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Sony closes Evolution Studios (Motorstorm, Driveclub)
- Thread starter Finaj
- Start date
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
The last expansion is called Finish Line.
I don't think you'll see another DriveClub game unless they've explicitly announced something already.
It's pretty embarrassing behavior. Gaming is a business so people are going to make business decisions. DC's launch was a rolling disaster for months and the game got mediocre reviews and word of mouth early. The writing was on the wall here, even if it took a while for it to catch up to the studio. Hope the affected people land on their feet.
lol everytime!. Give it a rest. "Please don't pick on my poor multimillion pound corporation"
Dead Prince
Banned
sucks. i thought drivelub was doing fine now.
But i'm expecting some shuffle later this year as PS VR gets close to launch though.
would have been nice to have a VR game by the team though.
But i'm expecting some shuffle later this year as PS VR gets close to launch though.
would have been nice to have a VR game by the team though.
Fennec
Member
If Sony closed Evo right after DriveClub botched launch, it would have been perfectly understandable. But now that DC is so close to be perfect? After so much work put into it? Come on....
Anyway, first Bizarre, then Psygnosis/SCE Liverpool, and now Evolution, UK arcade racers games "big three" is dead and buried, and with it so many fantastic hours of gaming. I was a 10 years old ecstatic kid when Formula One and Wipeout came out. I can help but shed a tear...
Anyway, first Bizarre, then Psygnosis/SCE Liverpool, and now Evolution, UK arcade racers games "big three" is dead and buried, and with it so many fantastic hours of gaming. I was a 10 years old ecstatic kid when Formula One and Wipeout came out. I can help but shed a tear...
somesayyea
Member
wow, this sucks
FinalStageBoss
Banned
DC had a horrible launch and most of its sales probably came when it was heavily discounted. Can't just ignore that, it is a business after all. Hope Rushy and crew find jobs quickly.
nekkid
It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan.
The last expansion is called Finish Line.
Holy shit.
Ninja Scooter
Member
DC VR was probably just a glorified tech demo. I'd be shocked if Sony kept the IP going at this point. They are putting all their racing eggs in GT's basket.
torre_avenue
Banned
Oh wow. That's such a shame because barely any developer nowadays supports their game as much as Evo did with "Driveclub." They really did put everything into making the game better and increasing the content the game had. It's such a shame they had to close, but my guess is the Sony saw the finances of producing such a volume of content for a game that must have had some disappointing lifetime sales, or saw a low attach rate for the content and just decided to shutter it. Hopefully, some of the guys get some jobs at Polyphony or become a Polyphony branch doing a sort of GT-version of "Forza Horizon" e.g. a more arcade-y spinoff.
I always hate when dev studios close because it usually means a lot of very talented people are subject to stressful and difficult situations trying to find work. In general, being a developer must be extraordinarily tough between people trying to backseat-develop, criticizing your work endlessly, the long hours and periods of crunch, the general high volatility of your employment situation, and the search for a job once more.
I always hate when dev studios close because it usually means a lot of very talented people are subject to stressful and difficult situations trying to find work. In general, being a developer must be extraordinarily tough between people trying to backseat-develop, criticizing your work endlessly, the long hours and periods of crunch, the general high volatility of your employment situation, and the search for a job once more.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
I hope Sony is smart enough to transfer all their assets to Gran Turismo. God knows that game needs some good vehicle renders.
Regardless, gutted.
amstradcpc
Member
From a communication point of view it has always been a mess: a playstation plus upgradable version, a downloadable version with addons, lacking this that will come in months...
It was never a "complete" game sold in a blu-ray that sold millions to start by. It was sort of a experiment in the way it was launched. And the problem with this is that maybe the public don´t understand it (nor the reviewers in this case).
Why for example wasn´t it recently relaunched as a physical re-reviewable copy once it was already a great experience?. I seriously can´t understand some business decisions...
Hidden One
Member
Wtf? I thought DC was being supported really well?
Blackleg-sanji1
Banned
This sucks too i really loved it. What are the chances driveclub is better than gt sport..damn the be a hell of a twist
Thats good atleast.
