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Psygnosis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Studio Liverpool)

Psygnosis Limited
FormerlyPsygnosis (1984–1999)
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded1984; 42 years ago (1984)
FoundersIan Hetherington
David Lawson
Jonathan Ellis
Defunct22 August 2012 (2012-08-22)
FateMerged
Headquarters
Napier Court, Wavertree Technology Park, Liverpool, England
ProductsShadow of the Beast
Lemmings
Wipeout
Colony Wars
Formula One
ParentSony Computer Entertainment (1993–2005)
SCE Worldwide Studios (2005–2012)
Websiteworldwidestudios.net/liverpool

Psygnosis Limited (/sɪɡˈnoʊsɪs/; known as SCE Studio Liverpool or simply Studio Liverpool from 1999)[1] was a British video game developer and publisher headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool. Founded in 1984[1][2] by Ian Hetherington, Jonathan Ellis, and David Lawson, the company initially became known for well-received games on the Atari ST and Amiga. In 1993, it became a wholly owned subsidiary and first-party developer of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and began developing games for the original PlayStation. It later became a part of SCE Worldwide Studios. The company was the oldest and second largest development house within the company. The company is best known for creating the Wipeout, Formula One and Colony Wars series.[3]

Reports of Studio Liverpool's closure surfaced on 22 August 2012, with Edge quoting staff tweets.[4] Staff members were told the news by Michael Denny, vice president of Sony Worldwide Studios Europe.[5] Sony said that the Liverpool site would remain in operation, as it was still home to many Sony Departments.[6] At the time of its closure, it employed roughly 100 people comprising two development teams. Mick Hocking oversaw Studio Liverpool's operations as its last Group Studio Director, a position he continued to hold within Evolution Studios.

Psygnosis still exists as a legal entity under Sony and continues to make legal filings, but has had no developers since 2012.[7] In December 2021, Sony renewed Psygnosis' logo and trademarks despite not using the Psygnosis branding since 2000, though this is thought to be standard filing practice as trademarks last for a decade in the United States and Sony had previously filed renewal applications in 2011 as well.[8]

History

[edit]

The Psyclapse name was used on some early releases.

Early years

[edit]

Psygnosis was the eventual successor of the defunct 8-bit software house Imagine Software, where Lawson was one of the founders and Hetherington was financial director. Finchspeed, a company created by the directors,[9][10] attempted to acquire the assets of the failing company but this was unsuccessful and the remains of Imagine, including its much-hyped but never completed "megagames", were sold by the receivers.[11] While the name and trademarks were bought by Ocean Software,[12] Sinclair Research paid a rumoured £100,000 for the rights to Bandersnatch and contracted a new company set up by Hetherington and Lawson, Fire Iron, to produce the game for the Sinclair QL for release in early 1985.[13][14][15]

Sinclair withdrew funding from Fire Iron in early 1985,[16] and Psygnosis, which became a limited company under United Kingdom company law in July 1985,[17] revealed its first title Brataccas, which featured many of the concepts originally intended for Bandersnatch,[18] at the 1985 Personal Computer World show in September.[16][19]

The name of another Imagine Megagame (the proposed but never developed Psyclapse) was later used by Psygnosis as an alternative label for some of its releases,[20] such as Ballistix and Captain Fizz Meets The Blaster-Trons.[21]

The box artwork was very distinctive with a black background and fantasy artwork by Roger Dean[22] bordered in red. This style was maintained for the better part of 10 years. For the next few years, Psygnosis' releases contained increasingly improved graphics, but were marred by similarly difficult gameplay and control methods. The original company headquarters were located at the Port of Liverpool Building at the Pier Head in Liverpool, but soon moved to Century Buildings in Liverpool's Brunswick Business Park, and later moved down the road to South Harrington Building by the docks. In its early years, the company's US operations had its titles distributed by Mindscape, before self-distributing its games in North America, initially located in Addison and later relocated to Cambridge.[23]

Although Psygnosis primarily became a game publisher, some games were developed fully or partly in-house. During the early days, artists were employed full-time at the headquarters, offering third-party developers, who were often just single programmers, a high-quality art resource. This allowed Psygnosis to maintain high graphical standards across the board. The original artists were Garvan Corbett, Jeff Bramfitt, Colin Rushby and Jim Bowers, with Neil Thompson joining a little later.

