Cuts Expected Across Sony Projects

Develop are reporting that jobs are “on the line” over at Sony, with redundancies expected from Sony Liverpool, Sony London, and Evolution Studios, developers of MotorStorm Apocalypse.

Apparently it’s all part of a restructuring process, with currently unannounced projects streamlined or cut.  “It has been decided that production on a small number of projects within London Studio, Studio Liverpool, and Evolution Studios will be streamlined or closed due to a portfolio review and project prioritisation,” Develop heard from Sony.

Guildford-based Media Molecule won’t be affected, but it’s not known how many staff across the three studios will lose their jobs.

“The affected first party studios have been, and will continue to be, vital assets within the WWS family, and have a history of producing genre-defining games such as MotorStorm, WipEout, SingStar and EyePet,” Sony said.  “This decision will have no impact on the role that our first party studios will play in the future of all PlayStation platforms.”

A source close to the coal-face has told us that a certain Move title is almost certainly a casualty of the reorganisation, with further development now ceased despite the game being far into its development cycle.

We wish everyone affected the best of luck in these difficult times.