• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

North West Studio (England, VR, probably UE4) - Sony's new 1st Party Studio

B

BradleyLove

Member
exmachina64 said:
That's what I meant by "good IQ."

The way people bitch about how games look on the PS4 and XB1 already and you think they'll be happy with a simpler looking game?
Click to expand...

IQ to me means image quality, so simple graphics with high levels of AA and AF would constitute as good IQ to me.
 
S

SprachBrooks

Member
Have you noticed how it's always an 'exciting and rare opportunity' lol.

I'm not really interested in anything VR but it's cool to see them ramping up potential first-party software support.
 
Papacheeks

Papacheeks

Banned
alr1ght said:
tumblr_mtrty9S2y31rue873o1_500.png
Click to expand...

Haha There is no unseeing that. I'm on my phone and that pic takes up the whole screen. Now imagine that face.......in VR.
 
T

Triggerhappytel

Member
Do we have any idea where in North West England? I'm just wondering whether any of the Evolution staff who were let go were offered positions there. Makes sense to keep an existing team intact.

John Bender said:
btw. just found out that Dualshockers wrote an article about that new studio.
Click to expand...

Is there any solid news, or is DualShockers just speculating like we are? They're often full of shit, aren't they? Is there actually anything that reliably confirms that this is a new studio rather than a restructure/renaming?
 
C

Chris Metal

Member
craigrushforth said:
Since that's a UK website I'd imagine this is Evolution/Runcorn as that area is often referred to as the North West.
Click to expand...

No, Runcorn has own category when doing job searches in the UK on PlayStation jobs, it doesn't come under the North West even though Runcorn is in Cheshire. This is for some new studio to bring some interesting ideas hopefully.
 
C

Cyberia

Member
More info:

North West Studio is still in its early stages, and Sony Computer Entertainment declined to offer much detail when asked for comment by Eurogamer.

"We are still in the early planning phase with this studio, and are currently focused on hiring the right team," a spokesperson said.

"We look forward to sharing more news and formal announcements in the near future."

We've heard from two people familiar with Sony's plan who both said the new studio is being set up in Manchester - and former Evolution staff are involved.

In March Runcorn-based Evolution suffered a number of layoffs as Sony restructured the studio to focus on updating its PlayStation 4-exclusive racing game as a service, as well as the launch of the long-delayed PS Plus Edition.

At the time Sony said it would look to relocate team members throughout the Worldwide Studios network.

One of our sources said before Evo suffered the restructure it had a number of virtual reality prototypes in development for Morpheus, and the new North West Studio may take them further.

Evo had developed a version of DriveClub that worked with Morpheus, but that failed to progress, with Yoshida telling press it was "kind of difficult and sickening".
Click to expand...

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...west-studio-to-work-on-project-morpheus-games
 
S

stryke

Member
At first I thought it was kind of stupid not to have done this a long time ago but I guess with the recent reduction of Evolution, this is a good idea to give those employees something else to do.
 
D

DavidDesu

Member
mrklaw said:
I'd take a motorstorm RC VR please, and a motorstorm Pacific VRift
Click to expand...

Yes! RC with the little tracks laid out in front of you in VR would be fantastic. I expect a lot of cool games with a setup like that. Not everything has to be at ground level first person view. Really hoping for a Morpheus version of Journey, apparently 3rd person in VR can be done and work really well if done right.

As for Wipeout in 120fps. It would certainly help the responsiveness required and there's no reason why it can't be done. Designing VR games for 120fps will give the greatest sense of immersion and presence, even if the graphics quality such as textures need to be simplified and its more reliant on basic polygons, it sort of doesn't matter. A Wipeout style game in VR would be incredible, whether it looked like Zone Mode or not it would be dazzling.
 
S

Sangetsu-II

Member
The dev team, dubbed North West Studio, will be focused solely on Project Morpheus, and falls under the leadership of Sony Computer Entertainment's Worldwide Studios, which is headed up by president Shuhei Yoshida.

"We are still in the early planning phase with this studio, and are currently focused on hiring the right team," a Sony rep told Eurogamer. "We look forward to sharing more news and formal announcements in the near future."
Click to expand...

