Support NeoGAF

[Kintaro]

Ouch. Good luck to those affected. =(

That said, can we stop using Drive Club as a positive example of success for Street Fighter V now? It iust doomed the studio. =(

 

[twobear]

ouch! is there some recent uk legislation (reduced incentives for videogame developers) spurring this wave of closures?

 

[Carl]

Rushy is favouriting a lot of tweets about it right now, as if you needed more comfirmation

 

[Lingitiz]

Sony first party has really cut down since the early PS3 days.

 

[ZarKryn7]

One of the best studios that made great acarde racers... Gone... I wonder if any of these guys are headed to Studio Northwest.

I wish these guys the best of luck.

 

[Boke1879]

I guess Driveclub wasn't the success people were telling me it was the other day. This is really unsurprising news to be honest. Evolution really botched the DC launch, and never recovered apparently. Besides, the racing genre is really in the dumps all around. I guess Sony found no financial sense in having a racing studio other than Polyphony.

It's a good game and it plays well and the support has been awesome. But it's clear the shaky launch hurt it. And at some point the revenue stops.

Also when they said they were going to a service model I expected this

 

[ramparter]

Nintendo should reopen them and assign them Wave Race & Excite Truck.

 

[Nirolak]

Lionhead first now Evolution.

UK got hit hard this month

It feels like there's not all that much left these days after all the divestment over the past decade.

It's not quite Australia tier yet, but it's headed that way.

 

[Mr. PlayStation]

Those of you out here who don't own DC, it's now or never for you folks to show support to this team.

 

[WooHooAlex]

So shut down the other one.

GT4 launch was just as messy as driveclub. Team has been resting on its laurels and making questionable decisions for years now..

Gran Turismo is arguably Sony's biggest and most important franchise.
Polyphony would be one of the last studios Sony would close.

 

[dc89]

Thanks for the great games

 

[Kill3r7]

This is crazy the amount of studios that are closing.

The margins in the game industry are unsustainable. We as gamers demand more but are unwilling to pay more for it. The publishers on the other hand demand increased their profit margins. Development costs have gone through the roof. The only way to survive is to keep making hit after hit and selling million and millions of copies which is an unsustainable business model.

Evolution should be commanded for their continued support of DC and creating a truly rewarding and fun experience.

 

[Raylan]

First Bizarre Creations and now Evolution Studios.

All these great racing game studios are closing Fuck this shit.
I'm mad as hell right now (((((((((((((((((((((((

FUCK!

 

[Footos22]

I seen this coming. Im a massive driveclub fanboy but putting out a couple of cheap dlc packs every month or 2 wasnt going to keep them afloat, They werent going to be working on anything new with the small group they had left. They were pretty much a skeleton crew compared to what they had at driveclubs releas who put out fantastic support and i'm glad sony managed to keep them open long enough to do that.

Another Uk studio bites the dust. nothing new here. Seems like it happens all the time.
Im sure London studio and cambridge will have a few spaces they can fill.

gutted to see this though. No more driveclub support

 

[giancarlo123x]

I take a nap and this shit happens. No more naps.

 

[shinobi602]

Hope everyone lands on their feet.

For what it's worth, spoke to someone close to the studio, mentioned to me there's positive news coming out of this.

 

[Apathy]

What the hell, first they close Psygnosis/Studio Liverpool and now Evolution, too? ;_;
Fuck off, Sony. Seriously.

Lol, they aren't a charity man. If a studio isn't preforming to what a company thinks it should be, it's not just going to keep it going. It's sad for the people but don't take it too seriously.

 

[FelipeMGM]

Very sad. What will happen to DriveClub VR?

North West Studios might take that under their wing. They have some ex-Evolution staff over there

 

[Fancy Clown]

What the fuck. This sucks mans...

 

[jett]

The connection issues from launch presisted for around a month and half. Sad if that's what Sony really made the decision on though. It's a really HUGE fuck up, but still they did a good job making up for it with free updates like the weather and such.

I'm assuming the sales of DLC and whatnot didn't justify keeping the studio around. And like the statement says, they analyzed project plans for the medium term, and I guess they figured they didn't need two expensive racing studios.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Seriously though, thank you Evolution for supporting Driveclub and genuinely making it one of the best racing games ever. You guys raised the stakes and boundaries, and the last few updates were amazing.

Thank you, Evolution. Thank you for Motorstorm as well.

 

[dealer-]

Goddammit, gaming sucks these days.

 

[Mushroom021]

Not sure why people are surprised they already announced a while back they wouldn't be making games any longer.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

Those of you out here who don't own DC, it's now or never for you folks to show support to this team.

The studio is closing. Buying the game today isn't changing anything .

