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Psygnosis Limited
FormerlyPsygnosis (1984–1999)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded1984; 40 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 (/sɪɡˈnəʊ.sɪs/; 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 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 as well as games developed by external companies like the Lemmings and Shadow of the Beast series.

Reports of Studio Liverpool's closure surfaced on 22 August 2012, with Edge quoting staff tweets.[3] Staff members were told the news by Michael Denny, vice president of Sony Worldwide Studios Europe.[4] Sony said that the Liverpool site would remain in operation, as it was still home to many Sony Departments.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]

History

[edit]

The Psyclapse name was used on some early releases.

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,[8][9] attempted to acquire the assets of the failing company but this was unsuccessful and the remains of Imagine, including their much-hyped but never completed "megagames", were sold by the receivers.[10] While the name and trademarks were bought by Ocean Software,[11] 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.[12][13][14]

Sinclair withdrew funding from Fire Iron in early 1985[15] and Psygnosis, which became a limited company under United Kingdom company law in July 1985,[16] launched their first title Brataccas, which featured many of the concepts originally intended for Bandersnatch,[17] at the 1985 Personal Computer World show in September.[15][18]

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,[19] such as Ballistix and Captain Fizz Meets The Blaster-Trons.[20]

The box artwork was very distinctive with a black background and fantasy artwork by Roger Dean[21] 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.

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.

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. 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".

In 1993 the company was acquired by Sony Electronic Publishing.[22][23] The acquisition cost Sony £20 million.[24] 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.[25][26] 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.[27]

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 them 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.[28]

As Psygnosis expanded after the Sony buyout, another satellite office was opened in Century Building with later offices opening in Stroud, London, Chester, Paris, Germany, and Foster City in California (as the Customer Support & Marketing with software development done in San Francisco), now the home of Sony Computer Entertainment America. The company headquarters has resided at Wavertree Technology Park since 1995.

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.[29] Among the titles created at Stroud are Overboard! and G-Police.[29] 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.

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,[30] including the Sega Saturn[31][32] and the Nintendo 64.[33] This caused friction between Psygnosis and Sony, and in 1996 Sony engaged SBC Warburg's services in finding a buyer for Psygnosis.[34][35] However, though bids reportedly went as high as $300 million (more than ten times what Sony paid for the company just three years before),[36] 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.[37] Shortly after, Psygnosis took over distribution of its own titles, a task that Sony had been handling following the buyout.[38]

Studio Camden

[edit]

Psygnosis had a subsidiary studio at Camden Town which developed Blast Radius, Kingsley's Adventure and Team Buddies.[39] It was moved to Sony as a separate studio named SCE Studio Camden and released Dropship: United Peace Force before being merged with Team Soho into London Studio.[40]

As Studio Liverpool

[edit]
The SCE Studio Liverpool logo

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.[41] To reflect this, in 2000, the Psygnosis brand was dropped in favour of SCE Studio Liverpool.

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. 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 they 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 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.[42] In 2007, a copy of Manhunt 2 was leaked online prior to its release by an employee from the Sony Europe Liverpool office.[43]

On 29 January 2010, Sony made a public statement on its restructuring of Studio Liverpool.[44] 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 World Wide Studios and SCEE Departments.[5]

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.[45]

Spin-off studios

[edit]

In 2013 a number of former Studio Liverpool employees formed two new studios: Firesprite[46] which worked on the visuals of The Playroom for the PlayStation 4,[47] and Playrise Digital who had success with their Table Top Racing games. In September 2021, Sony acquired Firesprite.[48]

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!.[49]

Games

[edit]

