London Studio, Studio Liverpool, Evolution Studios all targeted for project cancellations as publisher puts more resources behind this year's exclusives.
Sony has a number of high-profile exclusives coming to or already released for the PlayStation 3 this year, including but not limited to Little Big Planet 2, Killzone 3, and SOCOM 4. However, it would appear as if this strong slate of first-party titles has come at the cost of certain games across Sony's European studios.
UK-facing GamesIndustry.biz reports today that it has confirmed with Sony Europe that the publisher has culled projects at London Studio, Studio Liverpool, and Evolution Studios. At cause for the cancellations is Sony's desire to put more resources behind impending releases.
"It has been decided that production on a small number of projects within London Studio, Studio Liverpool, and Evolution Studios will be streamlined or closed due to a portfolio review and project prioritisation," Sony said in a statement. "This decision was made following an internal review of all games, and it was deemed that with the incredibly strong list of exclusive first-party titles coming up both this year and in the near future, resources should be reallocated to enhance those projects closer to completion."
Sony's London Studio is perhaps best known for its work on the SingStar and EyePet franchises. Studio Liverpool has most recently occupied itself with the publisher's futuristic racing franchise Wipeout. Lastly, Motorstorm has been the primary concern of Evolution Studios. Sony did not indicate which projects had been cut, nor did it say whether any staff had been let go at these locations.
However, Sony did reaffirm its commitment to its European operations, saying these development houses would continue to play a role in its World Wide Studios division.
"The affected first-party studios have been and will continue to be vital assets within the WWS family and have a history of producing genre-defining games such as MotorStorm, Wipeout, SingStar, and EyePet. This decision will have no impact on the role that our first-party studios will play in the future of all PlayStation platforms."
Sony America had not responded to a request for comment as of press time.
Tom Magrino has covered the games industry since 2006. He's been compared to Steve Martin by Ozzy Osbourne and Daniel Craig by Tim Schafer. His voice, heard largely on GameSpot's podcast, recalls that of Kermit the Frog. It ain't easy bein' Magreen.
sony hit it big with psone, two, and psp. but this ps3 system is garbage. enjoy staying in third place (out of THREE). maybe now sony will realize that reputation alone will not carry your system. oh wait... you have a blu ray player too. lol. start making good first party games, sony. this is a gaming system and you are sucking!
Eyepet could have been a lot better.... Well let's hope that this turns out for the better....
If $ony closes Evolution Studios i will never buy another PS3 game again, they are the reason I bought my PS3 in the first place
with that list of games no wonder they were cut. wipeout is the same game it was 15 years ago just in hd now oh wait they made it again in 3d now:lol: and motorstorm has been made on psp a few times on ps2 and almost 3 times on ps3 all those games and the ip is only 4 years old :lol: i was just saying in another news thread last week that sony needs to cut some of their first party devs if they cant make some new good ips.. and bam here it is:P
@method115 I think they said that MGS4 is the last game to focus on Solid Snake's story. So they're open to make games starring Big Boss or Raiden or creating new characters but Solid isn't gonna be coming back as a lead, playable character
Must be alot of unemployed games designers in liverpool with this and the closing of Bizarre.
@boogiedad I understand what you're saying, Sony is focusing on what is sure to appeal to the mainstream. But it's not just those studios receiving cuts that are feeling their approach. Franchises like SOCOM and even Killzone have been shifted to a more mainstream appeal (especially in the case of SOCOM having focus shifted to respawn). That's not to say those games are bad, they are and probably will be really good. But a lot of the things that made the game special, yet less casual-friendly/mainstream, are being changed and layers being removed. But from Sony's standpoint, they went a while there posting high losses. They've only recently turned it around with good marketing and focusing on exclusives. It is working, but a lot of more dedicated gamers that play more than just the very popular titles (or the ones that play those titles undergoing changes), are on the wrong end of this approach.
Was the editorializing with the scare quotes around "small" really necessary, Gamespot?
i sold my ps3. guess i'll have to buy one back to play uncharted 3. sony focusing on top titles is a good thing i guess. I wish they could go back to the way they were when it was the ps1 and ps2. sony lost the thing about them that made them special. They stop giving unique games a chance. little big planet might seem like its something so special. but underneath all of the sheen is a boring title.i've been a gamer since my nes days. and games lost the most important components fun and originality.
Gamespot scaremongering again.. I swear they encourage fanboyism.. Hmm.. Sad days for the studios, but then I suppose our whole feckin country is making cuts now. Nice one bankers.
sounds like sonys being carefull with europe considering wats happend with lg i hope sony get crushed dont get me wrong i like the ps3 its a good console i just dont like sony
Let's hope this doen't do too much damage to the european studios, games from the wipeout and motorstorm franchises are always good news.
@DarkNeoBahamut - what do you think closing projects will result in? I can tell you it will result in surplus staff that the employer cannot continue to afford to pay for (since the project they were working on will have lost considerable money) and hence they will loose their jobs. Project termination = job losses.
