Psygnosis

SCE Studio Liverpool
Development Branch
Industry Interactive Entertainment
Fate Merged into XDev
Predecessor Psygnosis
Successor XDev
Founded 1984
Founder Ian Hetherington
David Lawson
Defunct 2012
Headquarters Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom
Key people
Mick Hocking, Group Studio Director
Products Wipeout series
Formula One series
Colony Wars series
Services Video game development
Owner Sony
Parent SCE Worldwide Studios

SCE Studio Liverpool was a video game development house headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool, England. It was part of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios. Founded in 1984 as Psygnosis by Jonathan Ellis, Ian Hetherington and David Lawson, the company later became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment, and at the time of its closure employed roughly 100 individuals comprising two development teams. Mick Hocking oversaw Studio Liverpool's operations as its last Group Studio Director, a position he continues to hold within Evolution Studios.

Studio Liverpool was the oldest and second largest development house within Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's stable of developers, and is best known for the Wipeout series of futuristic racing games, with the first instalment released on the original PlayStation in 1995. The studio is also known for the Formula One series of licensed racing games, and the Colony Wars series released on the original PlayStation. As Psygnosis, they were the original publishers of the Lemmings series.

Reports of Studio Liverpool's closure surfaced on 22 August 2012, with Edge quoting staff tweets.[1] Staff were told the news by the vice president of Sony Worldwide Studios Europe, Michael Denny.[2] In a press release Sony stated that after an assessment of all European studios, it had decided to close Studio Liverpool. Sony said that the Liverpool site would remain in operation, as it is home to a number of Sony World Wide Studios and SCEE Departments.[3]

History

Psygnosis (1984–1993)

Psygnosis logo, designed by Roger Dean
The Psyclapse name was used on some early releases

Founded by Jonathan Ellis, Ian Hetherington and David Lawson, the Liverpool-based Psygnosis was indirectly born from the ashes of the defunct 8-bit game company Imagine Software, where Lawson was one of the founders and Hetherington was Financial Director. After the collapse of Imagine in 1984, the name and trademarks were bought by Ocean Software, while the rights of the software remained with original copyright owners. After Imagine, Lawson and Hetherington set up a new company called Finchspeed which used Bandersnatch (one of Imagine's much-hyped but never completed "Megagames") as the basis of what became Brataccas, the first game published by Psygnosis.[4]

The name of another Imagine Megagame – the proposed but never developed Psyclapse – was later used by Psygnosis as an alternative label for some of their releases,[5] such as Captain Fizz Meets The Blaster-Trons[6] and Ballistix.

Psygnosis produced only one title in 1986 called Deep Space, a complex, difficult space exploration game. The box artwork was very distinctive with a black background and fantasy artwork bordered in red. This style was maintained for the best part of ten years, with a Psygnosis game being easily identifiable on a shelf of miscellaneous games. For the next few years, Psygnosis's releases contained increasingly improved graphics, but were marred by similarly difficult gameplay and control methods.

The original company headquarters were located at the Port of Liverpool Building at the Pier Head in Liverpool, but soon moved to Century Buildings in Brunswick Business Park (also in Liverpool), and later moved down the road 200 metres to South Harrington Building in South Harrington Dock.

Although Psygnosis primarily became a game publisher, some games were developed fully or partly in-house. During the early days, artists were employed full-time at the headquarters, offering third-party developers, who were often just single programmers, a very high-quality art resource. This had the result of allowing Psygnosis to maintain very high graphical standards across the board, something for which the company became most famous. The original artists were Garvan Corbett, Jeff Bramfitt, Colin Rushby and Jim Bowers, with Neil Thompson joining a little later.

Closely following in the path of 1987 hit Barbarian with what was becoming a trademark high-quality introduction, Obliterator, released in 1988, contained an opening animation by Jim Bowers (now a digital matte painter for the movie industry) with the main character looking directly into the "camera". His face is animated with bewilderment that turns into anger, at which point he drops his guns and shoots at the observer. This short scene would further pave the way for many increasingly sophisticated intro animations, starting with 2D hand drawn sequences, and then progressing into FMV and 3D rendered movies created with Sculpt 4D on the Amiga. Eventually, Psygnosis would buy many Silicon Graphics workstations for the sole purpose of creating these animations.

