentioned in the listing, so the target platform for whatever the title is could be PS3, PSP, PS4, PSP2 or jump right to the PS5 (although it's probably 99.99 percent for one or both of the first two). We'll let you know when we learn more.
Report: Half of Studio Liverpool staff laid off
According to a report from Develop citing inside sources, Sony has terminated half of all employees at Studio Liverpool -- the team behind the WipEout franchise. In January 2009, Sony merged Studio Liverpool (formerly Psygnosis) with Evolution Studios and last week announced plans to restructure the new team. In its report of the restructuring, GamesIndustry.biz noted redundancies "may be necessary;" however, Sony has yet to confirm how many positions were affected by the decision. Within the comments of GI's original article, a user registered as SCEE programmer Paul Ripley wrote "I would estimate about at least 50% of Studio Liverpool has [just] been culled (myself included). Hard to work out exact numbers at the moment." Develop's inside source relayed similar information, noting Sony's layoff plans for the studio were "looking heavy." Joystiq has reached out to Sony for comment, but has yet to hear back as of this publishing. If you work/worked for Studio Liverpool and would like to speak to us on or off the record, we're all ears.
Sony 'restructuring' Studio Liverpool
Things sound pretty rough for Sony's SCE Studio Liverpool. Following the merging of Wipeout HD developer Studio Liverpool (formerly Psygnosis) with Evolution Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment announced that it is "restructuring" the studio. According to GamesIndustry.biz, it is currently unknown how many jobs will be affected. Evidently, Sony is looking to relocate staff rather than lay them off, though, as GI puts it, "some redundancies may be necessary." In a statement, SCE said that "production on a number of projects within Studio Liverpool will cease immediately due to project prioritisation," and assured that "this decision will have no impact of the role that the North West Studio Group will play in the future of all PlayStation platforms." Except, of course, for the part of its role that included making those unspecified projects.
Hands-on: WipEout HD Fury
If you haven't heard, WipEout HD's first expansion pack is coming to the PlayStation Network next week. The Fury pack doesn't come cheap -- at $9.99, it costs almost as much as the initial game itself. However, Fury goes beyond the norm, offering more than just new tracks. The addition of brand new gameplay modes makes for an experience that seems well worth the price of entry.Almost immediately, it's apparent that Fury is a game's worth of content by itself. After installing the pack, players will choose the content they'd like to access. Selecting Fury will bring a drastic change to the interface, with its black background and intense red HUD. From there, players will be able to go through the Racebox and Grid as usual.The single player grid repeats the same progression structure found in HD and PSP's Pulse. The grid in Fury will take players through the 12 new tracks. Once again, players will have to place in single races, fastest lap challenges, and Zone levels. However, in addition to the challenges found in the original game, Fury introduces three new modes: Eliminator, Zone Battle, and Detonator.%Gallery-64658%
WipEout HD Fury expansion dated July 23, priced
Zico Liu, programmer (and Trophy) on WipEout HD, recently dropped by the European PlayStation Blog to confirm a price and date for the game's latest expansion: Fury. Psychedelic speedsters in Europe can get their greasy mitts on this new content come July 23 for £7.99 (€9.99). US gamers won't miss out, as Fury will also be available on the US store for $9.99 that day. For those of you not in the brightly-colored loop, Fury adds a whole lot of new content, including game types, tracks and ships, to Sony's futuristic racer.Source - Playstation.Blog.EuropeSource - Playstation.Blog [US]%Gallery-64658%
WipEout HD expansion in final testing
According to the PlayStation Europe Blog, WipEout HD's upcoming game-altering DLC, entitled Fury, is in final QA testing. Answering a short list of questions submitted by blog regulars, WipEout HD game director Tony Buckley and producer Paul Tweedle noted the expansion was in the "final phase" of testing and promised release information would be announced (via the PlayStation Blog) after it completes the process. Fury is set to add a laundry list of content, including 8 tracks, 13 ship models and 3 game modes, to the popular anti-grav racer.[Via CVG]
WipEout Pulse PS2 port revealed by German ratings board
Not too long ago, we reported that a WipEout Pulse port was rumored to hit the PS2. Back then it was still intangible gossip; however now, there is substantial evidence that such a title is indeed in the works. German ratings board USK (Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle) has this PS2 port listed down in its database -- the record of which can be seen embedded in the image above.Without any reciprocal rating on North America's ESRB, the PS2 WipEout title may never leave Europe -- that is, if it gets off the ground in the first place.
