Half of Studio Liverpool (Psygnosis) staff has been laid off.

FroMann

FroMann

CAGiversary!
Say goodbye to the next WipEout sequel.

From Kotaku, http://kotaku.com/5461152/sony-to-eliminate-half-of-wipeout-developer
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has confirmed to Kotaku that "a number of projects" at Sony's Liverpool studio have halted. However, rumors are swirling that the restructuring goes further than that. Originally known as Psygnosis, the studio was founded in 1984 and is best known for the anti-gravity WipEout racing games. During the 1980s, the studio released titles on hardware like the Commodore Amiga. In 1995, Psygnosis was sold to Sony Computer Entertainment and became a wholly owned subsidiary. It is the oldest SCE studio in Europe.
Sony's official statement on the Liverpool restructuring reads: "It has been decided that production on a number of projects within Studio Liverpool will cease immediately due to project prioritisation. Our North West Studio Group has been and will continue to be a vital cog in the WWS family, with a history of producing genre defining games such as MotorStorm, WipEout, Formula 1 and WRC and this decision will have no impact of the role that the North West Studio Group will play in the future of all PlayStation platforms."
Website Develop, however, is rumoring that the restructuring will ultimately slash studio staff by half. One developer told the site that the Sony measures were "looking heavy" and estimated that "around half us may be gone".
Sony did not comment on whether or not half of the studio was going to be terminated.
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Really dissapointed with Sony on this news. Hopefully the laid off employees can work at another game studio.
 
Seems like a lot of the SCEE UK studios don't get much love or get canned before too long. Manchester and Leeds got killed (which means no Ghosthunter 2 for me) The only reason SCEE London stays in business is Singstar.

Yeah so another one (almost) bites the dust. Shame so many good UK dev houses that are talented can't adapt and show in the new market as they did in the past, soon Sony won't have much of an internal developer presence in the UK, which sucks.
 
[quote name='4tygames']Quick question:

If Psygnosis was bought out by Sony in 1995, how did they still make Wipeout 64 in 1998?[/QUOTE]

Just a guess, but maybe they already had a contract with Nintendo by the time Sony bought them out.
 
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/01/report-half-of-studio-liverpool-staff-laid-off/
In January 2009, Sony merged Studio Liverpool (formerly Psygnosis) with Evolution Studios and last week announced plans to restructure the new team.
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The Joystiq article mentions they were merged with Evolution Studios (the MotorStorm devs) recently, so of course they have to make cuts since they obviously can't keep twice the amount of people under one roof. I doubt this affects the chances of another Wipeout game, though they've made enough of them with two PSP games and the HD version within a few years.
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/01/report-half-of-studio-liverpool-staff-laid-off/ I doubt this affects the chances of another Wipeout game, though they've made enough of them with two PSP games and the HD version within a few years.[/QUOTE]

This.

Furthermore, what the OP states is a rumor. No one knows how many people are getting laid off, when it's happening, or what. For all we know, those people are offered positions within other Sony based studios.

Sony is not going to close it's studio responsible for MotorStorm, WipEout, Formula 1 and WRC. It's trimming the fat.
 
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