Obliterator, released in 1988, contained an opening animation by Jim Bowers. This short scene would pave the way for increasingly sophisticated intro animations, starting with 2D hand drawn sequences, and progressing into FMV and 3D rendered movies created with Sculpt 4D on the Amiga. Eventually, Psygnosis would buy Silicon Graphics workstations for the sole purpose of creating these animations.

While most game companies of the mid-to-late 1980s (including Psygnosis) were releasing identical games on both the Amiga and Atari ST, Psygnosis started to use the full potential of the Amiga's more powerful hardware to produce technically stunning games, with the landmark title Shadow of the Beast bringing the company its greatest success so far in 1989. Its multi-layered parallax scrolling and music were highly advanced for the time and as such led to the game being used as a showcase demonstration for the Amiga in many computer shops.

More employees were hired. In 1988, John White became the head of software at the studio.[24] In 1989, Nick Burcombe joined the company, elevating to the role as the head of game design.[25] Tim Wright begin working as a freelancer before being a studio sound design head from 1994 to 1998.[26]

Psygnosis consolidated its fame after publishing the DMA Design Lemmings game franchise: debuting in 1991 on the Amiga, Lemmings was ported to a plethora of different computer and video game platforms, generating many sequels and variations of its concept through the years. Also in 1991, the company partnered with Electronic Arts to market its games for Sega Genesis, before self-publishing Sega Genesis games starting in early 1993.[27] Microcosm, a game that appeared on the FM Towns, Amiga CD32, and 3DO furthered the company's reputation for games with excellent graphics.

Psygnosis also created the "Face-Off" games in the Nickelodeon 1992 television game show, Nick Arcade, such as "Post Haste", "Jet Jocks" and "Battle of the Bands".

Sale to Sony and expansion

[edit]

In 1993 the company was acquired by Sony Electronic Publishing (which later folded into Sony Computer Entertainment).[28][29] The acquisition cost Sony £20 million.[30] In preparation for the September 1995 introduction of Sony's PlayStation console in Western markets, Psygnosis started creating games using the PlayStation as primary reference hardware. Among the most famous creations of this period were Wipeout, G-Police, and the Colony Wars series, some of which were ported to PC and to other platforms. The PlayStation marked a turning point in Psygnosis's game design, moving away from the prerendered graphics and limited gameplay that the company had become associated with.[31][32] This was a successful period for the company; in the 1995–96 financial year, Psygnosis games accounted for 40% of all video games sales in Europe.[33] The company Sony Psygnosis was once renamed to Sony Interactive Europe on August 17, 1995, but did not last long.[34]

The acquisition was rewarding for Sony in another aspect: development kits for PlayStation consoles. As it had previously published PSY-Q development kits for various consoles by SN Systems, Psygnosis arranged for it to create a development system for the PS based on cheap PC hardware. Sony evaluated the system during CES in January 1994 and decided to adopt it.[35]

As Psygnosis expanded after the Sony buyout, another satellite office was opened in Century Building with later offices opening in Stroud, London (started development in 1993, second studio in 1996, evoled into Camden), Chester (started development in 1996), Paris (started development in 1994), Germany, Manchester (started development in 1996), Leeds (started development in 1996) and Foster City in California (as the Customer Support & Marketing with software development done in San Francisco, who started operations in 1997[36]), now the home of Sony Computer Entertainment America. Soon after Sony took over, its offices in the US moved from Cambridge to Foster City in 1995 ahead of the launch of PlayStation.[37] The company headquarters has resided at Wavertree Technology Park since 1995.

The original London studio was started in 1993 and it was headed by a set of developers namely Anthony Taglione (credited as TAG),[38] Stuart Sargassion, Richard Weeks and Peter Marshall, among others.[39] It was known for Bram Stoker's Dracula, Microcosm, MegaMorph, the aborted CD32 version of Novastorm, Hexx: Heresy of the Wizard and Alpha Storm, before evolving into the Camden studio with the development of Blast Radius.[40]

The Stroud studio was opened in November 1993 in order to attract disgruntled MicroProse employees. Staff grew from initially about 50 to about 70 in 1997.[41] Among the titles created at Stroud are Assault Rigs, Overboard!, the PlayStation version of Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors,[42] Nations Fighter Command,[43] and G-Police and its sequel G-Police: Weapons of Justice.[41] The Wheelhouse—its publishing name—was closed in 2000 as part of the Sony Computer Entertainment takeover of Psygnosis. Some members joined Bristol-based Rage Software, but faced a similar demise a number of years later.

