Studio liverpool no more.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Spagetti69
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WipEout is no more. Say goodbye to Sony's best racer that isn't GT.
 
A bit more info.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...ut-ps4-and-a-splinter-cell-style-game-for-ps4


Fantastic comment here, not mine.

Fantastic move Sony. I don't get it. Close Liverpool down, but still but good money after bad into trying to bring The Last Guardian out of development hell?

Perhaps bringing your two main Japanese developers to task over spiralling development costs and cycle to task would be a better move. Team Ico, and Polyphony development lead times are farcical.
 
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This is a sad day, I was hoping to see another Wipeout soon(er or later). HD Fury was great but it was a bit light on content for my liking, a GT5-sized (in terms of tracks and stuff to do, not teams and vehicles) Wipeout was all I ever wanted! Maybe we'll see someone else pick up the franchise but it just won't be the same without Studio Liverpool.
 
Man, I was such a huge fan of this series and I would never hope to see the day that they would close down. Such great and original games they released, and Sony just decides to shut them down.

All good things must come to an end I guess. :/ Maybe one day, Pygnosis will come back?
 
BayneHamlin1121
Man, I was such a huge fan of this series and I would never hope to see the day that they would close down. Such great and original games they released, and Sony just decides to shut them down.

All good things must come to an end I guess. :/ Maybe one day, Pygnosis will come back?
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The only chance of Psygnosis coming back is all these guys getting together and starting their own company.



I am VERY unhappy about this news, the wipEout series is my favorite games of all time. I just got 2048 for my Vita and it rocks. The only one I was a bit dissappointed in was Fusion for PS2. I've owned every game, sometimes multiple copies, I played the first one and 2097/XL so much I had every inch of every track memorized.
 
If they came back with a Kickstarter to fund a new Wipeout-style (I'm guessing Sony own the IP) racer for PC, I'd be all over that.
 
What is strange is that they were working on 2 next gen games. Around 18 months in apparently.

Microsoft could give these guys jobs, pretty sure they would like some inside info.

Wonder if Sony pull out of the console buisiness?
 
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There is nothing to cry about. Studio Liverpool was responsible only for those dark side of wipeout

Liverpool --> Fusion, Pulse, Pure, HD + Fury and 2048 (dark side)

Psygnosis --> wipeout, wipeout 2097/XL, wip3out and wipeout 3 special edition (that's the correct and only side)

When wipeout started to look like star wars pod racer it was all over. :sick: So for real it all end's on ps2
 
ussr
There is nothing to cry about. Studio Liverpool was responsible only for those dark side of wipeout

Liverpool --> Fusion, Pulse, Pure, HD + Fury and 2048 (dark side)

Psygnosis --> wipeout, wipeout 2097/XL, wip3out and wipeout 3 special edition (that's the correct and only side)

When wipeout started to look like star wars pod racer it was all over. :sick: So for real it all end's on ps2
Click to expand...

Psygnosis was renamed to Studio Liverpool, they're all the same people.
 
ussr
There is nothing to cry about. Studio Liverpool was responsible only for those dark side of wipeout

Liverpool --> Fusion, Pulse, Pure, HD + Fury and 2048 (dark side)

Psygnosis --> wipeout, wipeout 2097/XL, wip3out and wipeout 3 special edition (that's the correct and only side)

When wipeout started to look like star wars pod racer it was all over. :sick: So for real it all end's on ps2
Click to expand...

Err Studio Liverpool is Psygnosis, when they were completely absorbed and renamed by Sony. It was still all the same folks.

I was just playing the original wipeout 2 days ago (still love the game, still have my original copy from 1995!), aside from some new game modes, way better graphics, and the ability to absorb powerups, its the same game, so I'm not sure how you can call it "dark side". The thing I didn't like about Fusion were the tracks were too busy and undefined it was easy to get lost and crash.

Sadly I have read they were working on a new wipeout title for a launch title for PS4 but I'd assume thats getting shelved :(
 
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This already happened 3 years ago when they sacked 90% of the development team.
They then hired people to create Wipeout 2048.

Not surprised at all, there was barely a skeleton-crew staff working there when I left.

Also, not many Psygnosis staff are still at SCE Liverpool. There are a couple but many have left over the years or were sacked/made redundant back in 2009. Really the only thing that is still left from the Psygnosis years is the building itself. They don't even make Destruction Derby or Colony Wars anymore so really Psygnosis died long, long ago.
 
@ Ardius, did any go to the newly formed playground games? The makers of Forza horizon.
 
Truly sad news. I've been a fan of Psygnosis since the very beginning.
 
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Ardius
This already happened 3 years ago when they sacked 90% of the development team.
They then hired people to create Wipeout 2048.

Not surprised at all, there was barely a skeleton-crew staff working there when I left.

