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Sony closes Evolution Studios (Motorstorm, Driveclub)

DigSCCP said:
Yeah.
Looks like the recruitment event was just PR bullshit after this.
Feel bad for Evolution.
They screw up with DC launch still tho they deserved another chance after the post launch.
Bad move Sony, bad move.
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You don't even know what's happening with the Evolution staff.

They're establishing a new studio an hour away from the studio. It's not unreasonable to assume that at least some of the guys will be transferred there.
 
JAV Actress said:
Haha I saw this coming. Drive club was a cluster fuck and probably not worth the investment. Shit only had like 40 cars too right?

If they're being relocated to other parts of SCE then all is good.
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How far is your head up your own butt? The count is sitting at around 3x that.
 
JAV Actress said:
Haha I saw this coming. Drive club was a cluster fuck and probably not worth the investment. Shit only had like 40 cars too right?

If they're being relocated to other parts of SCE then all is good.
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yeah, fuckin hilarious.

*sarcasm obviously. You gotta be a lame to say this is funny.
 
Very sad news. I was hoping for a new Wipeout from them. Driveclub is a beauty. I hope they can reform somehow. The guys who messed up the Driveclub servers must be feeling really bad...
 
Blackleg-sanji1 said:
I wanna say fuck sony..buy i just can't here and maybe ima hypocrite because i did it to Microsoft with lionhead..but at the end of the day driveclub was delyaed a year,came out, underperformed,had issues its not the same situation for me they gave the a chance at least. Still very unfortunate i pray they all find jobs.
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I don't get this? Isn't what Sony did worse? Lionhead struggled to release the newest Fable game and the one they did release sucked, they have been down and out for a bit now.

Evolution released Motorstorm which was a hit and released Driveclub which even if it had a really rough launch became a hit and a good game afterward.

So if you think Ms is worse for shutting down and undeproducing studio vs Sony which closed a mildly successful one it only shows you hypocrisy/bias/ It's cool to just hate on MS I guess.
 
Maybe there will be a Sony London Studios sort of development.

- Sony closes the studio
- People from the studio form an indie studio
- Sony recruits the indie studio

Not properly a good looking practice, yet it may work in this situation too?
 
are you fucking serious?

Driveclub is an amazing game... this shit needed a season 2 & vr patch :/

i'm sure the devs will bounce back - they'reincredibly talented
 
Damn....was excited at what a driveclub 2 could've been. I'm sure the people that managed to turn drive club around and make it a really good game will find work elsewhere. One failure and a studio gets closed? Sucks.
 
Man that's sad. Hope they find new jobs quickly.

Driceclub ended up terrific and the bikes and recent updates really delivered. Shame it had a rocky start. Been a tough gen for a lot of studios it feels like and classic racing games (yes the "boring corridor" ones) seem to have suffered a lot as a genre.
 
Toadthemushroom said:
Yeah, I don't think you could make a comparison with Japan Studios anyway since they co-ordinate the production of the games, rather than develop them as a team through to completion like Evolution Studios (e.g. Oreshika 2 was developed by Alfa System, Everybody's Golf 6 was Clap Handz, Bloodborne was From Software etc.)
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I agree it shouldn't be a comparison and they don't have the manpower to make such a project of that scale anyway. But some people are crying that Sony Japan Studios should be shut down instead of Evolution because they don't make any games.

Which is kinda false. Sure, they don't do the whole development themselves, but Sony Japan Studios is integral to the health of the Japanese Game Industry and have done a brilliant job of trying to support the console game industry.

So it's disgusting that people are making up bullshit and making stupid comparison because a studio been shut down of a game they love.
 
Normally I'm just saddened when studios close.

This time it goes beyond that. I'm actually angry.

Not that it matters, but I am.
 
... what? I'm genuinely disappointed by Sony WWS management this generaton. I understand there's a business but early in 2013 I hoped for something different than this.
 
As someone training to enter the industry the past few years has been pretty scary. Either you sell 5M copies in the first week or it's a flop - unless you work in mobile wherein 90% of it is just emotionless cash farming. Japan's output has been completely decimated as well. There's obviously a big indie movement at the moment but job security is even less sturdy than AAA, and you end up with entire studios living pay check to pay check. Scary stuff.
 
Wait, Lionhead and Evolution Studios are both from England and Sony even did the recruiting event for the Lionhead devs, I didn't see this coming.