The Leeds studio was opened in 1996, and it housed a lot of development staff.[44][45] Some of the games the Leeds studio worked on were Global Domination, Retro Force, Wip3out, Colony Wars: Red Sun and Lemmings Revolution, before the Leeds studio shuttered in 2001. The Chester operation worked on its only title Sentient, before closing down shortly.[46] The Manchester operation was led by Haydn Dalton, and lasted for a short time between 1996 and 1998 with The Contract being one of the titles they were developing before layoffs hit, with the last game they worked on, Lander, went released.[47]

The Paris operation started developing in 1994 under the pen F.D.I with Adidas Power Soccer, Adidas Power Soccer International 97, The City of Lost Children and O.D.T. being the games developed in the Paris studio before being sold in 1999 to Infogrames.[48][49] The San Francisco operation started in 1997, and worked on the unreleased titles Godzilla Wars, Galleons Over Mars, Control Freak, Goblins, Real Wars and Reapers, and supported development on Destruction Derby 64, Drakan: Order of the Flame, and Metal Fatigue, before being shut down in 1999.[50][51][52][53]

The PC business was eventually merged with the PC unit of Sony Imagesoft on August 17, 1995 and became Sony Interactive PC Software America, which was operating as a unit of Sony Interactive Entertainment, however the merger was undone in late 1996, with PC titles now being distributed by Sony Interactive Studios America and Psygnosis.[54][55]

Despite being owned by Sony, Psygnosis retained a degree of independence from its parent company during this period and continued to develop and publish titles for other platforms,[56] including the Sega Saturn[57][58] and the Nintendo 64.[59] The company hired Perfect Entertainment to port its PlayStation output to the Sega Saturn.[60] This caused friction between Psygnosis and Sony, and in 1996 Sony engaged SBC Warburg's services in finding a buyer for Psygnosis.[61][62] However, though bids reportedly went as high as $300 million (more than ten times what Sony paid for the company just three years before),[63] after six months Sony rescinded its decision to sell Psygnosis. Relations between the two companies had improved during this time, and Sony became reconciled to Psygnosis releasing games for competing platforms.[64] Shortly after, Psygnosis took over sales, marketing and distribution of its own titles, a task that Sony had been handling following the buyout.[65][66]

In early 1998, Psygnosis attempted to start a new franchise by releasing a mascot-based title, Rascal, for the PlayStation in hopes of securing a mascot like Crash Bandicoot did for fellow Sony-owned company SCEA, but it failed at sales.[67] In 1998, the company signed a deal with Microsoft for the license to produce PlayStation versions of Windows titles, but the deal apparently fell through.[68] Also that year, the company considered entering a deal with GT Interactive for the North American rights, but the deal fell through.[69] In late 1998, Midway Home Entertainment acquired publishing rights to Wipeout 64,[70] while THQ purchased the publishing rights to Destruction Derby 64.[71]

In 1998, Eidos Interactive purchased most of Psygnosis' European publishing operations, while the American operations were merged into 989 Studios.[72][73] Sony decided to sell Psygnosis a second time in 1998, and the company offered a deal to sell itself to Eidos Interactive, but the deal collapsed.[74][75][76] In January 1999, the company signed a deal with Activision for North American distribution rights of its titles, which came effect on February 1, 1999, and workers moved from Foster City to San Mateo soon afterwards.[53] The studios in Europe had shuttered down around 1998 and 1999, with the exception of the London/Camden studio, and the Leeds studio, which shuttered in 2001, while the San Francisco development division also shuttered in 1999.[51][52] The France development division was sold by Sony to Infogrames in 1999.[49]

Studio Camden

[edit]

Psygnosis had a subsidiary studio at Camden Town which developed Blast Radius, Kingsley's Adventure and Team Buddies.[77] It was moved to Sony as a separate studio after Sony folded Psygnosis, named SCEE Studio Camden and released Dropship: United Peace Force before being merged with Team Soho into London Studio.[78]

