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What are the Sony developers up to

Bumhead

Banned
Evolution expanding? didn't the studio manger say that he fear that Sony will close the studio or something similar?

I hope Sony stick with Evolution. I don't think the Motorstorm brand holds that much traction anymore but the games themselves are all solid. Pacific Rift is easily one of the most underrated gems of this generation, in my opinion. I definitely think Evolution could and should be an asset to Sony. Possibly keeping the Motorstorm IP alive via smaller projects like RC (glad to hear that did well) while the main team works on a new alternative racing IP for Sony.

But then I also thought the same of Studio Liverpool so..
 

DieH@rd

Banned
They are centennially preparing themselves for nextgen with full force. On the other hand, MS will probably buy off dozens of (timed) exclusives from 3rd party developers.
 

Dusky

Member
Sony London is working on an unannounced camera-based 'multiplatform' (PS3...+Vita?) game 'connected to a very famous IP' for 2013.

Maybe a follow-up to Book of Spells or something else wonderbook-y? With a Vita version too?

SingStar?
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
I hope Sony stick with Evolution. I don't think the Motorstorm brand holds that much traction anymore but the games themselves are all solid. Pacific Rift is easily one of the most underrated gems of this generation, in my opinion. I definitely think Evolution could and should be an asset to Sony. Possibly keeping the Motorstorm IP alive via smaller projects like RC (glad to hear that did well) while the main team works on a new alternative racing IP for Sony.

But then I also thought the same of Studio Liverpool so..


Evolution recently put up several job postings, citing 'new concepts' they are working on (with the ads making it pretty obvious it's for next gen hardware). I'm not sure how many teams there are up there but I think Sony is at least giving them another roll of the dice on a new franchise for next-gen.
 

KAL2006

Banned
I reckon most of the studios that have 2 teams will eventually combine into 1 team. For example once Naughty Dog finishes Last of Us, they will help Uncharted 3 team on the PS4 project. Same with GoW:A team, Tearaway team, Guerilla Cambridge, Beyond team and etc.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
SingStar?

Maybe.

:/

Not that there's anything wrong with Singstar. But I thought that it's now pretty much an ongoing permanent service vs something with new iterations coming out all the time?

I also am not sure it's 'camera based gaming' in the way the job posting sort of implies.
 

kinoki

Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.
All Sony studios are helping Team Ico to finish The Last Guardian

That might actually be true. It'll still be 2 years before release.
 

sajj316

Member
I reckon most of the studios that have 2 teams will eventually combine into 1 team. For example once Naughty Dog finishes Last of Us, they will help Uncharted 3 team on the PS4 project. Same with GoW:A team, Tearaway team, Guerilla Cambridge, Beyond team and etc.

That's all development studios though, independent of the industry. They still need to work for their pay ;) They will keep a 2 team studio to push out more titles and create more internal opportunities for long-standing employees.
 

Mario007

Member
I think the more important question would be how many internal studios are working on Vita projects? So far we only have:

Media Molecule
Sony Bend
Team Siren
Sony Cambridge (GG)
Sony San Diego
 

Dusky

Member
I think the more important question would be how many internal studios are working on Vita projects? So far we only have:

Media Molecule
Sony Bend
Team Siren
Sony Cambridge (GG)
Sony San Diego

That's not too bad to be honest. I imagine Polyphony are working on GTVita too.
 

spats

Member
Sony London is working on an unannounced camera-based 'multiplatform' (PS3...+Vita?) game 'connected to a very famous IP' for 2013.

Maybe a follow-up to Book of Spells or something else wonderbook-y? With a Vita version too?

Made me think of Eyedentify (rofl) but that's not exactly a 'very famous IP'.
 

Mario007

Member
That's not too bad to be honest. I imagine Polyphony are working on GTVita too.
I think Vita needs one premier developer from Sony making a game for it, just to fully show the capabilities of the system. MM is a very good start and if indeed Polyphony will release a GTVita I think that'd pretty much be enough.
 

Killthee

helped a brotha out on multiple separate occasions!
SOE San Diego is working on Everquest Next. Not sure what SOE Austin is doing besides pushing out content for DC Universe Online.
 

bobbytkc

ADD New Gen Gamer
I hope Sony stick with Evolution. I don't think the Motorstorm brand holds that much traction anymore but the games themselves are all solid. Pacific Rift is easily one of the most underrated gems of this generation, in my opinion. I definitely think Evolution could and should be an asset to Sony. Possibly keeping the Motorstorm IP alive via smaller projects like RC (glad to hear that did well) while the main team works on a new alternative racing IP for Sony.

But then I also thought the same of Studio Liverpool so..

If they want to survive, they need to make a game that sells. But they make racing games. I'd say their chances of surviving next gen are slim.
 

