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Thread: SL redundancies and the future [if any] of HD

  1. #1
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    Default SL redundancies and the future [if any] of HD

    I don't know if you are like me and just arrive at the wipeoutzone directly at the forum pages.
    But you might of missed what Rob has posted at the sites main page,I'll copy/paste it here.

    Quote Originally Posted by wipeoutzone.com
    Sony Computer Entertainment is poised to announce sweeping redundancies at Studio Liverpool on Friday the 29th of January 2010, with the obvious casualties being from the team that created the recently completed the WipEout HD and Fury titles.

    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.
    Not the sort of news either the people at SL wanted to hear or the fans of wipeout or any other SL made game.

    Personally I think it's a power play leveraged by SCEA to get more of their own way over SCEE .
    Last edited by SaturnReturn; 28th January 2010 at 11:13 PM. Reason: Added quotes as there was more text after it - just for clarity.

  2. #2
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    should of layed off the people that work for sony making sl staff redundant, imo they serve no useful purpose.
    Also the bright spark who thought of putting adverts in my game need to get the axe too.

    If a new wipeout game ever comes out it will probally be much different to what we play now.complete overhaul.made more appealing to the larger audience.

    sorry to hear they have been layed off..its sad times we live in.hope they find new work soon to pay the bills.

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    I see a SL staff member is online now,maybe he will comment.

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    Sorry, I resigned from Sony a few weeks before Christmas and started my new job this week.

    All I can do is wish the best to the hard working folks at the studio, and hope tomorrow goes well for all of them.

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    They'll likely have to wait until after a certain date.
    Sony puts a pretty serious gag on their people.
    Unfortunate, but not much can be done about it.


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    it's a sad day and i wish anyone effected by this all the best.

    In terms of the thread title, that must be it for HD Fury.

    complete guess work here, but i would imagine if the studio is meged with another or something similar, hopefully avoiding too many redundancies, Sony would eventually want another Wipeout title, but who remains from the past teams and who is new and what their intentions are could re-shape Wipeout in a big way.

    I expect it will indeed be a while before we get much info on this.

    once again, all the best to anyone effected by this...

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    NNNNNNNNNNooooooooooooooo!

    Beyond words, though I think a lot of us saw this coming for miles...

    Still. (#*$ing Sucks.

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    I sort of expected this after the merger of Evolution Studios and Studio Liverpool and I have a strong gut feeling that this won't be the end of the changes.

    That said, hopefully Nick Burcombe won't be among the layoffs. Then again no one knows aside from the corporate heads at Sony.

    So I don't really know how to feel about this.

    Quote Originally Posted by DawnFireDragoon
    complete guess work here, but i would imagine if the studio is meged with another or something similar, hopefully avoiding too many redundancies, Sony would eventually want another Wipeout title, but who remains from the past teams and who is new and what their intentions are could re-shape Wipeout in a big way.
    I know a lot of people here, not to name names, have been asking for some change in the Wipeout series. But it's way, way too early to predict the future of the series when we don't even know the future of the studio that's been in charge of developing the games since 1995.
    Last edited by RJ O'Connell; 29th January 2010 at 12:46 AM.

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    Very sorry to see this happen, and I wish the best for members of Studio Liverpool

    Maybe not surprising, given the global recession, recent studio mergers, loss of the Formula 1 license and Sony's recent ill fortunes... but still sad.

    This would seem to have the potential to profoundly change the WipEout franchise, given that there was staff continuity from Pure to Pulse to WOHD.
    I am sure that WipEout will live on. TBH I think we have been incredibly lucky to have three titles released over the past five years, given the limited appeal of futuristic racers to the current gaming demographic.


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    On a possible positive note...

    Quantum Redshift 2, finally?

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    They'll be selling ski tickets in hell before Microsoft will greenlight another Quantum Redshift, even if the entire Curly Monsters team ended up back there.

    The first game sold like hot chocolate in the Sahara desert, to the point where Microsoft shuttered CM while the second game was in the planning phase.

    And as much as I want a new QR, I don't want it at the expense of a company that's been around since 1984.

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    I don't know if a second game would be "at the expense of a company that has been around since 1984"

    I think the whole problem with QR was the "story" that was haphazardly tacked onto it; the game could have survived on its racing/gameplay merit alone... but the story and character development was not only ridiculous, but unnecessary.

    I guess I just enjoyed it more than I expected to, and am genuinely disappointed that it won't see any kind of refinement/continuation :/

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    It now becomes rather unlikely that we will see another DLC for WipEout HD.

    Whatever happens to the guys at SL next, I wanna say to them; Thank you
    for WipEout HD! I wish you all the best!


    Btw; Can I have WipEout HD's codebase? There are still some things that
    must have been done.


    P.S.: Out of curiosity, where does the information came from?

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    I just hope they don't shut down the servers for it - that would be even more of a disaster.

    My deepest sympathies go out to the Studio Liverpool crew who are made redundant. Thank you for everything guys

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    Hiya all.
    Regardless of the effects on Wipeout, it's a real shame for the people involved. I just hope they're treated well by Sony. This is happening to a lot of people at the moment and I wish them luck for the future.

    Thanks for the hours and hours and hours and hours of fun you've provided me.

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    Rob posted it a the zones opening page.
    I expect he heard it from one of the SL people directly, I suppose he will add to this thread at one stage or another.

    But otherwise there has been mention of it at gameindustry.biz .
    You can see a copy of the article mentioning it at this link.

    http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=386088

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    That's them all gone, folks.

    Studio Liverpool internal development is no more.

    A sad day indeed - from Psygnosis to nothing.

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    Wow. Terrible news. Its like breaking up a family

    Thank you, SL, for many years of enjoyment. The AG-5Y5 tattoo is still on my arm. SL will live forever in my heat and soul. I wish everyone the best of luck and may all of you work together again on another project soon.

    Standing O

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    Thx for the link, blackwiggle.

    Quote Originally Posted by infoxicated View Post
    ... Studio Liverpool internal development is no more. ...
    Hey Rob, is this just you opinion or is it for real?

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    Rob ,I'm guessing your getting some emails sent your way about all this,could you clarify anything specific.

    Like have they been absorbed /morphed into the North west Studio group?

    Or have they all just been given the boot with out fanfare.

    Is wipeout going to still exist since it's come to light that they were working on a brand new wipeout?

    Can any of them post here?

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