Games developed or published as Psygnosis

[edit]
Year Name Platforms
1995 3D Lemmings MS-DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn
1995 3D Lemmings Winterland MS-DOS
1994 3 Ninjas Kick Back Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
1999 3X: The Science of War
1996 Adidas Power Soccer PlayStation
1998 A Bug's Life PlayStation, Microsoft Windows
1997 Adidas Power Soccer International 97 PlayStation
1998 Adidas Power Soccer 98 PlayStation, Microsoft Windows
1992 Agony Amiga
1992 Air Support Amiga, Atari ST
1995 All New World of Lemmings Amiga, MS-DOS
1997 Alundra PlayStation
1991 Amnios Amiga
1990 Anarchy Amiga, Atari ST
1992 Aquaventura
1991 Armour-Geddon Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS
1994 Armour-Geddon 2: Codename Hellfire Amiga
1996 Assault Rigs PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Windows
1990 Atomino Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS
1999 Attack of the Saucerman PlayStation, Windows
1990 Awesome Amiga, Atari ST, FM Towns
1988 Baal Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS
1989 Ballistix Acorn Electron, Amiga, Atari ST, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, TurboGrafx-16
1987 Barbarian Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum
1991 Barbarian II Amiga 500, Atari ST
1994 Benefactor Amiga, Amiga CD32
1992 Bill's Tomato Game Amiga, Atari ST
1998 Blast Radius PlayStation
1989 Blood Money Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS
1995 Blue Ice Windows
1993 Bob's Bad Day Amiga
1993 Bram Stoker's Dracula NES, Super NES, Game Boy, Game Gear, Master System, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega CD/Mega-CD, Amiga, MS-DOS
1985[15][17] Brataccas Amiga, Atari ST, Mac
1994 Brian the Lion Amiga
1992 The Carl Lewis Challenge
1988 Captain Fizz Meets The Blaster-Trons
1990 Carthage Amiga, Atari ST
1991 Christmas Lemmings
1996 Chronicles of the Sword MS-DOS, PlayStation
1988 Chrono Quest Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS
1997 Colony Wars PlayStation
1998 Colony Wars: Vengeance PlayStation
2000 Colony Wars: Red Sun PlayStation
1993 Combat Air Patrol Amiga, MS-DOS
1993 Creepers MS-DOS
1992 Cytron Amiga
1995 Darker MS-DOS
1996 Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors Arcade, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Network
1992 Daughter of Serpents MS-DOS
1996 Deadline
1986 Deep Space
1995 Defcon 5 MS-DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, 3DO
1995 Destruction Derby MS-DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64
1996 Destruction Derby 2 MS-DOS, Windows, PlayStation
1999 Destruction Derby 64 Nintendo 64
2000 Destruction Derby Raw PlayStation
1995 Diggers 2: Extractors MS-DOS
1995 Discworld MS-DOS, Mac OS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn
1996 Discworld II: Mortality Bytes! MS-DOS, Windows, PlayStation, Sega Saturn
1999 Drakan: Order of the Flame Windows
1999 Eagle One: Harrier Attack PlayStation
1994 Ecstatica MS-DOS
1997 Ecstatica II MS-DOS, Windows
1998 Eliminator PlayStation, Windows
1999 Expert Pool Windows
1996 Formula 1 PlayStation, Windows
1997 Formula 1 97 PlayStation, Windows
1998 Formula 1 98 PlayStation
1999 Formula One 99 PlayStation, Windows
2000 Formula One 2000 PlayStation, Game Boy Color
1997 G-Police PlayStation, Windows
1999 G-Police: Weapons of Justice PlayStation
1993 Global Domination MS-DOS, Amiga
1993 Globdule Amiga
1995 Guilty MS-DOS
1994 Hardcore (cancelled) Amiga, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
1994 Hexx: Heresy of the Wizard MS-DOS
1993 Hired Guns Amiga, MS-DOS
1990 Infestation Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, FM Towns
1993 Innocent Until Caught Amiga, MS-DOS
1990 The Killing Game Show Amiga, Atari ST, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
1999 Kingsley's Adventure PlayStation
1996 Krazy Ivan PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Windows
1999 Lander Windows
1993 Last Action Hero NES, Super NES, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Game Boy, Game Gear, Amiga, MS-DOS
