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Psygnosis Limited (known as SCE Studio Liverpool or simply Studio Liverpool from 1999) was a British
video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...
and
publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
headquartered at
Wavertree Technology Park Wavertree Technology Park is a technology park in the Wavertree area of Liverpool, England between the city centre and the M62 motorway. It comprises single storey parades of pavilion-style office units. The park is served by Wavertree Technolo ...
in
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. Founded in 1984 by
Ian Hetherington Ian Hetherington (June 1952 – 14 December 2021) was a British businessman who co-founded computer games developer Psygnosis. Biography He was a co-founder of Psygnosis, a company that developed computer games. Along with Jonathan Ellis, Hether ...
, Jonathan Ellis, and David Lawson, the company initially became known for well-received games on the
Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...
and Commodore Amiga. In 1993, it became a wholly owned
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and began developing games for the original
PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
. It later became a part of
SCE Worldwide Studios PlayStation Studios (formerly SCE Worldwide Studios and SIE Worldwide Studios) is a division of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) that oversees the video game development at the studios owned by SIE. The division was established as SCE Wo ...
. The company was the oldest and second largest development house within SCE's European stable of developers, and became best known for franchises such as ''
Lemmings A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also include ...
'', '' Wipeout'', ''
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
'', and '' Colony Wars''. Reports of Studio Liverpool's closure surfaced on 22 August 2012, with '' Edge'' quoting staff tweets. Staff members were told the news by Michael Denny, vice president of Sony Worldwide Studios Europe. Sony said that the Liverpool site would remain in operation, as it was still home to many Sony Departments. 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. 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.


History


As Psygnosis

Psygnosis was the eventual successor of the defunct 8-bit software house
Imagine Software Imagine Software was a British video games developer based in Liverpool which existed briefly in the early 1980s, initially producing software for the ZX Spectrum and VIC-20. The company rose quickly to prominence and was noted for its polished, ...
, where Lawson was one of the founders and Hetherington was financial director. Finchspeed, a company created by the directors, 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. While the name and trademarks were bought by Ocean Software, 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. Sinclair withdrew funding from Fire Iron in early 1985 and Psygnosis, which became a
limited company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...
under United Kingdom company law in July 1985, launched their first title ''
Brataccas ''Brataccas'' is a science fiction action-adventure game released in 1985 for the Amiga, Atari ST, and Macintosh. It was the first game published by Psygnosis. ''Brataccas'' is built on the remains of the much-hyped vaporware project ''Bandersnatc ...
'', which featured many of the concepts originally intended for ''Bandersnatch'', at the 1985 Personal Computer World show in September. 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, such as ''
Ballistix ''Ballistix'' is a video game created by Martin Edmondson for the Amiga and Atari ST and published by Psyclapse in 1989. It was also converted to a number of other home computers in the same year and the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 console in 1991. ...
'' and ''Captain Fizz Meets The Blaster-Trons''. The box artwork was very distinctive with a black background and fantasy artwork by Roger Dean 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 computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...
, 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 ''Obliterator'' is a side-scrolling arcade adventure computer game published by Psygnosis in 1988. It was released for Amiga, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also k ...
'', 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 Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and soft ...
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 Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...
and
Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...
, 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 Parallax scrolling is a technique in computer graphics where background images move past the camera more slowly than foreground images, creating an illusion of depth in a 2D scene of distance. The technique grew out of the multiplane camera tec ...
and
music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
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 A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also include ...
'' 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 Microcosm or macrocosm, also spelled mikrokosmos or makrokosmos, may refer to: Philosophy * Microcosm–macrocosm analogy, the view according to which there is a structural similarity between the human being and the cosmos Music * Macrocosm (alb ...
'', a game that appeared on the
FM Towns The is a Japanese personal computer, built by Fujitsu from February 1989 to the summer of 1997. It started as a proprietary PC variant intended for multimedia applications and PC games, but later became more compatible with IBM PC compatibles. ...
, Amiga CD32, and 3DO furthered the company's reputation for games with excellent graphics but limited and poorly designed gameplay. Psygnosis also created the "Face-Off" games in the
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
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. The acquisition cost Sony £20 million. In preparation for the September 1995 introduction of Sony's
PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
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. 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. 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 SN Systems is a provider of Windows based development tools for games consoles, including the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation, PlayStation Vita, and PSP. The company had provided tools for the Atari ST, Am ...
, 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. As Psygnosis expanded after the Sony buyout, another satellite office was opened in Century Building with later offices opening in
Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the Five ...
, 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 MicroProse is an American video game publisher and video game developer, developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the ''Civilization (series), Civilizatio ...
employees. Staff grew from initially about 50 to about 70 in 1997. Among the titles created at Stroud are ''
Overboard! ''Overboard!'' (''Shipwreckers!'' in North America) is a top-down adventure game, released by Psygnosis for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows in October 1997. It employs a light-hearted, all-ages piratical theme. A relatively low-key release ...
'' and '' G-Police''. The Wheelhouse—its publishing name—was closed in 2000 as part of the Sony Computer Entertainment takeover of Psygnosis. Some members joined
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
-based
Rage Software Rage Games (formerly Rage Software) was a British video game developer. Formed in Liverpool in 1992, its video games were marked by an emphasis on graphical effects with arcade gameplay. Rage's first title '' Striker'' sold more than one mil ...
, 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, including the
Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...
and the Nintendo 64. This caused friction between Psygnosis and Sony, and in 1996 Sony engaged
SBC Warburg S. G. Warburg & Co. was a London-based investment bank. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The firm was acquired by the Swiss Bank Corporation in 1995 and ultimately became a part of UBS. ...
's services in finding a buyer for Psygnosis. However, though bids reportedly went as high as $300 million (more than ten times what Sony paid for the company just three years before), 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. Shortly after, Psygnosis took over distribution of its own titles, a task that Sony had been handling following the buyout.