While most games companies of the mid-to-late 1980s (including Psygnosis) were releasing identical games on both the Amiga and Atari ST, Psygnosis started to use the full potential of the Amiga's more powerful hardware to produce technically stunning games. It was these technically superior titles that brought the company its early success, with the landmark title Shadow of the Beast bringing the company its greatest success so far in 1989. Its multi-layered parallax scrolling and stunning music were highly advanced for the time and as such led to the game being used as a showcase demonstration for the Amiga in many computer shops.

Later, Psygnosis consolidated its fame after publishing the DMA Design Lemmings game franchise: debuting in 1991 on the Amiga, Lemmings was soon to be ported to a plethora of different computer and video game platforms, generating many sequels and variations of its concept through the years. After that, Psygnosis put unparalleled effort in producing Microcosm, a game that debuted on Japanese system FM Towns and was to become technical showcase and flagship title for new Commodore CD32 and SMSG 3DO multimedia consoles: although gameplay was never considered on par with technical aspects, graphics, music by Rick Wakeman and long FMV introduction were among the finest in company history at the time. Phil Morris was Music Manager from 1992-1998 in Liverpool, and chose the Rick Wakeman music tracks and tracks by Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, both Sony artists at the time, for the PlayStation F1 game. Microcosm was probably the first CD-ROM game by Psygnosis to feature voice recordings, produced and directed in London by Phil Morris with Canadian voice actor Kerry Shale at The Sound Company.

Psygnosis also received top billing for creating the "Face-Off" games in the Nickelodeon 1992 television game show, Nick Arcade, with such games as "Post Haste", "Jet Jocks" and "Battle of the Bands", among others.

Acquisition by Sony (1993–2001)

In 1993, the company was acquired by Sony Electronic Publishing.[7][8] In preparation for the September 1995 introduction of Sony's PlayStation console in Western markets, Psygnosis started creating games using the PlayStation as primary reference hardware. Among the most famous creations of this period were Wipeout, G-Police, and the Colony Wars series, some of which were ported to PC and to other platforms. This was an extremely successful period for the company; in the 1995-96 financial year, Psygnosis games accounted for 40% of all video games sales in Europe.[9]

The acquisition was rewarding for Sony in another aspect: development kits for PlayStation consoles. As it had previously published PSY-Q development kits for various consoles by SN Systems, Psygnosis arranged for them to create a development system for the PS based on cheap PC hardware. Sony evaluated the system during CES in January 1994 and decided to adopt it.[10]

As Psygnosis expanded after the Sony buyout, another satellite office was opened in Century Building with later offices opening in Stroud, England, London, Chester, Paris, Germany, and Foster City in California (as the Customer Support & Marketing with software development done in San Francisco), now the home of Sony Computer Entertainment America. The company headquarters has resided at Wavertree Technology Park since 1995.

The Stroud studio was opened in November 1993 in order to attract disgruntled MicroProse employees. Staff grew from initially about 50 to about 70 in 1997.[11] Among the titles created at Stroud are Overboard! and G-Police.[11] The Wheelhouse—its publishing name—was closed in 2000 as part of the Sony Computer Entertainment takeover of Psygnosis. Some members joined Bristol-based Rage Software, but faced a similar demise a number of years later.

Despite being owned by Sony, Psygnosis retained a degree of independence from its parent company during this period and continued to develop and publish titles for other platforms,[12] including the Sega Saturn,[13][14] and the Nintendo 64.[15]

In 2000, the publishing branch of the company was merged into Sony Computer Entertainment Europe as a whole, and the Psygnosis brand was dropped in favour of SCE Studio Liverpool, which marked the full integration of the studio within Sony Computer Entertainment. Psygnosis's Camden and Stroud studios were renamed Studio Camden (later merged with Team Soho to form SCE London Studio) and Studio Stroud.

Studio Liverpool (2001–2012)

The newly named SCE Studio Liverpool released its first title, Formula One 2001, in 2001. The game was also the studio's first release on the PlayStation 2, and the first entry in the Formula One series after taking over from developer Studio 33. From 2001 to 2007, Studio Liverpool released 8 instalments in the series between the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3. However, Sony Computer Entertainment's exclusive license with the Formula One Group expired, without renewal, before the 2007 season, marking the end of any further Formula One series instalments from the developer.

