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[Jotaka]

Another studio closed by our beloved Shu lol

 

[bitbydeath]

This is some serious bullshit.
There are quite a few Sony studios who haven't released anything at all yet Evo have always been front and centre and they are the ones that get shutdown?

Sony fucked up big time.

 

[LCGeek]

Sony is dumb for not deciding to manage this group better or having realistic goals with what they do. MS and Nintendo will be worse for not captilizing.

Please dear god EA do not get involved we have seen what you do with great teams as you absorb them.

 

[BrainZEROX]

Well, that's a bummer... An infuriating one too as I'm super pissed at Sony now.

 

[FerretGamer]

*sigh* Another great racing studio gone.

 

[Ray Down]

This is some serious bullshit.
There are quite a few Sony studios who haven't released anything at all yet Evo have always been front and centre and they are the ones that get shutdown?

Sony fucked up big time.

Because this project failed seemingly, those haven't yet.

 

[potatohead]

Plus, Sony let them develop Driveclub after the bomb that was MS:A.

Apocalypse wasn't their fault, I refuse to believe!

 

[NoFoX]

Hope some of the talent is kept on at Northwest Studios

The best is yet to come!
THEY'LL JOIN KOJIMA!

 

[SpinningBirdKick]

The writing was in the wall after the initial botched release of driveclub.

No one in their right mind would continue to bankroll a team for millions of pounds after a huge misstep like that.

 

[Huggers]

That's a real shame. Great pedigree of games from them, not least Driveclub which turned into an incredibly good racer

 

[Net_Wrecker]

It's weird to see people pinning this solely on Driveclub's launch. No doubt that played a big part in this as well, but Motorstorm was underperforming well before Driveclub released, which I'd guess was the reason they switched to a simcade style racer in the first place.

This really sucks though. Hope everyone lands on their feet and the tech from Driveclub gets put to use somewhere else.

 

[JP]

Was half expecting this after last year.

It's not good when people lose their jobs but the better people from the team will still be making games for them. I would like it if they continued with DriveClub in WWS,

 

[RK128]

This is some serious bullshit.
There are quite a few Sony studios who haven't released anything at all yet Evo have always been front and centre and they are the ones that get shutdown?

Sony fucked up big time.

Edit: Comment was really harsh, so removed it. Sorry everyone .

 

[LongDongJunon]

LET'S ROLL.

Nothing is going to happen

 

[Loudninja]

I completely agree with this statement; Evolution was one of the few first party studios to make games on the PS4 while the 'major' racing studio still has nothing on the PS4........yet Evolution is the one that got shut down. Perfectly fair turn of events :l......

So this is what ere are doing now asking why another studio close down?

How would that be better?

 

[RulkezX]

Sony may have done a lot right this gen, but their handling of first party studios and their output has been shoddy as fuck.

 

[Ray Down]

I completely agree with this statement; Evolution was one of the few first party studios to make games on the PS4 while the 'major' racing studio still has nothing on the PS4........yet Evolution is the one that got shut down. Perfectly fair turn of events :l......

That studio makes the biggest Sony franchise and regular entries sell more than DC ever did.

It doesn't matter what output Evolution had if it's bad.

 

[bitbydeath]

Because this project failed, those haven't.

Still not worth shutting down such a talented studio over.

They could have made it back easy with delivering a new Wipeout and Motorstorm.

 

[tusken77]

Indeed. We live in crazy times.

 

[Katana_Strikes]

I completely agree with this statement; Evolution was one of the few first party studios to make games on the PS4 while the 'major' racing studio still has nothing on the PS4........yet Evolution is the one that got shut down. Perfectly fair turn of events :l......

One game bombed. The other has the potential to be massive like most of their previous games. If GT Sport bombs then Polyphony will be only 1 more game away from closure at the very most.

 

[Hypereides]

What a ruthless scene the AAA industry has become.

You either get that hit game, or you face a high chance of closure.

Sony must be seeing those 2+ million units sold as a failure.

Which begs the question, how big were their expectations for Drive Club this gen?

Are you surprised? Its been like this for some time now.

The home console market has shrunk. The previous generation was less than merciful to quite a few studios. The surge of smartphones has made home console games nearly redundant.