As Studio Liverpool

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. 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 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
, and the first entry in the ''
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
'' 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 The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...
and
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
. However, Sony Computer Entertainment's exclusive licence with the
Formula One Group The Formula One Group is a group of companies responsible for the Promotion (marketing), promotion of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula One World Championship, and the exercising of the sport's commercial rights. The ...
expired, without renewal, before the 2007 season, marking the end of any further ''
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
'' series instalments from the developer. Studio Liverpool also created ''
Wipeout Fusion ''Wipeout Fusion'' (stylised as ''wipEout fusion'') is a futuristic racing video game developed by Studio Liverpool and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It is the fifth instalment in the ''Wipeout'' series and was ...
'', the first of two instalments of the series on the PlayStation 2, released in 2002. Next they developed ''
Wipeout Pure ''Wipeout Pure'' (stylised as ''wipE′out pu″rE'') is a futuristic racing video game developed by Studio Liverpool and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable. It was released in 2005 on 24 March for North America ...
'' 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 __NOTOC__ Wipe out or wipeout may refer to: Media Music * "Wipe Out" (instrumental), a 1963 hit surf-rock song by The Surfaris ** ''Wipe Out'' (album), the 1963 album containing the song Television * ''Wipeout'' (1988 game show), an American t ...
'', a downloadable title for the PlayStation 3's
PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...
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. In 2007, a copy of '' Manhunt 2'' was leaked online prior to its release by an employee from the Sony Europe Liverpool office. On 29 January 2010, Sony made a public statement. 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.
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...
was told by an unnamed source that, at the time of its closure, Studio Liverpool was working on two
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
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 ''Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell'' is a series of stealth action-adventure video games, the first of which was released in 2002, and their tie-in novels that were endorsed by Tom Clancy. The series follows Sam Fisher, a highly trained agent of a ...
''.


Spin-off studios

In 2013 a number of former Studio Liverpool employees formed two new studios:
Firesprite Firesprite is a British video game developer formed in 2012 by former members of the Studio Liverpool based in Liverpool. History Firesprite was founded in 2012 by Graeme Ankers as Managing Director, Lee Carus as Art Director, Chris Roberts as ...
which worked on the visuals of '' The Playroom'' for the
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
, and Playrise Digital who had success with their ''Table Top Racing'' games. In September 2021, Sony acquired Firesprite.


XDev

XDev PlayStation Studios (formerly SCE Worldwide Studios and SIE Worldwide Studios) is a division of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) that oversees the video game development at the studios owned by SIE. The division was established as SCE Wor ...
, 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 Ajax () or Aias (; grc, Αἴας, Aíās , ''Aíantos''; archaic ) is a Greek mythological hero, the son of King Telamon and Periboea, and the half-brother of Teucer. He plays an important role, and is portrayed as a towering figure an ...
awards for ''
LittleBigPlanet ''LittleBigPlanet'' (stylized as ''LittleBIGPlanet''; abbreviated ''LBP'') is a puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in the series ...
'', 3 BAFTA awards for the '' Buzz!'' series and Develop Industry Excellence Awards for ''
MotorStorm ''MotorStorm'' is a racing video game series developed by Evolution Studios, BigBig Studios, Virtuos and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The titles were off-road racing games featuring different types of vehicles with their own streng ...
'' and ''Buzz!''.


Games


Games developed or published as Psygnosis


Games developed as SCE Studio Liverpool


See also

*
London Studio London Studio is a British video game developer based in London. Founded in 2002, it is a first-party studio for PlayStation Studios. The studio was most known for developing the '' SingStar'' series, as well as games for PlayStation's extern ...
*
Guerrilla Cambridge Guerrilla Cambridge (formerly SCE Studio Cambridge) was a British video game developer based in Cambridge, England. The studio was founded under Sony Computer Entertainment in July 1997 through the buyout of the game development division of Cyb ...
* Evolution Studios *
Bigbig Studios Bigbig Studios was a British video game developer based in Leamington Spa, England. It was founded in 2001 by a core team of four former Codemasters employees. The company was set up with the help of parent company Evolution Studios. Bigbig Stu ...
* Tim Wright


References


External links

* * {{Authority control 1984 establishments in England 1993 mergers and acquisitions 2012 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 2012 British companies established in 1984 Defunct companies based in Liverpool Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom PlayStation Studios Video game companies disestablished in 2012 Video game companies established in 1984 Video game development companies Video game publishers British subsidiaries of foreign companies