I mean, people should buy the game, because it's awesome, of course.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

And Bloody March rolls on and on and...

 

[Fularu]

So Sony closed down Evolution Studio à week after holding a job fair for the people laid off by Microsoft?

What?

 

[Glix]

Gran Turismo is arguably Sony's biggest and most important franchise.
Polyphony would be one of the last studios Sony would close.

Still? Genuinely curious. They have made a ton of missteps.

 

[brokenbeans]

Well this sucks.

 

[Dash_Riprock]

:-(

 

[DeepEnigma]

Seriously though, thank you Evolution for supporting Driveclubs and genuinely making it one of the best racing games ever. You guys raised the stakes and boundaries, and the last few updates were amazing.

Thank you, Evolution.

Perfectly said.

Thank you Evolution.

 

[sems4arsenal]

Really makes me mad that Driveclub didn't get the sales it deserves and crap like NFS sell more.

 

[Ovek]

What was that bullshit about Sony hiring ex-Lionhead employees then? What a crock a shit.

They did for other projects, just like the most of the jobs at Evolution will move to the other UK based Sony development studios or even further a field.

Don't feel sorry for the highly skilled and talented developers and artists, feel sorry for all the support staff that Sony won't find jobs for and will have just been shown the door whilst handing them P45's.

 

[Nirolak]

First Bizarre Creations and now Evolution Studios.

All these great racing game studios are closing Fuck this shit.
I'm mad as hell right now (((((((((((((((((((((((

FUCK!

Sumo seems to have avoided this fate by diversifying out of the genre.

 

[JordanN]

Many AAA studios have only one chance to get it right and unfortunately Evolution blew it. DriveClub had a very poor launch but it is also now one of the best racing games ever made. Wish it was launched properly then maybe this wouldn't have happened. I feel sorry for the devs, they are a really talented bunch. Also Yoshida or whoever is managing the studios need to get their shit together. Very poor output so far.

It's definitely all on Shu now. I even recall him commenting on the PS4 launch games and being disappointed by the review scores. He's definitely aware and needs to bring the entire 1st party up to speed.

 

[jeffram]

This sucks. Their games never got the commercial or critical success they deserved...

 

[xrnzaaas]

Fuck Sony. DC had so much potential. Sure they made some big mistakes but the postlaunch support for DC was spectacular and they could easily make a sequel or just at least keep supporting it for another year with VR edition.

 

[Cheat Code]

Time for another thread where all the Internet business men chastise a company's decision despite knowing fuck all about why the decision was made.

 

[Vaga]

Seriously fuck Sony and Yoshida. This is war.

 

[ZarKryn7]

North West Studios might take that under their wing. They have some ex-Evolution staff over there

Interesting. I hope some these guys can get a position there.

Seriously fuck Sony and Yoshida. This is war.

Calm down. Holy shit. You really think Shuhei was willing to close them down?

 

[Stiflers Mom]

Any developers left in UK after Sony Liverpool, Lionhead and now Evolution were closed?

Remember how the UK had a big software industry back in the eighties, not much seems to be left of that..

 

[DemonNite]

wish them all luck in finding something quickly

 

[TheBritishBear]

So shut down the other one.

GT4 launch was just as messy as driveclub. Team has been resting on its laurels and making questionable decisions for years now..

Polygon Digital is much easier and cheaper to run with a huge legacy behind them. Grand Turismo is still a huge seller too.

Running a UK studio is much more expensive.

 

[petethepanda]

Damn. I wasn't a fan of Driveclub, but I was looking forward to whatever would have been next. Loved Motorstorm.

Hope everyone lands on their feet.

 

[Raylan]

So Sony closed down Evolution Studio à week after holding a job fair for the people laid off by Microsoft?

What?

Yes, because they are building a new studio in Manchester UK + need more people at Media Molecule + Studio London and Guerilla Cambridge.

 

[Bl4ckSunsh1n3]

Rushy is favouriting a lot of tweets about it right now, as if you needed more comfirmation

Well, shit.

 

[Denur]

This is terrible news. DriveClub is about the only game I play on the PS4. I hope Sony keep the online servers active and also that the people from Evolution Studios find a new place within Sony. Thank you guys for the great work!

 

[S1kkZ]

the fuck? so fucking ridiculous.

 

[I-hate-u]

Hope everyone lands on their feet.

For what it's worth, spoke to someone close to the studio, mentioned to me there's positive news coming out of this.

How tho? Unless someone is going to scoop all these talented devs.

 

[Bioshocker]

So are people believing that Sony's selling off PlayStation now? I mean, that was the reaction from a lot of people when Microsoft decided to close Lionhead.

 

[FullMetaltech]

That sucks. Another great studio closed. Hope they get jobs at better locations.