@DarkNeoBahamut That always implies firing someone, even if it's one person. Not that they are closing forever the door of the studios, of course...
I don't know... sometimes good games come out of smaller projects. And not all AAA titles are good games. I think smaller studios/projects should be supported too.
This is a gd thing because some ganes dont work anymore this list what doent sell anymore since i look at games chart every wk Eyepet and Singstar games should go because it not selling no more aslo motorstorm will go if they dont sell this one they makeing cuts what doent work for consle anymore they dont need worry about buzz pp they they left sony but if scorm 4 doe not sell sony could set chsnge there mind to let the series go. so sony can work on serious projects like LBP3
@Col-Struckin I'm pretty sure I said the mass effect series.. I need number 1. Which will never be on PS3. Gears of War 3 is going to be the last one? How many successful exclusive IP's do you know are just dropped and never done again? I don't care what MS says this wont be the last one. It might move on to a new story/character but the overall universe will be the same. Just like they said MGS4 would be the last one.
Bad for the devs working on those projects. But this gives sony more resources to focus on their upcoming exclusives for this year which is good.
Sony really hates anything European. Oh well, I'm sure its not a sign of anything. I just find it sad that successful companies have there projects and money taken from them from higher ups that they probably earned themselves so other parts of the company can get richer and have a better track record.
Sony hasn't said whether staff will be let go. I hope not. Our country is a complete mess right now. The last thing we need are more job losses. I think i might move country when i finish uni. There are no jobs to come out to. We are going the same way as Ireland.
YEAR 2012 FALL OF SONY RISE OF THE SEGA NEW CONOLE WARS ARRIVES AND END OF THE WORLD??? (Just Kidding)
@BeanoFatardo Exclusives? Enjoy your Gears of War 3 and Forza Motorsports 4. That's it, or that Kinect garbage. Just to clarify, i'm an idort. Just, don't spout random crap that's wrong.
This is a good move. And no fanboys dont seem to read anything other then the headline*SAD* Gamespot should lower the number of thumbs down to hide the crap so the rest of us dont have to see their Idiocy.
as long as they still release exclusives every year that are a quality product. almost all my favorite games in my collection are PS3 exclusives. I am totally fine with this move.
@method115 News Flash! Mass effect is no longer an xbox exclusive and GOW is considered done after GOW 3 that is being released this November.
Sucks to see talented people losing their jobs. Even more sad is the fact that Sony is firing people to get more "bang for their buck". Completely unnecessary.
microsoft has as many problems as sony??! not really. atleast microsoft gets exclusives and has peripherals that actually sell! also.... look at the sales. ps3 gets the bronze trophy. too bad they third out of three!
I think the next gen is going to be really exciting I can't wait to see what happens. I think whoever release a console first (Sony/360) is most likely going to win the race. I'm going with the new Microsoft system because I'm in love with The ME series and GOW series. As a company I personally hate Microsoft and would much rather support Sony.
@Tboogy It doesn't seem like anyone actually READS these articles. All they see is the headline and then rush to say "Sony is in trouble!!". That's our limited attention spans for you.
xbox live suck...they permitted the people who modded they console to be able to play online..thats why xbox live have more user...
I find it funny how people think Sony is badly losing this war. Microsofts problems are just as large.
This is a smart move by Sony. As much as I like seeing new IP's, they can only develop so many of these games while they are trying to catch Nintendo and Microsoft and make some heavy hitters. With all the recent news relating to hackers and LG, and KZ3 sales not as hot as some expected, they are smart to shed the extra weight and really focus on games that should be successful. Now let's just see if they put some of that extra cash into some marketing.
Get rid of Evolution! Let them make one more PSP motorstorm please? Or Apocalypse for NGP!!!
I'm BUYING MotorStorm Apocalipse day one, its a shame that pirates are making legit businesses lose profits and force resource allocation. Its also a shame that the current market of videogames has too many gamereviewers giving Call of Duty games free passes forcing many game devs to switch to trying to make fps games. As for Wipeout I really wish they would release it on Blu Ray as I cannot afford internet access, it costs $140 bucks where I live and they refuse to just give me internet only, they want me to pay for a cable box and phone service.
this is a good news, concentrating on the big and most wanted games is the most important, i hope you good luck and good games SONY i will support u forever :)
why are some people here thinking sony is closing shop or something ?? lol its just some cuts to free up some money it happens all the time , this is how these big companies survive its all very cut throat but thats business for ya
@dwyerkj hahahaha agreed 100% i really noticed that but then again most sites do that
@minhas27 yea at least sony is doing something good for their community and fighting back pirates rather than saying"oh well piracy cant be stopped so its not my fault"like some companies
I just hope they make more wipeout games. not sure if wipe out is affected or NOT affected. its saying they are keeping them, but not keeping them.
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