As Studio Liverpool

[edit]
The SCE Studio Liverpool logo, used from 2001 to 2012

In 1999, a process to consolidate Psygnosis into Sony Computer Entertainment was underway, resulting in the bulk of Psygnosis' sales, marketing and PR staff being made redundant and the development teams reporting directly into Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's president of software development and stopped publishing its PC games.[79] To reflect this, in 2000, the Psygnosis brand was dropped in favour of SCE Studio Liverpool. The company begin early work on PlayStation 2 games under the Psygnosis name, before being finally folded into SCEE.[80][81] During the year, as its American division was shut down and prepared to merge its publishing operations into Sony Computer Entertainment America, as most of the marketing of Psygnosis' US operations were transferred to SCEA, while focusing on the PS2, while stopping its PC game development and publishing,[81][82] Take-Two Interactive taking over the rights to Metal Fatigue and the PC version of Rollcage Stage II,[83][84] Midway Home Entertainment acquired the North American publishing rights of remaining titles of Psygnosis' PlayStation lineup while SCEA published the PS2 titles.[85]

The newly named SCE Studio Liverpool released its first title, Formula One 2001, in 2001. The game was also the studio's first release on the PlayStation 2, and the first entry in the Formula One series after taking over from developer Studio 33. From 2001 to 2007, Studio Liverpool released eight instalments in the series between the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3. Only two of the games came around North America, with Formula One 2001 being released under SCEA's 989 Sports label due to its qualification of F1 as a sport, and Formula One Championship Edition also coming out in North America.[86][87] However, Sony Computer Entertainment's exclusive licence with the Formula One Group expired, without renewal, before the 2007 season, marking the end of any further Formula One series instalments from the developer.

Studio Liverpool also developed Wipeout Fusion, the first of two instalments of the series on the PlayStation 2, released in 2002. Next it developed Wipeout Pure for the PlayStation Portable, which launched alongside the handheld in 2005 to significant acclaim, with many media outlets heralding it a return to glory for the series. They followed up with the sequel Wipeout Pulse in 2007 which was later ported to the PlayStation 2 and released in Europe.

In 2002, what was the shell of the former Psygnosis signed a deal with Bam! Entertainment to secure North American rights of two titles from concepts started at Psygnosis, namely Wipeout Fusion and Dropship: United Peace Force.[88]

In 2008 it released Wipeout HD, a downloadable title for the PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network service, consisting of various courses taken from both Wipeout Pure and Wipeout Pulse remade in high definition. An expansion pack for Wipeout HD named Wipeout HD Fury is available at PlayStation Network, including new game modes, new tracks, new music and new ship skins/models.[89] In 2007, a copy of Manhunt 2 was leaked online prior to its release by an employee from the Sony Europe Liverpool office.[90]

On 29 January 2010, Sony made a public statement on its restructuring of Studio Liverpool.[91] The closure of Studio Liverpool was announced on 22 August 2012. In a press release, Sony stated that after an assessment of all European studios, it had decided to close Studio Liverpool. Sony said that the Liverpool site would remain in operation, as it is home to a number of Sony Worldwide Studios and SCEE Departments.[6]

Eurogamer was told by an unnamed source that, at the time of its closure, Studio Liverpool was working on two PlayStation 4 launch titles. One was a Wipeout title described as "dramatically different"; the other was a motion capture-based game along the lines of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell.[92]

Spin-off studios

[edit]

In 2013 a number of former Studio Liverpool employees formed two new studios: Firesprite,[93] which worked on the visuals of The Playroom for the PlayStation 4,[94] and Playrise Digital, who had success with its Table Top Racing games. In September 2021, Sony acquired Firesprite.[95]

XDev

[edit]

XDev, Sony's external development studio, is responsible for managing the development of titles at developers that are outside of Sony's own developer group. It has won 14 British Academy (BAFTA) video game awards and AIAS awards for LittleBigPlanet, 3 BAFTA awards for the Buzz! series and Develop Industry Excellence Awards for MotorStorm and Buzz!.[96]

Games

[edit]