Studio Liverpool also created Wipeout Fusion, the first of two instalments of the series on the PlayStation 2, released in 2002. Next they developed Wipeout Pure for the PlayStation Portable, which launched alongside the handheld in 2005 to significant acclaim, with many media outlets heralding it a return to glory for the series. They followed up with the sequel Wipeout Pulse in 2007 which was later ported to the PlayStation 2 and released exclusively in Europe and the UK.

In 2008, they released Wipeout HD, a downloadable title for the PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network service, consisting of various courses taken from both Wipeout Pure and Wipeout Pulse remade in high definition. An expansion pack for Wipeout HD named Wipeout HD Fury is currently available at PlayStation Network, including new game modes, new tracks, new music and new ship skins/models.[16]

Closure

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".[17]

The closure of Studio Liverpool was announced on 22 August 2012. In a press release Sony stated that after an assessment of all European studios, it had decided to close Studio Liverpool. Sony said that the Liverpool site would remain in operation, as it is home to a number of Sony World Wide Studios and SCEE Departments.[3]

Eurogamer was told by an unnamed source, that at the time of its closure, Studio Liverpool was working on two PlayStation 4 launch titles. One was a Wipeout title described as "dramatically different", the other was a motion capture based game along the lines of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell.[18] Because of the closure which left the company forming mainly XDev, it is possible if the two games will go to Xdev.

Spin-off Studios

In 2013 a number of former Studio Liverpool employees formed two new studios: Firesprite[19] which worked on the visuals of The Playroom for the PlayStation 4.,[20] and Playrise Digital who had success in the mobile sector with Table Top Racing and are now working on an brand version for PS4, Xbox One and PC called "Table Top Racing: World Tour".

XDev

XDev, Sony's external development studio is responsible for managing the development of titles at developers that are outside of Sony's own developer group. It has won 8 British Academy (BAFTA) video game awards and AIAS awards for LittleBigPlanet, 3 BAFTA awards for the Buzz! series and Develop Industry Excellence Awards for MotorStorm and Buzz!.[21]