Now if they can all fine jobs I will be please.
OrbitalBeard
Member
The Blu-ray I purchased is absolutely a complete game.
I honestly don't know what you're talking about. DLC doesn't make a game incomplete.
This also has nothing to do with the game being a good single-player title, which it absolutely is.
It's incredibly sad to see the studio break up. Driveclub is single best racing game on PS4, and one my favorite games on the console. Support was amazing throughout, and I was really looking forward to another purchasing another season pass in 2016. Hopefully everyone will move on to work on even bigger and better things.
Ninja Scooter
Member
These things are fluid. Sony downsized Evolution and tried to see if they could turn things around by continuing to support DC. Obviously within the community they did a bang up job, but you only get one chance to make a first impression.
Mushroom021
Member
Is it even happening? Isn't it just a tech demo basically? The game would never be able to run in vr unless it was a significantly dumbed down version.
Toadthemushroom
Member
I think they moved to that model with DriveClub and GT Sport in best interest, but yeah, does make me wonder how successful DriveClub was, or how successful it would have needed to be to keep Evolution around (or whether they;d still be around if GT Sport wasn't competing with it).
Still, the model does work when done well -- Splatoon is good evidence of that, though that game's development would have factored in lower sales (I doubt Nintendo was expecting 3-4 million sales for Splatoon!)
dragonflys545
Member
Wow... This sucks, I was still hoping for a Motorstorm game for the PS4.
I kinda saw this coming after Motorstorm Apocalypse launching at the worst time possible, and also the lackluster launch of DC. Hope everyone being lay-off find something and continue to make amazing games.
I kinda saw this coming after Motorstorm Apocalypse launching at the worst time possible, and also the lackluster launch of DC. Hope everyone being lay-off find something and continue to make amazing games.
I know it had a really rough launch after that large delay but I thought the game was doing much better at this point. Guess it wasn't raking in the cash to offset all those early troubles. Too bad, I actually picked up the PS+ version and thought it was beautiful but driving games aren't really my thing. Hope for the best to all the people there, they were really talented.
Releasing a game a full year late isn't something even a big company is willing to just brush off. It sucks for the people that work there but giant publicly traded companies aren't run like charities, especially Sony which absolutely needs a very profitable Playstation division.
Evolution made incredibly expensive pretty good games that sold OK, not the model Sony wants moving forward I guess.
Evolution made incredibly expensive pretty good games that sold OK, not the model Sony wants moving forward I guess.
urgh, no. Failed past project and failed future projects. No conspiracy.
With game studios at least it is relatively simple - you make money and you stay on.. you dont and eventually someone will have to cut you.
For Evo, I dont think it was about DC in the end, problem was likely that their next game was not testing well and once that got cancelled writing was on the wall. The fact that DC launched in poor state and required a lot of additional funding to "complete", did not help them when next pitch failed.
Their smart people will turn up somewhere else, better managed, better ideas that might produce next hit game. It will be better for everyone involved.
PuppetMaster
Member
Motorstorm 1 launch was really bad too. Like Driveclub. But when they got to Motorstorm2 it was amazing.
Anyway I hope Sony can make use of the talent at other studios.
Anyway I hope Sony can make use of the talent at other studios.
rokkerkory
Member
Damn first MS closing a big studio and now this
hope all is ok
hope all is ok
potatohead
Member
What the fuck!?
Please tell me these devs will find some work at Polyphony, they are amazing at racing games!
Please tell me these devs will find some work at Polyphony, they are amazing at racing games!
HouseDragon
Member
Heartbreaking. Pacific Rift might be one of my favorite racing games ever and Driveclub, with all its expansions, ended up being a gem of a game.
I loved Evolution Studios and it crushes my soul to think that I'll never get to see a rightful sequel to Pacific Rift. Damn Sony, why didn't you give them another chance...
I loved Evolution Studios and it crushes my soul to think that I'll never get to see a rightful sequel to Pacific Rift. Damn Sony, why didn't you give them another chance...