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/05/19/sony-opens-new-first-party-studio-for-project-morpheus

This is exciting, can't wait to see what the new the studio has at E3.
 
J

John Bender

Banned
1. Update in the OP

Sony Confirms New UK Studio Working on "High Quality Morpheus Games"
North West Studio to incorporate staff from Driveclub dev Evolution.

Sony has established a new UK studio to focus on development for its upcoming PlayStation 4 virtual reality headset Project Morpheus, the corporation has confirmed to GameSpot.

A number of job postings for what Sony is calling its North West Studio appeared on the Sony Computer Entertainment careers page on Tuesday. The corporation has since explained to GameSpot that the team will include staff from Motorstorm and Driveclub developer Evolution Studios, who will work on "high quality experiences" for the VR headset.

"We are dedicated to producing high quality experiences for Project Morpheus, and the creation of this studio allows us to build a small but highly experienced team who can utilise their skills to showcase this exciting new immersive technology," said a Sony spokesperson.

"We always look to relocate staff throughout the studios, and this is no exception. The new team will be made up of a combination of Evolution staff members and new talent, with a focus on hiring the most highly experienced team possible."

Evolution Studios was previously working on a prototype version of Driveclub for Project Morpheus, which would put players in cockpit view. According to Shuhei Yoshida, PlayStation's president of worldwide studios, the project was halted because it was "kind of difficult and sickening."

In March, Evolution Studios suffered layoffs, amidst assurances from Sony that the studio would provide ongoing support for Driveclub.
Click to expand...

More here
 
N

Natureboy99

Banned
Evolution Studios was previously working on a prototype version of Driveclub for Project Morpheus, which would put players in cockpit view. According to Shuhei Yoshida, PlayStation's president of worldwide studios, the project was halted because it was "kind of difficult and sickening."
Click to expand...

One would have thought the experience of making driving games not feel sickening would be highly sought after experience in the upcoming VR boom. Since when does Sony give up because 'it's too hard'?

On the other hand, maybe PD figured it out and shared the code with Evolution.

I really want a high quality cockpit racing experience in VR.
 
B

boredandlazy

Member
Natureboy99 said:
One would have thought the experience of making driving games not feel sickening would be highly sought after experience in the upcoming VR boom. Since when does Sony give up because 'it's too hard'?

On the other hand, maybe PD figured it out and shared the code with Evolution.

I really want a high quality cockpit racing experience in VR.
Click to expand...
Well Driveclub is a 30fps game.
 
M

Man-is-Obsolete

Member
Natureboy99 said:
One would have thought the experience of making driving games not feel sickening would be highly sought after experience in the upcoming VR boom. Since when does Sony give up because 'it's too hard'?

On the other hand, maybe PD figured it out and shared the code with Evolution.

I really want a high quality cockpit racing experience in VR.
Click to expand...

Driveclub was not developed with VR in mind, I imagine in order to deliver a nice VR racer it would need to be created ground up with VR in mind. Ideally any VR game would be created from the ground up for VR.
 
S

SoundofSilence

Member
Devs behind titles like DriveClub, MotorStorm and WipEout form Secret Sorcery to work on VR games

GamesIndustry.biz learned this week that a number of ex-Evolution Studios members have come together to found Secret Sorcery, a new studio based in St Helens in the North West of England to "channel their creative energies into a number of original and highly immersive VR games." The studio noted that its team has "extensive hands-on experience" developing for both Project Morpheus and Oculus Rift.
Click to expand...

http://secretsorcery.com/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

IGN: A Year Since Its Release, Sony Seems to Have Abandoned PlayStation VR2
4 5 6 7 8
355
17K
CamHostage replied
Does Sony have a long-term software strategy? | Opinion Gamesindustry.biz
2 3 4
164
9K
ArtHands replied
Cyberpunk director and other former CD Projekt Red devs form new studio, Blank
Business Game Dev
13
1K
Luigi Mario replied
Why PlayStation London Studio is leaving VR to create a fantasy online combat game
2
96
5K
Men_in_Boxes replied
  • Poll
SONY/SIE: The Balance Of Chasing Margins, Multiplat Expansion, And Maximizing The Console
Opinion Business Analysis 2 3
101
7K
vaibhavpisal replied
Top Bottom