Its a tough industry nowadays.

 

[cramoss]

I didn't get to play Driveclub but I enjoyed the shit out of Motorstorm Pacific Rift. This kind of news are always sad but hopefully they see this as a fresh start for the new opportunities that will come.

 

[Squozen]

So rushy retweeting this 7 hours ago was a hint?

https://twitter.com/ChrisBrosnahan/status/712190017473482752

More likely to be in reference to the Brussels bombing IMO.

 

[RK128]

So this is what ere are doing now asking why another studio close down?

How would that be better?

T....That was a really dumb comment X(. Going to remove that now. Sorry everyone . No one should lose their jobs.

 

[Ray Down]

Still not worth shutting down such a talented studio over.

They could have made it back easy with delivering a new Wipeout and Motorstorm.

Not at the size they were at, Sony didn't think it was worth it based on whatever data/info they have.

It sucks, but it's just how things go.

 

[Harmen]

The writing was in the wall after the initial botched release of driveclub.

No one in their right mind would continue to bankroll a team for millions of pounds after a huge misstep like that.

I would agree if it weren't for the upcoming PSVR. Racing seems like the ideal genre for VR (no character movement aside from car controls) and DC has had much positive buzz lately. I think sticking with the DC brand and investing in DCVR to be the one of the (the?) first AAA VR racers would've made sense and be a major plus for Sony's VR repertoire. I think the timing is off, even though I am sure Sony has their reasons.

 

[Tapejara]

Ugh, fucking Sony always does this to studios I love. Hoping for the best for everyone affected by this .

 

[RazielCuts]

Sony taking a page from the Microsoft playbook on this one.

 

[Novak]

Sad news.

I wish MS would step in and give them PGR ip.

 

[TrAcEr_x90]

Just bought Drieclub last week when it was on sale. Loving the hell out of this game.

 

[viveks86]

These news make me quite less excited for PS VR.

Me too. The prospect of Driveclub VR was the only thing that made me want to get PSVR as well (already getting Rift and Vive)

 

[CosmicQueso]

Sony taking a page from the Microsoft playbook on this one.

It's not Sony, or Microsoft... it's the state of the Console games industry.

This is the reality, for everyone. Higher costs, uncertain markets. It's not this company vs that company. It's a floundering ship everyone's aboard.

 

[IdodgerI]

Has there been any confirmation that Driveclub VR is now canned? My assumption was another team at Sony would pick up the reigns on that one and release it.

 

[AlexBasch]

I'm joining late but what does this mean for the current Driveclub plans?

They were adding more stuff in the updates and whatnot, we recently had one. Are those over, is Driveclub dead now?

 

[TylerDurden4321]

Because this project failed seemingly, those haven't yet.

They sold 2 million copies. Forza 5 and 6 only sold 2 million copies as well, you think MS is gonna shut down Turn 10??

Their track design was good and graphically I'd say it's the best looking racing game, ...period. Do a few tweaks to the handling model to make it handle like a PGR, maybe throw in some ridge-racer drifting, then re-use all those absolutely gorgeous DC car models as well as some of the tracks and you've got a game that would get lots of critical praise. Instead GT Sport gets inofficially delayed and what does Sony do with the only other studio that makes racing games for them? They shut it down.

#BuildTheList, Sony, you *%$")#{ @%&8§!!


Edit:

They were adding more stuff in the updates and whatnot, we recently had one. Are those over, is Driveclub dead now?

Their last DLC is out now. Its name is "Finish Line". I think we all get the title now.

 

[Papacheeks]

In his/her example the employees would work from home. I threw all other costs under the "overhead" umbrella.



Wild Hog is based out of Poland. That is like say why doesn't EA/Bioware get the same bang for their buck as CD Project RED. Rocket League is a once in a generation game and not the norm. You have a situation of an excellent game which millions of people got for free and those people then recommended it to everyone else (myself included).

The 2-3 Million on steam didn't have it for free? And what does Wild Hog being based out of poland even have to do with anything? Why Because of their economical issues in Poland?

There are many other small studios making high quality games. Arrow head studios is one. Horsmarque is another.

How about Cyanide Studios, OR Wild Sheep studios(guys making wild)? Cyanide studios started out being 10-ex ubisoft employee's who started cycling Manager, then made Loki, Blood Bowl and so on and grew.