Rumorang: WipEout Pulse for PS2 still in development
Eurogamer claims to have knowledge of a PS2 version of WipEout Pulse in development, but an official Sony statement on the as-yet unannounced title muddles the actual status of the futuristic racer.In the official statement, Sony reminded Eurogamer that "over 9.5m PS2s" exist in the UK and that the publisher is still supporting the platform with titles such as SingStar and Buzz!. While Sony has never mentioned WipEout Pulse plans in the past -- other than to deny the original listing of the rumored game -- the manufacturer explained it would decide future PS2 releases on an "individual basis and make decisions accordingly," based on consumer demand. Perhaps it'll gauge consumer demand through an online petition. Those work, you know.
SCEE plans to merge Liverpool and Evolution Studios
Two of Europe's brightest development teams will share a home in the future, according to a recent interview with SCEE's Michael Denny. Studio Liverpool, developers of the popular Wipeout franchise, and Evolution Studios, developers of the MotorStorm series, will eventually merge to work at one location. The two teams have already merged "management structure" and are currently using "combined resources." The two teams are already in close proximity to each other, so it makes sense that these PlayStation teams should combine.Each studio will continue to have their own "internal concepting group" to think up "new opportunities and new IPs." Perhaps their next game will feature futuristic hovering ... off-road monster trucks. Wait a sec. That sounds incredibly awesome.
WipEout HD patched for popular players, may require save deletion
Sony has deployed a patch for WipEout HD onto European servers, and presumably will do the same later today in North America, fixing freezing issues that have affected players with over 50 friends. Admittedly, we were rather fond of the "glitch," though it's probably time we let go of our petty grudge against the in-crowd of our adolescent years (note to self: avoid awkward confrontations at next high school reunion politely decline the Jägerbombs). Still, there's some glee to be gleaned from the update. According to the description: "If at any time you have had over 50 users in your friends list whilst playing Wipeout it is possible that your saved data has become corrupted. If this situation applies to you, we strongly recommend once this update has installed you quit the game and delete your saved data using the saved data utility in the XMB, then relaunch the game to create a new profile. Deleting your Saved Data will not affect your collected trophies or online records, but will reset your campaign mode progress, team loyalties, and in-game settings." [Emphasis ours.]See? Popularity doesn't always get you ahead in life.Update: The patch has been released in North America.
Euro WipEout HD patch fixes freezing for popular players
WipEout HD has now been patched in order to fix the common game freezing problem among PSN users with over 50 friends. Currently this patch is available for the European version only, though we would expect it to go live in America very soon. The patch notes, which can be retrieved from within the game, state that your save file needs to be deleted after the patch has been installed for the fix to take affect. This means your lap times, team loyalties and other single-player stats and options will be lost. Your trophies and leaderboard scores, however, won't be lost. If you've been sidestepping the issue by playing whilst signed out of the PSN, starting again is no doubt quite an annoyance. Don't get too upset, though, at least you can now play online with your friends. That's worth starting the campaign mode all over again, right?[Thanks Stoo]
WipEout dev questions validity of epilepsy test
The folks at Studio Liverpool have been quiet about the long delay of WipEout HD. While all signs pointed to failed epilepsy tests, the team has been incredibly silent about the issue. Until now. Game director Tony Buckley said that "a lot of games" fail the epilepsy test. However, he questions the validity of the exams. "The hardware that actually does the test, it's quite ... subjective," he told GI.biz. "So, you know, it's difficult to pinpoint what the actual issues are, and whether they are actually issues, to be honest."In spite of that, the team took the issue to heart and worked on it very seriously. "We certainly weren't going to take it lightly," he noted. The team was going to be uncompromising in the look they were going for and ultimately, it appears they've succeeded. "That was our worry, that the game would suddenly look poorer as a result of it, but no, it's all gone really well."