KAL2006

Banned
I think the more important question would be how many internal studios are working on Vita projects? So far we only have:

Media Molecule
Sony Bend
Team Siren
Sony Cambridge (GG)
Sony San Diego

I know Bend is no Naughty Dog, but I would love them to continue the Uncharted IP on Vita. I think they can take it to the next level like Uncharted 1 was to 2. Get rid if gimmicks, add more locales, more set pieces and most importantly multiplayer.
 
I doubt that game's development problems have anything to do with the programmers, and artists on staff but rather a single perfectionist who was given free reign. Once TLG ships (lol) Ueda is officially no longer an employee of SCE.

With the team being so small it was not that costly for Sony to let them keep making the game.
 
Teams that have not made a game in a while
- Naughty Dog - Uncharted 3 Team (last release November 2011)
- Guerilla Games - Killzone 3 Team (last release February 2011, finished November 2010)
- Guerilla Games - New Studio rumoured to be making Fantasy IP
- Polyphonic Digital (last release November 2010)
- Sucker Punch (has expanded maybe 2 teams) (last release June 2011, dlc in October 2011)
- Media Molecule - Team 2 (last release January 2011)
- Evolution Studios (has expanded maybe 2 teams) (last release March 2011)
- Santa Monica - Team 1 (last release March 2010)

All all them could be in final stages of a project (~2 years of development)
 

meta4

Junior Member
All all them could be in final stages of a project (~2 years of development)

I doubt it though because they are probably developing their engine's from the scratch for a next gen console and then start designing the game so I would assume the first game for any studio on a next gen console will take more time than subsequent games on the same system ( which could prob take 2 years for efficient studios)
 

Shahed

Member
I really hope one of Santa's Monica's or Guerilla's new games is fantasy based. While Sony have done really well in their variety (better than anyone IMO), I'd rather not get yet more shooter's. Give me a fntasy Action/Adventure or an RPG. Mix it up a but more.

I would have loved to see what Guerilla would have done with Ghost in the Shell. A full on single player game based on the franchise would be amaing
 

DenogginizerOS

BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
Given the state of Sony's financial house, a good number of them are either pouring their souls into a PS4 title or perusing the want ads.
 

Shahed

Member
Yoshida mentioned on Beyond (E3 episode) that they increasing investments on other teams.

Yep. Something about how they'd rather have an extra team from dev's they trust that have delivered before, rather than more risky dev's elsewhere
 
- GG team 1 - WRPG fantasy IP. Probably 2015.
- GG team 2 - Killzone 4 for PS4. Launch window game, Fall 2013 to mid 2014.
- MM non tearway team - New creative IP doing whatever the hell it does, Fall 2014 at the earliest
- ND team 1 - Finishing up TLOU and then working on DLC while some of the team starts working on TLOU2 or a new IP for PS4 which will be a 2015 title.
- ND team 2 - Uncharted 4 or new IP Mid/Fall 2014.
- SSM team 1 - Stig's team. New FPS IP. I have a feeling that their involvement in starhawk was really to test out vehicles for this IP. Launch title, Fall 2013.
- SSM team 2 - Finishing up GOW:A then work on DLC for it while part of the team starts working on GOW4 for PS4. Probably 2015.
- Sony Bend - no ps4 games, unfortunately. Either Uncharted GA2 or Syphon Filter game for psv
- SP team 1 - Rumored to be 2 teams, so team 1 working on new IP for PS4's launch, Fall 2013.
- SP team 2 - infamous 3 for ps4. Mid 2015.
- PD - should have been split into 2 teams as well, but they're not. GT6P for PS4 launch, GT6 release Fall 2014/Mid 2015.
- SCEJ - Finishing Rain and Puppeteer for PS3. Ideally they would have some JRPGs cooking, new IPs, Dark Cloud, LoD, etc, but can't expect much from them, just some more patapons and locoroccos. Or maybe The Last Guardian in 2017.
- Sony San Diego - Finishing MLB 13 for ps3/psv and working on next generation engine for ps4. MLB14 will be on ps4/3/v in March '14.
- SCE London - more casual stuff. Home, Singstar, Buzz, wonderbook ps4
- SCE-Guerilla Cambridge - Finish Killzone mercenary for vita. After that, help out the other teams
- Evolution Team 1 - My guess is wipeout PS4 for launch, Fall 2013. IIRC most of the Liverpool staff got relocated to other SCE teams, I am guessing a lot of them went to Evolution
- Evolution Team 2 - Probably a new racing IP in the veins of burnout, PGR
- SOE team 1 - Making planetside 2 patches/DLC and prepping Planetside 2 PS4 with cross play
- SOE team 2 - Making everquest next for PC/PS4
- Gaikai - working on making PS+ even better and offering a netflix like rental service for games as well as a netflix like competitor for video streaming on psn

QD and RaD are not Sony so I did not comment on them.