Same with Wild SHeep Studios they are really small for what they are making.

Now their last couple games have been on PS4, XBOX,PC. ANd in physical retail.
So there's that.

There are many more, making smaller AAA production looking games for fraction of the actual budget it cost's for people like Ubisoft, ACTIVISION, EA.

Flying Wild Hog are not the acceptation or the rule, there are more mid-tier indie studios making games that fill the void for whenever someone big closes.

 

[enzo_gt]

It sucks, but is pretty unsurprising considering how Driveclub played out.

 

[paskowitz]

Hopefully Polyphony (Gran Turismo dev and Sony 1st party studio) picks up a few people.

 

[Shaneus]

Fuck, I just woke up to this news. Fucking FUCK.

Scree you, Sony.

 

[viveks86]

Has there been any confirmation that Driveclub VR is now canned? My assumption was another team at Sony would pick up the reigns on that one and release it.

Well... who knows? What are the odds that Sony would support an IP that pretty much was the reason they shutdown a studio? That's like assuming Sony will release another Rollcage. Technically, they can, but why would they?

I'd be very skeptical.

 

[fernoca]

Great studio, too bad.

Got and loved Driveclub day one. Despite the problems itwas still an incredible game. Motorstorm was amazing too.

 

[EventHorizon]

Sorry to hear this. I thought Evolution had really turned things around with DriveClub. With that said, I could do without another racer. I'd much rather see a new game like Horizon: Zero Dawn come out. Hopefully this will free up resources to create something unique and fun in a few years.

 

[Pif]

So what about driveclud vr?? Any official word on it's status?

 

[Kaako]

Thought about it some more and this still sucks. :/
I really wanted a current gen Motorstorm man, shit.

 

[Arttemis]

So what about driveclud vr?? Any official word on it's status?

I want to hear about this as well...

Did it get dropped in favor of Gran Turismo VR?

 

[NullPointer]

I'm joining late but what does this mean for the current Driveclub plans?

They were adding more stuff in the updates and whatnot, we recently had one. Are those over, is Driveclub dead now?

.

 

[Noobcraft]

They sold 2 million copies. Forza 5 and 6 only sold 2 million copies as well, you think MS is gonna shut down Turn 10??

I'm pretty sure Forza 5 sold over 2M copies, but that sounds about right for FH2/FM6. Not to mention many of Driveclub's sales were at a discounted rate (on sale) so the revenue likely isn't equal to Forza games (which never go on sale). Microsoft is bringing future Forza titles to PC though so they have that to hopefully prop up sales.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Still not worth shutting down such a talented studio over.

They could have made it back easy with delivering a new Wipeout and Motorstorm.

Pretty sure that both WO and MS weren't huge sellers.

And I'm not sure what Sony are doing with Wipeout...seems like Sony are putting everything on GT being their premier racer. Sucks that the only AAA arcade racer left will be Horizon.

 

[Ray Down]

They sold 2 million copies. Forza 5 and 6 only sold 2 million copies as well, you think MS is gonna shut down Turn 10??

Their track design was good and graphically I'd say it's the best looking racing game, ...period. Do a few tweaks to the handling model to make it handle like a PGR, maybe throw in some ridge-racer drifting, then re-use all those absolutely gorgeous DC car models as well as some of the tracks and you've got a game that would get lots of critical praise. Instead GT Sport gets inofficially delayed and what does Sony do with the only other studio that makes racing games for them? They shut it down.

#BuildTheList, Sony, you *%$")#{ @%&8§!!

1. The situation between Turn 10 & Microsoft is most likely different than how Sony has viewed Evolution and Driveclub.

2. Critical Praise only does so much when you give the game as many chances already to succeed again and fails.

3. GT is Sony best selling franchise, of course it will get treated differently than one that fails to reach expectations that Sony may have for it.

 

[Papacheeks]

Apocalypse wasn't their fault, I refuse to believe!

Sony tried to even bundle that game with their 3D tv to sell it. And seeing how since first motorstorm sales kept going down in each entry as racing games flooded the market in that Gen.

So it's the more the market was too saturated for it to actually find it's audience.