WipEout HD: 8 tracks, 38 Trophies, 1080p, 60fps, 100% awesome
You should know how excited we are for WipEout HD. The long-delayed futuristic racer is coming out in the next few weeks, and will come at a budget price sure to make us all rather pleased. Although its a budget downloadable title, it's production values speak otherwise. There's going to be a lot of content, as this intial release already features 8 tracks (6 from WipEout Pure, 2 from WipEout Pulse) -- and there are variations of the same track as well, with mirroring and Zone mode.Obviously, many people will be speaking about the game's incredible visuals: 1080p, 60fps -- almost unheard of in this generation of games. Yet, somehow the guys at Studio Liverpool have been able to pull it off while making the game look as good as it does.Yes, there are also Trophies in the game (including a Platinum Trophy, as mentioned earlier). There will be 38 Trophies in all, some which are ridiculously easy (such as simply taking a picture in Photo Mode). Obviously, there will be some eye-bleeding Trophies to be caught in harder, faster difficulties.For more on the game, check out Joystiq's latest hands-on preview. Gallery: WipeEout HD (09/12/08)
WipEout HD delay means more tracks, ships and Trophies
Yes, we're all bummed by WipEout HD's epilepsy-related delay. However, we're reminded of the old adage, "good things come to those who wait." It appears that the team at Liverpool isn't just sitting around. They've taken this time to add a number of new features to WipEout HD, most exciting of which must be Trophies. A SCEE representative told TVG that the delay has added "8 reverse tracks, 4 extra ships, 2 alternative HUDS, 2 Player offline split screen and XMB Trophy support."Wow, that's a lot of added content. We're excited for WipEout HD, and we're glad to see more being added to the upcoming racer. Now, we all have to do just one thing: wait.[Via NeoGAF]%Gallery-7754%
Rumor: LittleBigPlanet coming to the PSP
As if it weren't bad enough having to pine for the PS3 version of LittleBigPlanet, CVG is now reporting that we're going to have to look forward to a PSP version of the game too. It says an inside source has revealed that LBP is in development for the PSP at Sony's Studio Liverpool, probably best known for Wipeout games on the portable platform.Though no other details are available at this time, we're thoroughly excited. But please, Sony, if you have any mercy, release some version of LittleBigPlanet before you start announcing other ones, we only have so much room in our hearts. Heck, we'd be happy with LittleBigPlanet fast food toys at this point. And no, we don't count the plushies.
WipEout HD to support customizable soundtracks
The ability to create customized soundtracks is a criminally underused feature in many games, as players are forced to turn down the volume and crank up the stereo just so they can tackle their boss of choice to the musical styling of their favorite 80s hair band. It's not too much to ask, and apparently Sony agrees, with the upcoming WipEout HD for the PS3 now confirmed to support fully customized soundtracks. Taking a page from the recently released Wipeout Pulse for the PSP, the upcoming racer will sport a handful of what we're sure will turn out to be suitably electronic tracks, though if you're in the mood for -- let's just say Barry Manilow – that's entirely your choice. [Via PS3 Fanboy] %Gallery-17035%
PSP Fanboy review: Wipeout Pulse
Wipeout Pure remains, to this day, one of the top rated PSP games of all time. And for good reason, too. When it debuted with the PSP launch, it delivered unparalleled graphics, tons of content, and a huge assortment of downloadable content that made Pure a great value for any racing fan. Nearly three years later, Studio Liverpool finally returns to PSP with the next installment of the Wipeout franchise. Wipeout Pulse attempts to do the impossible: improve upon the formula they created with Pure. Undeniably, they have succeeded. %Gallery-4074%
First DLC appears for Wipeout Pulse [Update]
Fans who enjoyed Wipeout Pure's free DLC are going to be very disappointed by this new. The first DLC for Wipeout Pulse has appeared on the UK PLAYSTATION Store ... at a cost of £3.49. The "Mirage Pack" includes a brand new team, and two new tracks (and their Zone variations). Update: Future packs have been unearthed on the official Wipeout website. They each include two tracks and one new team. Pulse is a fantastic game, and we don't mind having to pay for more of it. However, is £3.49 a bit too much for you? How much will DLC cost when the game launches in America in a week? Also available on the UK Store: Fade to Black (PS1), Theme Hospital (PS1), Motorhead (PS1) [Thanks, Forgot69!]