Games developed or published as Psygnosis

[edit]
Year Name Platforms
1986 Brataccas Amiga, Atari ST, Mac
1986 Deep Space
1987 Barbarian Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum
1987 Terrorpods Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, MSX
1988 Baal Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS
1988 Captain Fizz Meets The Blaster-Trons
1988 Chrono Quest Amiga, Atari ST
1988 Menace Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS
1988 Obliterator Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum
1989 Ballistix Acorn Electron, Amiga, Atari ST, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, TurboGrafx-16
1989 Blood Money Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS
1989 Nevermind Amiga
1989 Shadow of the Beast Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Genesis/Mega Drive
1990 Anarchy Amiga, Atari ST
1990 Atomino Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS
1990 Awesome Amiga, Atari ST, FM Towns
1990 Carthage Amiga, Atari ST
1990 Infestation Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, FM Towns
1990 The Killing Game Show Amiga, Atari ST, Genesis/Mega Drive
1990 Matrix Marauders Amiga, Atari ST
1990 Nitro Amiga, Atari ST
1990 Shadow of the Beast II Amiga, Atari ST, Genesis/Mega Drive
1990 Stryx
1991 Amnios Amiga
1991 Armour-Geddon Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS
1991 Barbarian II Amiga 500, Atari ST
1991 Christmas Lemmings
1991 Leander Amiga, Atari ST, Genesis/Mega Drive
1991 Lemmings Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum, Amiga CDTV, Super NES, Acorn Archimedes, NES, X68000, PC-98, TurboGrafx-CD, Atari Lynx, Master System, Genesis/Mega Drive, Amstrad CPC, SAM Coupé, Commodore 64, CD32, Philips CD-i, Game Gear, Game Boy, 3DO, Windows 95, Macintosh, PlayStation, Game Boy Color, Sony PSP, Sony PS3
1991 Obitus Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Super NES
1991 Oh No! More Lemmings Amiga, MS-DOS, Atari ST, SAM Coupé, Macintosh, Acorn Archimedes
1991 Ork Amiga, Atari ST
1992 Superhero (Cancelled) Amiga
1992 Ultraverse: Prime Sega CD, Super NES (Cancelled)
1992 Agony Amiga
1992 Air Support Amiga, Atari ST
1992 Aquaventura
1992 Bill's Tomato Game Amiga, Atari ST
1992 The Carl Lewis Challenge
1992 Cytron Amiga
1992 Daughter of Serpents MS-DOS
1992 Red Zone Amiga
1992 Shadow of the Beast III Amiga
1993 Bob's Bad Day Amiga
1993 Bram Stoker's Dracula NES, Super NES, Game Boy, Game Gear, Master System, Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega CD/Mega-CD, Amiga, MS-DOS
1993 Combat Air Patrol Amiga, MS-DOS
1993 Creepers MS-DOS
1993 Global Domination MS-DOS, Amiga
1993 Globdule Amiga
1993 Hired Guns Amiga, MS-DOS
1993 Innocent Until Caught Amiga, MS-DOS
1993 Last Action Hero NES, Super NES, Genesis/Mega Drive, Game Boy, Game Gear, Amiga, MS-DOS
1993 Lemmings 2: The Tribes Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Genesis/Mega Drive, Super NES, Game Boy, Acorn Archimedes, FM Towns
1993 Microcosm FM Towns, Sega CD/Mega-CD, 3DO, CD32, MS-DOS
1993 Perihelion: The Prophecy Amiga
1993 Prime Mover
1993 Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame MS-DOS, Mac OS, Super NES, FM Towns, Xbox (bonus)
1993 Puggsy Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega CD/Mega-CD, Amiga
1993 Theatre of Death
1993 Walker Amiga
1993 Wiz 'n' Liz: The Frantic Wabbit Wescue Amiga, Genesis/Mega Drive
1994 3 Ninjas Kick Back Genesis/Mega Drive
1994 Armour-Geddon 2: Codename Hellfire Amiga
1994 Benefactor Amiga, CD32
1994 Brian the Lion Amiga
1994 Ecstatica MS-DOS
1994 Hardcore (cancelled) Amiga, Genesis/Mega Drive
1994 Hexx: Heresy of the Wizard MS-DOS
