Sony Computer Entertainment has revealed that it is in the process of restructuring its Liverpool studio following "project prioritisation" by the Worldwide Studios division.
No details have been released on the number of posts affected, but GamesIndustry.biz understands that the company will look to relocate staff to other studios where possible - but that some redundancies may be necessary.
It is thought that discussions with staff have taken place today - the full public statement is as follows:
"It has been decided that production on a number of projects within Studio Liverpool will cease immediately due to project prioritisation. Our North West Studio Group has been and will continue to be a vital cog in the WWS family, with a history of producing genre defining games such as MotorStorm, WipEout, Formula 1 and WRC and this decision will have no impact of the role that the North West Studio Group will play in the future of all PlayStation platforms.
I had assumed the merger between Evolution and Sony Liverpool was primarily an issue of location/resources. They're still listed as separate entities (and thus I assume retain their own separate identities) on the SCEWWS website:
http://www.worldwidestudios.net/locations
Hell, the website didn't even go up until after the merger was announced.
The statement from Sony in the article makes it seem like it's now Sony Liverpool taking credit for the past work of either studio (possibly including BigBig as well).
Given all that's happened, I have to wonder if Evolution is still glad they were bought. They haven't exactly been treated as nicely as Sony's other recent acquisitions, Guerrilla and Zipper. Or at least that's how it looks on the surface.
