'wipEout HD' Studio Hit By Layoffs, Projects Canceled, Studio Closed

WorthPlaying has confirmed that the rumored layoffs at Studio Liverpool are no longer rumor.

"wipEout HD developer Studio Liverpool, formerly known as Psygnosis, is being hit by layoffs as projects are canceled and people are being relocated to other studios. One former employee goes as far as to say that almost everybody got the pink slip virtually closing down the entire studio."

[Sevir04]

NOT STUDIO LIVERPOOL!?

SCE what are you doing to such a grand studio. Wipeout is awesome. why on earth would you close down a studio that makes such amazing games like Wipeout, and where did you relocate them to?

[SOAD]

It appears Microsoft is not the only company closing studios.

[Cajun Chicken]

F**k you Sony, you outta your f**king mind?!?

Well done for going down the MS route.

I just lost a lot of respect for Sony. A LOT.

[DeforMAKulizer]

Guys calm down!!! A Sony rep on Gaf is saying that the studio is alive and well, some have been let go, others have been sent to Cambridge and Evolution (For a super secret unannounced project and Motorstorm 3 respectively) and that Liverpool has become a First Party Quality Assurance studio... Kinda like the UK ICE Team.... He is trying to calm the uproar telling people not to worry, and that we shouldn't believe a third party website reporting some news...

[El_Colombiano]

Still! I don't care if they still have their jobs or not! I DON'T HAVE MY STUDIO LIVERPOOL ANYMORE! What is going to happen to my Wipeout!?

[fishd]

lol,I came here to say the same thing!
According to some Sony employe on Neogaf ,the studio is NOT dead,they just got smaller and majority of ppl moved to Cambridge studio and Evolution studio to help them out.

[jack_burt0n]

uk ice team sounds like a great idea.

[gaffyh]

I hope that Wipeout still lives.

[DeforMAKulizer]

He even mentions that the 3d tech evolution got was from the guys from liverpool and that the shift is for better of future games!
Don't forget Sony still own the WipeOut IP and the combined efforts (Liverpool and Evolution) might just even create something even better...

[TOO PAWNED]

Studio is not closed.....

[Baka-akaB]

Everyone complaining here really need to STFU . We all know Sony supported Wipeout HD quite a lot .

If anyone is to blame , it would be all of those not buying Wipeout HD and Fury despite multiple promos and the product's high quality .

[Syriel]

"We all know Sony supported Wipeout HD quite a lot."

In Europe, perhaps. In the US, not so much. Sony didn't even bother with a disc release in the US and it plastered in-game ads all over in later patches.

That's not exactly top tier support.

[sikbeta]

Studio Liverpool is NOT Closing, Sony will MERGE Studio Liverpool with Evolution Studios

[Baka-akaB]

@Syriel
Not Top tier support ?

That's the second big game they released in full HD glory that's sales in a rather meh way .

Warhawk was a success , but struggled quite a bit against misconceptions ..

To this date Forbidden Siren's excellent remake remains ignored , all that while everyone is complaining about Resident (action) evil 5 and the next gen silent hill ...

Then you got Wipeout HD , a game miles above most arcade racers in both graphics and gameplay , with loads of modes , with a great online , multiple patchs and still a big addon in the form of fury .
But no what does everyone decides to buy instead on psn ?
Frickin final fantasy 8 ...

And promotion ? on psn you'd have a hard time missing it . Sure some people would rather have the game on disc ... it still hardly explain why so many people were buying instead small arcade games ranging from crap to excellent stuff on PSN and XBl .

I honestly dont see how much more support you want .

Only criterion did better with its awesome Burn out Paradise dlcs and patches .

[Syriel]

@Baka-akaB

For me the implementation of advertising post-sale was a major negative along with the refusal on SCEA's part to issue a disc.

PSN and XBLA are great for little arcade style games, but they suck for full retail titles. For that I want a disc I can own and not have the game tied to a console.

It certainly wasn't the cost that put people off if my circle is any indication. Between myself and my friends I know at least five different people that all ponied up $50 a head to import the disc-based EU release of Fury. NONE of us bought the download version.

Of course SCEE even botched up the disc release by limiting distribution to ONE CHAIN in the UK and not bothering to promote the fact that it was available on disc. Whilst searching for it, most of the UK shops we talked to kept claiming that the game simply didn't exist on disc.

If the game isn't on disc, it's going to have its sales numbers hurt. And when the disc version is a PITA to find, sales numbers are going to get further hurt.

The post-sale in-game advertising patch? That was just DUMB. Talk about a low blow to loyal fans.

[Redempteur]

if i understand this ..they're shuting down the parts that nobody knew what they were doing and merging studios they own without killings projects ?

still don't see what's the big deal ...

"The post-sale in-game advertising patch? That was just DUMB. Talk about a low blow to loyal fans. "

sure you're right on this point thankfully they arranged that part !

[Baka-akaB]

@Syriel

Like i said it still doesnt explain the much higher sales of games of lower quality on PSN . i'm not knocking down on xbl and psn small sized titles , but some of those were crap and still outperformed wipeout HD .

it would hardly be marketing for stuff displayed on the same store , and mostly praises in reviews and magazines .

As for the retail situation you seems to know more about it , so i'll let go of that one . But on the digital side , Sony did everything needed so far , and beyond when it comes to the game's quality and it's evolution .