Games

Games developed or published as Psygnosis

Directory:
Name Year Platforms Description
3D Lemmings 1995 DOS Also known as Lemmings 3D, a puzzle strategy game
1996 PlayStation
Sega Saturn
3D Lemmings Winterland 1995 DOS An expansion for 3D Lemmings for the DOS version only, featuring additional levels and a winter theme
3X: The Science of War
Adidas Power Soccer
The Adventures of Lomax 1996 PlayStation A platform game, a spin-off of Lemmings, the player is a Lemming who must save his friends
Windows
Agony 1992 Amiga A side-scrolling shoot 'em up in a fantasy setting
Air Support 1992 Amiga A top-down strategy game with a first-person view for some missions.
Atari ST
All New World of Lemmings 1995 Amiga A sequel to Lemmings 2 with some additional features
1994 DOS
Alundra 1997 PlayStation An action adventure game about a boy who learns he has the power to enter people's dreams, acclaimed for its bizarre storyline and smooth gameplay
2007 PlayStation Network
Amnios 1991 Amiga A top-down, multi-directional, scrolling, shoot 'em up set on ten different planets
Anarchy 1990 Amiga A side-scrolling shooter where the player pilots a futuristic tank
Atari ST
Aquaventura 1992
Armour-Geddon 1991 Amiga A strategy video game
Atari ST
DOS
Armour-Geddon 2: Codename Hellfire 1994 Amiga A strategy video game
Assault Rigs 1996 PlayStation An action game set in the near future featuring a tank simulation game
1997 Sega Saturn
1996 Windows
Atomino 1990 Amiga A puzzle game based on building molecules from atoms
Atari ST
1991 Commodore 64
1990 DOS
Attack of the Saucerman 1999 PlayStation An action game
Windows
Awesome 1990 Amiga An action strategy science fiction game with a variety of gameplay styles
Atari ST
FM Towns
Baal 1988 Amiga A platform shoot 'em up that garnered little attention or critical acclaim
Atari ST
Commodore 64
DOS
Ballistix 1989 Acorn Electron A futuristic sports game involving a game with similarities to hockey and billiards
Amiga
Atari ST
BBC Micro
Commodore 64
DOS
1991 TurboGrafx-16
Barbarian 1987 Amiga A platform game featuring the eponymous muscle-bound barbarian. This title showcased the Atari ST and Amiga's superior multimedia capabilities.
1988 Amstrad CPC
1987 Atari ST
1988 Commodore 64
DOS
ZX Spectrum
Barbarian II 1991 Amiga 500 A fantasy action-adventure game featuring the self-same brute from the first game, Barbarian
Atari ST
Benefactor 1994 Amiga A puzzle/platform game which shares some similarities to Lemmings
Amiga CD32
Bill's Tomato Game 1992 Amiga A puzzle game, platform game where a tomato must rescue his girlfriend from a squirrel
Atari ST
Blast Radius 1998 PlayStation A space combat simulator
Blood Money 1989 Amiga A scrolling shooter where the player travels through four different worlds; a Sega Genesis/Mega Drive version was unreleased.
Atari ST
Commodore 64
DOS
Bloodwych 1988 Amiga A dungeon crawler where the player must defeat the evil Zendick, and banish the Lord of Entropy
Amstrad CPC
Atari ST
Commodore 64
DOS
ZX Spectrum
Blue Ice 1995 Windows A graphical adventure puzzle video game
Bob's Bad Day
Bram Stoker's Dracula 1993
Brataccas 1985
Brian the Lion 1994 Amiga A Platforming game
Carl Lewis Challenge, TheThe Carl Lewis Challenge
Captain Fizz Meets The Blaster-Trons
Carthage
Christmas Lemmings 1991 Also known as Holiday Lemmings
Chronicles of the Sword 1996 DOS
Playstation
Chrono Quest 1988 Amiga
Atari ST
DOS
The City of Lost ChildrenThe City of Lost Children 1997
Colony Wars 1997
Colony Wars: Vengeance 1998
Colony Wars: Red Sun 2000
Combat Air Patrol 1993
Creepers 1993
Cytron 1992
Darker 1995
Darkstalkers 1996 Responsible for PlayStation port
Daughter of Serpents 1992 DOS
Deadline 1996
Deep Space 1986
Defcon 5 1995
Destruction Derby 1995
Destruction Derby 2 1996
Destruction Derby 64 1999
Destruction Derby Raw 2000
Diggers 2: Extractors
Discworld 1995
Discworld II: Mortality Bytes! 1996 Except Saturn version
Drakan: Order of the Flame 1999
Eagle One: Harrier Attack 2000
Ecstatica 1994
Ecstatica II 1997
Eliminator
Expert Pool
Formula 1 1996
Formula 1 97 1997
Formula 1 98 1998
Formula One 99 1999
Formula One 2000 2000
G-Police 1997
G-Police: Weapons of Justice 1999
Global Domination 1993
Globdule 1993
Guilty 1995
Hexx: Heresy of the Wizard 1994 Hired Guns 1993
Infestation 1990
Innocent Until Caught 1993
Killing Game Show, TheThe Killing Game Show 1990 Also known as Fatal Rewind
Kingsley's Adventure 1999
Krazy Ivan 1996
Lander 1999
Last Action Hero 1993
Leander 1991
Lemmings 1991
Lemmings 2: The Tribes 1993
Lemmings Paintball 1996
Lemmings Revolution 2000
Lifeforce Tenka 1997
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein 1994
Matrix Marauders 1990
Menace 1988
Metal Fatigue 2000
Mickey's Wild Adventure 1996 PlayStation A Platform game featuring Disney's Mickey Mouse who travels back in time to his original cartoons.
2011 PlayStation Network
Microcosm 1993
Misadventures of Flink 1994
Monster Trucks 1997
Nations: Fighter Command
Nevermind 1989
Nitro 1990
Novastorm 1994
O.D.T. – Escape... Or Die Trying 1998
Obitus 1991
Obliterator 1988
Oh No! More Lemmings 1991
Ork 1991
Overboard! 1997
Panzer Elite 1999
Perihelion: The Prophecy 1993
Prime Mover 1993
Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame 1993 Publisher of canceled Mega Drive port
Pro 18 World Tour Golf
Psybadek 1998
Puggsy 1993
Pyrotechnica 1995
Rascal 1998
Rastan 1988
Retro Force 1999
Riot
Roll Away 1998 North America only
Rollcage 1999
Rollcage Stage II 2000
Rollcage: Limited Edition
Rosco McQueen Firefighter Extreme 1997
Rush Hour
Second Samurai, TheThe Second Samurai 1994
Sentient 1997
Sentinel Returns 1998
Shadow Master 1997
Shadow of the Beast 1989
Shadow of the Beast II 1990
Shadow of the Beast III: Out of the Shadow 1992
Shipwreckers! 1997
Speedster
Spice World 1998
Stryx 1990
Team Buddies 2000
Tellurian Defense
Terrorpods 1987
Theatre of Death 1993
Thunder Truck Rally 1997
Toy Story 1996
Tricks N' Treasures
Walker 1993
Wipeout 1995
Wipeout 64 1998
Wipeout: 2097/Wipeout XL 1996
Wipeout 3 1999
Wipeout 3: Special Edition 2000
Wiz 'n' Liz: The Frantic Wabbit Wescue 1993
X-It 1995
Zombieville 1998