1994 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Super NES, Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega CD/Mega-CD
1994 Misadventures of Flink CD32, Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega CD/Mega-CD
1994 Novastorm PlayStation, MS-DOS, FM-Towns, 3DO, Sega CD/Mega-CD
1994 No Escape Genesis/Mega Drive
1994 Second Samurai Mega Drive, Amiga
1995 3D Lemmings MS-DOS, PlayStation, Saturn
1995 3D Lemmings Winterland MS-DOS
1995 All New World of Lemmings Amiga, MS-DOS
1995 Blue Ice Windows
1995 Darker MS-DOS
1995 Defcon 5 MS-DOS, PlayStation, Saturn, 3DO
1995 Destruction Derby MS-DOS, PlayStation, Saturn, Nintendo 64
1995 Diggers 2: Extractors MS-DOS
1995 Discworld MS-DOS, Mac OS, PlayStation, Saturn
1995 Guilty MS-DOS
1995 Pyrotechnica
1995 Silverload MS-DOS
1995 Wipeout PlayStation
1995 X-It
1996 Adidas Power Soccer PlayStation
1996 Assault Rigs PlayStation, Saturn, Windows
1996 Chronicles of the Sword MS-DOS, PlayStation
1996 Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors Arcade, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Network
1996 Deadline MS-DOS
1996 Destruction Derby 2 MS-DOS, Windows, PlayStation
1996 Discworld II: Mortality Bytes! MS-DOS, Windows, PlayStation, Saturn
1996 Formula 1 PlayStation, Windows
1996 Krazy Ivan PlayStation, Saturn, Windows
1996 Lemmings Paintball Windows
1996 Mickey's Wild Adventure PlayStation
1996 The Adventures of Lomax PlayStation, Windows
1996 Wipeout: 2097/Wipeout XL PlayStation
1997 Adidas Power Soccer International 97 PlayStation
1997 Alundra PlayStation
1997 Colony Wars PlayStation
1997 Ecstatica II MS-DOS, Windows
1997 Formula 1 97 PlayStation, Windows
1997 G-Police PlayStation, Windows
1997 Lifeforce Tenka PlayStation, Windows
1997 Overboard! Windows, PlayStation
1997 Professional Underground League of Pain MS-DOS, PlayStation, Windows
1997 Rosco McQueen Firefighter Extreme PlayStation
1997 Rush Hour PlayStation, Windows
1997 Sentient PlayStation, MS-DOS, Windows
1997 Shadow Master PlayStation, Windows
1997 Shipwreckers! Windows, PlayStation
1997 The City of Lost Children MS-DOS, PlayStation
1997 Thunder Truck Rally PlayStation, Windows
1998 A Bug's Life PlayStation, Windows
1998 Adidas Power Soccer 98 PlayStation, Windows
1998 Blast Radius PlayStation
1998 Colony Wars: Vengeance PlayStation
1998 Eliminator PlayStation, Windows
1998 Formula 1 98 PlayStation
1998 O.D.T. – Escape... Or Die Trying PlayStation, Windows
1998 Psybadek PlayStation
1998 Rascal PlayStation
1998 Roll Away PlayStation, Android
1998 Sentinel Returns Windows, PlayStation
1998 Spice World PlayStation
1998 Wipeout 64 Nintendo 64
1998 Zombieville
1999 3X: The Science of War
1999 Attack of the Saucerman PlayStation, Windows
1999 Destruction Derby 64 Nintendo 64
1999 Drakan: Order of the Flame Windows
1999 Eagle One: Harrier Attack PlayStation
1999 Expert Pool Windows
1999 Formula One 99 PlayStation, Windows
1999 G-Police: Weapons of Justice PlayStation
1999 Kingsley's Adventure PlayStation
1999 Lander Windows
1999 Nations: WWII Fighter Command
1999 Panzer Elite Windows
1999 Pro 18 World Tour Golf PlayStation, Windows
1999 Retro Force PlayStation
1999 Rollcage PlayStation, Windows
1999 Tellurian Defense
1999 Wipeout 3 PlayStation
2000 Colony Wars: Red Sun PlayStation
2000 Destruction Derby Raw PlayStation
2000 Formula One 2000 PlayStation, Game Boy Color
2000 Lemmings Revolution Windows
2000 Metal Fatigue Windows
2000 Muppet Monster Adventure PlayStation
2000 Muppet RaceMania PlayStation
2000 Rollcage Stage II PlayStation, Windows
2000 Team Buddies PlayStation
2000 Wipeout 3: Special Edition PlayStation