[SolidAhmed]

what a sad news

[Ravage27]

at least most of them kept their jobs. sigh~ I love WipeoutHD and Fury was the most awesome DLC ever, but it seems that the franchise has lost its appeal. i remember that night i bought the Fury expansion, the top download of the week was that f$%$ing RE5 Versus DLC, made me mad as hell :/

[Shadow Flare]

I really hope one day that studio liverpool get back to their psygnosis roots. Psygnosis were quite easily my favourite developers in the ps1 era. Colony wars, wipeout, destruction derby, G police, they just seemed to make everything and it was all cool. Then after the ps1, they just did nothing pretty much. All I knew them for was wipeout and formula 1. And on the ps3, all I know that they've done is wipeout hd. I mean, these are the same guys who created Lemmings.....what the hell happened? I know wipeout hd is amazing, but they're a far cry from the company I used to know. I don't think i'll ever understand why they have not made a new colony wars game. That franchise was pure class and the games were amazing. Get back to your roots studio liverpool

[bruddahmanmatt]

Good to hear that most of the talent is being kept in house via relocation. Evolution ain't exactly a bad place to call home either considering how awesome Motorstorm is. The main thing to me (and most gamers I would think) is that the Wipeout franchise lives on under the direction of at least some of the Studio Liverpool team.

[tordavis]

Wow sad news. These guys have been rock solid for YEARS! Why get rid of them?

[phosphor112]

Come on D=.

That sucks so much.

[NoBias]

WipeOut HD/Fury is in my top 10 games this gen. Easily my favorite racing game! I didn't really get to read all the comments above me so I'm hoping this situation isn't as bad as it seems.

Studio Liverpool is gold, imo.

[Syriel]

Guess we're never going to see a good WipEout game again.

Long live Fury.

[MiloGarret]

Hopefully Wipeout lives on somehow, Sony does still own the ip.

I hope they fired Zico, asshole...
No I don't! We had some good times Zico, good times.

Asshole.

[Bordel_1900]

On 29 January 2010 Sony made the following public statement; "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".

What does this mean for the WipEout franchise long term?

Only time will tell - although it's clear that the flagship series was being mothballed for a while anyway, after a relative glut of titles since 2005's WipEout Pure.

WipEoutZone extends best wishes to everyone affected by this corporate cost-cutting maneuver.

Source: http://www.wipeoutzone.com/...

[ipwnall]

One of my favorite racing series. Damn, Liverpool will be missed.

[djfullshred]

Sad to hear. Wipeout HD = quality

[Ps3rd-Place]

not good enough to survive
they would have made millions on the 360

[ipwnall]

I guess they believed quality>money.

[agent027]

And you would know, right?

Because multiple accounts on N4G is f*cking cool man!

[Trebius]

SONY has over 22 studios pumping out games, M$ has only 2 or 3.

Even if we shut down a studio, we'd still be in a much better position than the competition. :)

[Kushan]

You guys need to keep in mind, "Studio Liverpool" did a lot more than just make Wipeout. A lot of QA and testing were done in the very same building and this will continue.
There were actually TWO development areas of the building, one that did the Wipeout stuff and one that (formerly) did the F1 stuff. When I was there, I was asking what the F1 team were doing since the license had long since went to Codemasters and nobody seemed to really know. I don't know the full details of this, but its possible that they've just downsized to one development team (Who may continue to work on Wipeout). I'll find out more when I talk to a friend of mine who still works there.

[agent027]

The economy is bad and things like this are expected. I'm sure these people may have been relocated.

[Gen0ne]

And at the risk of sounding redundant, dammit!

[DJ]

Since apparently most of the staff is being moved to other internal studios, with a QA group still staying behind.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

I love this game.. such a shame I suck at it! (assist FTW)

This is very popular franchise so I would think Sony will keep it alive.

[Close_Second]

...but look just how poorly Wipeout HD was supported by the PS3 community. Wipeout HD sold well but how many didn't bother with the Fury add-on. I recall it having really poor sales even though its brilliant!

[mfwahwah]

I'm playing WipEout HD RIGHT now (it's on pause while I'm eating, if you're wondering why I'm also on N4G).

This next race will be dedicated to Studio Liverpool.

[koehler83]

I think WipEout is great but I think it's gone as far as it can go. And unfortunately it's the only thing I know of that Liverpool did, so I guess they just reached their end as a unit. If they can disperse and add their talents to other things, it may be for the better.

Certainly unfortunate for anyone who now finds themselves out of work though.

[Adolph Fitler]

All you clowns slamming Sony need to realize that they are making layoffs in hard economic times. Your better of screaming your hatred towards your mates, and people you know that have PS3's, but don't have Wipeout HD in there gaming collection.....idiots no buying the game (and claiming to be gamers) is the reason Sony HAS to make layoffs.

Also, everyone has jumped the gun relating this to MS's decision to shut down there Halo Wars developers and others, but the only facts in tyhe article is staff layoffs.

[likedamaster]

Poor devs.

[Solotov]

if the next Killzone game flops, Guerrilla Games is next

[skwidd]

Im always hoping and praying for a new Colony Wars. One that would have 3d tech support. Speaking of support, I supported this studio by buying most its games. G-Police, Colony Wars, Formula1 and Wipeout. Great memories. I hope it's still alive somehow.

[slave2Dcontroller]

This is terrible news for me. WipeOut is so dear to my heart and has been since PS1. As great as it is, it has never had a huge following which could probably be attributed to its unforgiven difficulty.

"Restructuring", never a word you want to hear coming from ANY corporation. I wish the Studio Liverpool Staff all the best and I thank them for all the greatness they have delivered us fans.

Also thanks for delivering BIG TIME on WipeOut HD/Fury. That game is a dream. Sony you suck ballz for this 1. BIG TIME! But in reality it is the fault of the PS3 user base for not supporting our games time and time again.

[jhani]

did wipeout HD sell? Did they even make back the money they had invested in this game?

[Corrwin]

But after the Adverts While it Loads crap, not unexpected?