Games developed as SCE Studio Liverpool

Game title Year released Platform(s)
Formula One 2001 2001 PlayStation 2
Wipeout Fusion 2002 PlayStation 2
Formula One 2002 2002 PlayStation 2
Formula One 2003 2003 PlayStation 2
F1 04 2004 PlayStation 2
Wipeout Pure 2005 PlayStation Portable
F1 05 2005 PlayStation 2
F1 06 2006 PlayStation 2
PlayStation Portable
Wipeout Pulse 2007 PlayStation 2
PlayStation Portable
Formula One Championship Edition 2007 PlayStation 3
Wipeout HD 2008 PlayStation 3
Wipeout HD Fury (DLC) 2009 PlayStation 3
Wipeout 2048 2012 PlayStation Vita

See also

References

  1. Brown, Nathan (22 August 2012). "Sony to close Studio Liverpool – Edge Magazine". Edge-online.com. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  2. Crossley, Rob. "PlayStation News: Sony to axe Liverpool studio". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  3. 1 2 Yin-Poole, Wesley. "Sony closes WipEout developer Sony Liverpool • News •". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  4. "The Making Of: Bandersnatch – Edge Magazine". Edge-online.com. 4 September 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  5. "Psygnosis History". The Purple One. Retrieved 2015-01-01. Psyclapse was actually the name of a Commodore 64 game that was never released [but] was to live on as a division of Psygnosis.
  6. "Captain Fizz Meets the Blaster-Trons (Advert)". Lemon Amiga. Retrieved 2015-01-02.
  7. "SCE Worldwide Studios – SCE Studio Liverpool". Worldwidestudios.net. 20 February 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  8. "The 7th International Computer Game Developers Conference". Computer Gaming World. July 1993. p. 34. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  9. "Sony's Video Games Onslaught Continues!". Maximum: The Video Game Magazine (Emap International Limited) (7): 72–73. June 1996.
  10. "History of the PlayStation – PSX Feature at IGN". uk.psx.ign.com. 28 August 1998. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  11. 1 2 "E3: Psygnosis Co-founder Speaks: part 2 – PSX News at IGN". uk.psx.ign.com. 19 June 1997. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  12. "Publisher: Psygnosis". Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  13. "Psygnosis Develops for Saturn". gamezero.com. 2 February 1996. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  14. "Sleeping with the Enemy". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (81): 20. April 1996.
  15. "Psygnosis to Develop for N64". gamespot.com. 17 April 1998. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  16. Buckley, Tony (1 June 2009). "WipEout HD Fury Expansion Pack – PlayStation.Blog.Europe". blog.eu.playstation.com. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  17. Elliott, Phil (28 January 2010). "Sony to restructure Liverpool studio | GamesIndustry International". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  18. Yin-Poole, Wesley. "Sources: Sony Liverpool was working on WipEout PS4 and a Splinter Cell style game for PS4 • News •". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  19. Wawro, Alex (5 December 2013). "Former Psygnosis/Studio Liverpool devs unite to form Firesprite". Gamasutra. Think Services. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  20. Yin-Poole, Wesley (6 December 2013). "From the ashes of WipEout dev Studio Liverpool rises Firesprite". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  21. "SCE Worldwide Studios – Publishing Europe". Worldwidestudios.net. 25 February 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2012.

External links

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