Sad start of the begin of this year, both Sony and Microsoft dissolving their big english studios in the same month.

Driveclub VR (and their next game) would be interesting and Fable Legends was almost ready to be released.

At least Sony keeps Driveclub alive.
 
Pacific Rift is probably one of my favorite racing games of all time, and I'm not typically a fan of the genre. Was really hoping for a sequel or HD version on the PS4. Best of luck to all that lost their jobs.
 
soundscream said:
Should've just folded them into the GT brand to help them get up to speed. A 2 studio setup, where the workload and improvements can be shared. Kind of like what turn10 and playground are doing.

I always thought it was odd that they just didn't have the 2 racing studios working together. Why put in extra work to model cars that already exist in GT. God knows GT could have used the engine sounds from DC.
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There was a rumor that they wanted to brand Driveclub under the Gran Turismo banner, but PD vetoed that.

Polyphony don't care.
 
amstradcpc said:
Yeah, because see how great are resulting online oriented games like Drive Club and SFV with half assed single player experiences and based on future on-line addons.

Gran Turismo must make a full game. Pack it in a blu-ray, sell millions and after that think in online races, online add ons and such.
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What are you talking about

DC is a great single player game.
 
Vaga said:
Seriously fuck Sony and Yoshida. This is war.
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mjlol.png
War against what?
 
This news made me legit sad. Driveclub is still my to-go racing game since day one. I wish them nothing but success in their future endeavours.
 
Blackleg-sanji1 said:
This says alot about the game industry right now too. A new ip on a new system, that had launch problems went on to sell 2 mil but it still wasn't enough.
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Do we have any idea how much of that 2 million was heavily discounted copies? I know I didn't buy in until I could get the game + season pass for under $20.
 
Last_colossi said:
Well, fuck... Why is Sony hiring Lionhead staff and yet closing Evolution?
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Because the closure of a studio doesn't mean they are all full up on staff, it means that a studio is closing. From the sounds of it many Evolution staff are being relocated too. Making a few new hires and recruitments != running an entire studio that you've deemed redundant. Taco Bell can close one restaurant because it's my making any money and still hire people at another in a different town.
 
So no Wipeout from them. Didn't they pick up some Psygnosis/"Studio Liverpool" people at the time that one closed?

I guess Polyphony Digital is next on the chopping block.
 
DigSCCP said:
Yeah.
Looks like the recruitment event was just PR bullshit after this.
Feel bad for Evolution.
They screw up with DC launch still tho they deserved another chance after the post launch.
Bad move Sony, bad move.
Click to expand...

They have 2 or 3 more studios in the UK you know?
 
Sad to hear, haven't played Drivelub but everyone I know that has absolutely loves it. A proper cult classic in years to come.

Hope those affected get picked up soon. What a really horrible time for the UK dev scene :(
 
Ninja Scooter said:
Because the closure of a studio doesn't mean they are all full up on staff, it means that a studio is closing. From the sounds of it many Evolution staff are being relocated too. Making a few new hires and recruitments != running an entire studio that you've deemed redundant. Taco Bell can close one restaurant because it's my making any money and still hire people at another in a different town.
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They're also presumably hiring something like 5-10 positions into their VR studio instead of the whole of Lionhead's staff.

Their London VR studio uses Unreal Engine 4, which Fable Legends was running on, so it's an easier onboarding proposition to boot.
 
Man this thread is going to be brutal if the Lionhead one was anything to go by.

Feel bad for those guys. Always wanted a new motorstorm :/ gonna dig out pacific rift and play in remembrance
 
papo said:
I don't get this? Isn't what Sony did worse? Lionhead struggled to release the newest Fable game and the one they did release sucked, they have been down and out for a bit now.

Evolution released Motorstorm which was a hit and released Driveclub which even if it had a really rough launch became a hit and a good game afterward.

So if you think Ms is worse for shutting down and undeproducing studio vs Sony which closed a mildly successful one it only shows you hypocrisy/bias/ It's cool to just hate on MS I guess.
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Didn't i say it was an lil hypocritical? One studio had the chance to release a game and one didn't tho. Lionhead didn't even fail on their own they were chosen as failures before the public could decide. Both situations are shitty tho so.
 
It's a real shame, but the writing was on the wall. Hopefully the disproportionate amount of British racing game devs means that people won't be jobless for long.

For the Players, right, Sony? :/
 
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