One of those teams is probably making the new PS4 UI and Home 2.

UI is probably SCEJ or SCE London, I also think Home will be cross platform and would be better served to be used on Gaikai's servers.
 

Mario007

Member
I know Bend is no Naughty Dog, but I would love them to continue the Uncharted IP on Vita. I think they can take it to the next level like Uncharted 1 was to 2. Get rid if gimmicks, add more locales, more set pieces and most importantly multiplayer.
Yeah I would have loved another Uncharted from them too. They know the system now, so they can push it fairly well. Still we're at least 1 year away from another game from Bend.
Just a matter of time.
They said that when the contract with the studio is up and they liked the cooperation they buy them. This happened with Sucker Punch. QD has still a contract for 2 games, one of which is Beyond.
 

sublimit

Banned
As impressive as their roster of first party studios is,i think that if Sony wants to seriously support both their consoles and their portables (at the same time) they really need to either acquire new studios or to make some more exclusive contracts like the one they had with Insomniac for example.

I think it will be impossible to support PS3,PS4 and Vita with enough quality exclusive games all at the same time.
 
I'd cut Team Ico and make them independent at this point. No sense in keeping a team buoyant that's produced nothing in the past six years, such a drain on financial resources and for nothing.
 
That's not the reason. Kaz has said that it was due to them being knee deep in development with GT5 very early on and couldn't really look outside. They built everything inhouse. He's said that in the future that'll change and they're going to communicate with the other WWS more.

What does that even mean, they were knee deep in development and couldn't really look outside? Why not? That's exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. Turn10 outsourced a lot of their stuff to development houses and produced a number of critically acclaimed racing games. PD put out one main game which was below par even though they could have had other Sony studios at their disposal.

They are going to communicate with other WWS. That's great but unless PD are hiring a lot more people really GT6 should be a combined studio effort or we'll have another "standard car" debacle.
 

sublimit

Banned
I'd cut Team Ico and make them independent at this point. No sense in keeping a team buoyant that's produced nothing in the past six years, such a drain on financial resources and for nothing.

They are not really a drain because they are a very small team.And certain members of Team Ico are also working on other SCEJ projects once their roles for TLG are finished (like art for example).
 
I doubt it though because they are probably developing their engine's from the scratch for a next gen console and then start designing the game so I would assume the first game for any studio on a next gen console will take more time than subsequent games on the same system ( which could prob take 2 years for efficient studios)

PS4 in the best case will be released by the end of 2013/start of 2014, so most of the studios early mentioned could have a ~3 year project in the works, it's a big amount of time for a launch window project.
Maybe some of them will release PS3 games for the end of the cycle and maximize the income (i suppose that AAA nexygen games at launch will not be profitable, and the console will be sold at loss)
 

Mario007

Member
As impressive as their roster of first party studios is,i think that if Sony wants to seriously support both their consoles and their portables (at the same time) they really need to either acquire new studios or to make some more exclusive contracts like the one they had with Insomniac for example.

I think it will be impossible to support PS3,PS4 and Vita with enough quality exclusive games all at the same time.
I'd bet that RAD and QD will be the next acquisitions if their games sell well. I could see Sony signing some exclusivity arrangements with Ubisoft or EA for some games at the launch of PS4.
 

Sid

Member
As impressive as their roster of first party studios is,i think that if Sony wants to seriously support both their consoles and their portables (at the same time) they really need to either acquire new studios or to make some more exclusive contracts like the one they had with Insomniac for example.

I think it will be impossible to support PS3,PS4 and Vita with enough quality exclusive games all at the same time.
PS3's exclusive support is on it's last legs till the PS4 releases but no doubt PS3 will still be supported by new games for many years to come.
 

Dusky

Member
As impressive as their roster of first party studios is,i think that if Sony wants to seriously support both their consoles and their portables (at the same time) they really need to either acquire new studios or to make some more exclusive contracts like the one they had with Insomniac for example.

I think it will be impossible to support PS3,PS4 and Vita with enough quality exclusive games all at the same time.

http://wishstudios.co.uk/2012/10/wish-studios-signs-deal-with-sony-computer-entertainment-europe/

This is quite recent, not a major dev but they seem to have that Media Molecule feel about them.
 

Gadirok

Member
I must know what sucker punch is working on and AM dieing for an infamous 3.


Please deliver it sucker punch, please.


I know that infamous 2 was close to perfect and with infamous 3 they will get it completely right.

My expectations are extremely high from sucker punch. I hope they deliver and not move away from the superhero open world game they made. Atleast one more before they start their new franchise...please.


As for Evolution, I hope they have some workers from liverpool and they form a second team of liverpool members and create another wipeout or whatever they dream of. Liverpool deserves better.
 
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