http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/06/wipeout-creators-form-new-studio
Former senior members of the legendary Psygnosis and Sony Liverpool studios have set up a new team, Firesprite, to work on innovative console and smartphone titles
In August 2012, Sony shut its famed Liverpool studio – formerly known as Psygnosis – putting an end to a legacy of game development that stretched back to the era of the Commodore Amiga. This was the team that created iconic PlayStation launch title WipEout, the stylish sci-fi racer that, with its Designers Republic iconography and licensed dance music soundtrack, epitomised the console's youth culture credentials.
Now that spirit looks set to be revived. Five senior ex-Sony Liverpool staff members are today announcing a new studio, Firesprite, which is already working on a new title, seemingly for multiple platforms. Sony Liverpool studio director Graeme Ankers is at the helm, joined by veteran art director Lee Carus, technical director, Chris Roberts, programming director Dr Stuart Lovegrove and game director Stuart Tilley – all of whom had pivotal roles in the creation of such Psygnosis classics as WipEout, G-Police and Colony Wars.
"After everything that happened we just sort of got together again," says Ankers. "We were all pretty close anyway. Five of us looked back and realised what we'd schieved over the last two decades, even back as far as Psygnosis. We'd been involved with hardware launches from PlayStation One onwards with things like WipEout. We had such a dynamic team. In the games business if you can make great experiences, that's what it's all about. So we thought, let's start something together and make games that are new and fresh, but which have a strong DNA of what we'd done in the past.
"At first we met in the bars and cafes around Liverpool and started out in someone's flat. We had all that experience, we'd done so much over the years, and had been such a part of the development scene in the North West. I mean, WipEout could only have been made in this area at that time. We just thought, let's stay together and see what we can do."
PlayRoom partners
Based in the centre of Liverpool, Firesprite now has 20 staff, all but four of whom come from Sony Liverpool. And the team has already shipped a product – using their contacts at Sony, they snagged a collaborative role with Sony Japan to produce the free PlayStation 4 launch app, The PlayRoom. "We developed the visual side, all the AR bots as well as the world and the menus," says Ankers. "It was a unique relationship really. We had really strong ideas of what PlayRoom should be and we worked almost as one team with Sony in Japan".
The studio is now working on a new game, which Ankers implies is for the new consoles, as well as smartphone. "We're working hard creating a new engine and tool chain," he says. "We want to get the power into the hands of the artists and designers. We want to deliver new types of experiences, on new platforms. We want our games to have a technical edge to them. We want to do things first."
No other details have been released, but it's interesting that the studio's logo retains the look, feel and Japanese character set of the old Designers Republic work that once adorned all of Studio Liverpool's releases. It could almost be one of the WipEout racing teams. Does this mean we can expect titles like WipEout and G-Police, games with a highly-stylised futuristic sheen? "The PlayRoom allowed us to re-capture that slightly out-there sci-fi feel," says Ankers. "The look of the future is something we've always captured really well and it's something we like doing. That's definitely a part of it."
There will be more details on Firesprite's next game early next year. For now, Ankers and his colleague are growing the studio and looking to help re-energise game development in the area, which also saw the closure of fellow veteran Bizarre Creations in 2012.
"The North West has a strong history in development," he says. "There was Ocean, Studio Liverpool and Bizarre. But now there's lots of cool new stuff in the area that hasn't been announced. There is a lot of opportunity on mobile on the new consoles and the North West is full of people who have made some cracking games. There are studios and teams forming. It's early, but there are some exciting things coming through."