Games developed as SCE Studio Liverpool

[edit]
Game titleYear releasedPlatform(s)
Formula One 2001 2001 PlayStation 2
Wipeout Fusion 2002
Formula One 2002
Formula One 2003 2003
Formula One 04 2004
Wipeout Pure 2005 PlayStation Portable
Formula One 05 PlayStation 2
Formula One 06 2006 PlayStation 2
PlayStation Portable
Formula One Championship Edition PlayStation 3
Wipeout Pulse 2007 PlayStation 2
PlayStation Portable
Wipeout HD 2008 PlayStation 3
Wipeout HD Fury (DLC) 2009
Wipeout 2048 2012 PlayStation Vita

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 "And Your Birds Can Sing – The Legacy of Psygnosis". Retro Gamer. Imagine Publishing. 11 October 2012. pp. 22–29.
  2. ↑ "Corporate Backgrounder". Psygnosis. 26 June 1996. Archived from the original on 22 October 1996. The company has developed and published more than 100 titles since its founding in 1984
  3. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (30 November 2014). "WipEout: The rise and fall of Sony Studio Liverpool". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 29 June 2026.
  4. ↑ Brown, Nathan (22 August 2012). "Sony to close Studio Liverpool – Edge Magazine". Edge-online.com. Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  5. ↑ Crossley, Rob. "PlayStation News: Sony to axe Liverpool studio". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  6. 1 2 Yin-Poole, Wesley (22 August 2012). "Sony closes WipEout developer Sony Liverpool • News •". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on 23 August 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Filing history for PSYGNOSIS LIMITED (01039371)". company-information.service.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 18 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  8. ↑ Scullion, Chris (17 January 2022). "Sony has renewed the Psygnosis trademark and logo". VCG. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  9. ↑ "Secrets of the Imagine Megagames". Personal Computer Games. VNU. September 1984. p. 12. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  10. ↑ "The Bubble Bursts". Crash. No. 7. Newsfield. August 1984. p. 32. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "Future of the Megagames". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 33. Sunshine Publications. 16 August 1984. p. 5. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  12. ↑ Stuart Hunt. "A Life On The Ocean Wave". Retro Gamer. No. 101. pp. 53–62.
  13. ↑ "Imagine phoenix". Home Computing Weekly. No. 84. Argus Specialist Publications. 16 October 1984. p. 1. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  14. ↑ "Megagame for QL". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 41. Sunshine Publications. 11 October 1984. p. 1. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  15. ↑ "Sinclair admits to megagames". Your Computer. No. 1. IPC. January 1985. p. 45. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  16. 1 2 "Imagine Team Resurfaces". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 38. Sunshine Publications. 19 September 1985. p. 8. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  17. ↑ "PSYGNOSIS LIMITED". Companies House. UK Government. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  18. ↑ "The Making Of: Bandersnatch – Edge Magazine". Edge-online.com. 4 September 2009. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  19. ↑ "PCW Show News". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 37. Sunshine Publications. 12 September 1985. p. 11. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  20. ↑ "Psygnosis History". The Purple One. Archived from the original on 29 August 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2015. Psyclapse was actually the name of a Commodore 64 game that was never released [but] was to live on as a division of Psygnosis.
  21. ↑ "Captain Fizz Meets the Blaster-Trons (Advert)". Lemon Amiga. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  22. ↑ Lien, Tracey (14 February 2013). "The art outside the box: The story of Roger Dean". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  23. ↑ "Psygnosis Shows Barbarian for ST". Computer Entertainer. June 1987. p. 6. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  24. ↑ Hall, Lee (31 August 2012). "The Psygnosis Story: John White, director of software". Edge Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2026.
  25. ↑ Lee, Hall (28 August 2012). "The Psygnosis story: Nick Burcombe, lead designer, Wipeout". Edge Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 August 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2026.
  26. ↑ Hall, Lee (30 August 2012). "The Psygnosis Story: Tim 'Cold Storage' Wright, senior sound artist". Edge Magazine. Archived from the original on 1 September 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2026.
  27. ↑ "Video Game Reviews". VideoGames & Computer Entertainment. December 1991. p. 53. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  28. ↑ "SCE Worldwide Studios – SCE Studio Liverpool". Worldwidestudios.net. 20 February 2009. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  29. ↑ "The 7th International Computer Game Developers Conference". Computer Gaming World. July 1993. p. 34. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  30. ↑ Foster, Michael (5 March 1995). "Britain faces game drain". The Observer. p. 38. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
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