Also, not many Psygnosis staff are still at SCE Liverpool. There are a couple but many have left over the years or were sacked/made redundant back in 2009. Really the only thing that is still left from the Psygnosis years is the building itself. They don't even make Destruction Derby or Colony Wars anymore so really Psygnosis died long, long ago.
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You worked there? No mention ever as long as we played F1:CE...
 
ussr
There is nothing to cry about. Studio Liverpool was responsible only for those dark side of wipeout

Liverpool --> Fusion, Pulse, Pure, HD + Fury and 2048 (dark side)

Psygnosis --> wipeout, wipeout 2097/XL, wip3out and wipeout 3 special edition (that's the correct and only side)

When wipeout started to look like star wars pod racer it was all over. :sick: So for real it all end's on ps2
Click to expand...

I already see people pointed out the infactuals you have written.

2048 is great game on the Vita. Heck allmost all games from SL/Psychnosis are great stuff.

Sorry to see them go.
 
eXtaticus
WHAT?! WipEout 2048 is the best reason to buy a PS Vita, and Sony closed the development studio behind it?

OH GOD WHY.
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Apparently someone in sony knew better, and to make matter easier it looks like next wipeout for ps4 was already in development for like a year now. And it didn't look like wipeout at all so that might be the reason "WHY?!" Just like I've wrote earlier, there is no reason to cry because only title that make this company keep it together was wipeout. And When wipeout started to look like star wars pod racer it was all over. So for real it all end's on ps2 with wipeout fusion.

Other games from that studio for sony must have been irrelevant
 
ussr
Apparently someone in sony knew better, and to make matter easier it looks like next wipeout for ps4 was already in development for like a year now. And it didn't look like wipeout at all so that might be the reason "WHY?!" Just like I've wrote earlier, there is no reason to cry because only title that make this company keep it together was wipeout. And When wipeout started to look like star wars pod racer it was all over. So for real it all end's on ps2 with wipeout fusion.
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If anything, WipEout Fusion's radical physics changes, rubbish art style and the fact that it had the vastly superior F-Zero GX to compete with made it by far the absolute low point of the series' vast span, and the quality of the games has only increased dramatically since then - with WipEout 2048 being every bit the fantastic racer that everyone expected it to be, the fact the Sony's killed the franchise and its studio simply beggars belief.

The most recent WipEouts were high sellers and all-around awesome games, and for Sony to completely subvert and ignore that is, simply put, an insult to the intelligence and loyalty of the fans. I'll be honest; I'm not at all fond of the PS Vita, and quite dislike it (for reasons that are unrelated to this topic) - but WipEout 2048 made me WANT one.

Like, really REALLY want one. Just for that one game. Which is now officially the last game in the series. Which is very sad.
 
Totally ignorant comment there.

Team Ico only produced two last gen games and their still being kept afloat (just).

When wipeout started to look like a pod racer, what was it before?

Also I think Sony instructed them to make wipeout and nothing else.

Also 1080 @60fps is not to be sniffed at. Probably one of the best PSN offerings there is.
Subjective of course.
 
tankuroded
No-one can mention Psygonsis/Studio Liverpool without Lemmings.

A sad day. :(
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I love Lemmings! And F1:CE, the first game I bought for my PS3...
 
I hope the guys who worked on F1:CE go to Polyphony and teach them how to do good-looking 22 car races without taking a decade to perfect it!
 
Spagetti69
@ Ardius, did any go to the newly formed playground games? The makers of Forza horizon.
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No idea, like I say, when I worked there there was barely a dev studio going anyway. They hired a bunch of people to work on the Vita game last year.

I didn't know any of the dev studio personally.

They could have gone literally anywhere though. I will no doubt bump into some of them one day just because thats the way it is in the games industry. You tend to find a lot of people in most games companies have an extensive history in other games companies.

Interestingly I did actually meet a few of the devs from F1:CE but not when I worked at Sony. In my final year of my degree at university in 2009 we had the opportunity to critique some ex-devs on their lecturing skills and they in turn gave us some industry advice. Turned out they were mostly people who had been made redundant from Liverpool.
Those lot mostly went into working on personal projects (facebook games, iphone games, etc) or consultancy work.

Alltidxx
You worked there? No mention ever as long as we played F1:CE...
Click to expand...

I started working there long after F1:CE was released. Plus I didn't really want people badgering me for information or reading my posts as insider info or anything. Not to mention I had to be careful as anything I said would obviously be taken a lot more seriously by people and hence I didn't really want to put my job at risk by saying the wrong thing.

But as I don't work there anymore (I left back in April - I wasn't affected by this recent news), I'm quite happy to comment on it and share.
 
Was there discussion about a Racebox option for 2048? It is greatly missed in the current version.

If you are not allowed to talk about it, I understand.
 
I wasn't involved with the dev studio so I wasn't privy to anything like that. I wouldn't be surprised if racebox was one of the things considered during the design process but the early versions never included it.
 

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