1991 Leander Amiga, Atari ST, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
1991 Lemmings Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum, Amiga CDTV, Super NES, Acorn Archimedes, NES, Sharp X68000, PC-98, TurboGrafx-CD, Atari Lynx, Master System, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Amstrad CPC, Sam Coupé, Commodore 64, Amiga CD32, Philips CD-i, Game Gear, Game Boy, 3DO, Windows 95, Apple Macintosh, PlayStation, Game Boy Color, Sony PSP, Sony PS3[50]
1993 Lemmings 2: The Tribes Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Super NES, Game Boy, Acorn Archimedes, FM Towns
1996 Lemmings Paintball Windows
2000 Lemmings Revolution Windows
1997 Lifeforce Tenka PlayStation, Windows
1994 Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Super NES, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega CD/Mega-CD
1990 Matrix Marauders Amiga, Atari ST
1988 Menace Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS
2000 Metal Fatigue Windows
1996 Mickey's Wild Adventure PlayStation
1993 Microcosm FM Towns, Sega CD/Mega-CD, 3DO, Amiga CD32, MS-DOS
2000 Muppet Monster Adventure PlayStation
2000 Muppet RaceMania PlayStation
1994 Misadventures of Flink CD32, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega CD/Mega-CD
1999 Nations: WWII Fighter Command
1989 Nevermind Amiga
1990 Nitro Amiga, Atari ST
1994 Novastorm PlayStation, MS-DOS, FM-Towns, 3DO, Sega CD/Mega-CD
1994 No Escape Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
1998 O.D.T. – Escape... Or Die Trying PlayStation, Windows
1991 Obitus Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Super NES
1988 Obliterator Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum
1991 Oh No! More Lemmings Amiga, MS-DOS, Atari ST, SAM Coupé, Apple Macintosh, Acorn Archimedes
1991 Ork Amiga, Atari ST
1997 Overboard! Microsoft Windows, PlayStation
1999 Panzer Elite Windows
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)
1999 Pro 18 World Tour Golf PlayStation, Windows
1997 Professional Underground League of Pain MS-DOS, PlayStation, Windows
1998 Psybadek PlayStation
1993 Puggsy Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega CD/Mega-CD, Amiga
1995 Pyrotechnica
1998 Rascal PlayStation
1992 Red Zone Amiga
1999 Retro Force PlayStation
1998 Roll Away PlayStation, Android
1999 Rollcage PlayStation, Windows
2000 Rollcage Stage II PlayStation, Windows
1997 Rosco McQueen Firefighter Extreme PlayStation
1997 Rush Hour PlayStation, Microsoft Windows
1994 Second Samurai Mega Drive, Amiga
1997 Sentient PlayStation, MS-DOS, Windows
1998 Sentinel Returns Windows, PlayStation
1997 Shadow Master PlayStation, Windows
1989 Shadow of the Beast Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
1990 Shadow of the Beast II Amiga, Atari ST, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
1992 Shadow of the Beast III Amiga
1995 Silverload MS-DOS
1997 Shipwreckers! Microsoft Windows, PlayStation
1998 Spice World PlayStation
1990 Stryx
2000 Team Buddies PlayStation
1999 Tellurian Defense
1987 Terrorpods Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, MSX
1996 Adventures of Lomax, TheThe Adventures of Lomax PlayStation, Windows
1997 The City of Lost Children MS-DOS, PlayStation
1993 Theatre of Death
1997 Thunder Truck Rally PlayStation, Windows
1995 Toy Story Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Super NES
1996 Microsoft Windows
1999 Urban Assault (cancelled) PlayStation
1993 Walker Amiga
1995 Wipeout PlayStation
1998 Wipeout 64 Nintendo 64
1996 Wipeout: 2097/Wipeout XL PlayStation
1999 Wipeout 3 PlayStation
2000 Wipeout 3: Special Edition PlayStation
1993 Wiz 'n' Liz: The Frantic Wabbit Wescue Amiga, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
1995 X-It
1998 Zombieville

Games developed as SCE Studio Liverpool

[edit]
Game title Year released Platform(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]
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  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
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