Tag: Development
News Rhianna Pratchett Packs Up Her Pick Axe and Says Farewell to Tomb Raider
Crofty exit
Rhianna Pratchett, the scribe behind Crystal Dynamics' popular Tomb Raider reboot and its more recent sequel Rise of the Tomb Raider, has decided to move on from the franchise. The writer announced the news on Twitter this evening, thanking the team for their dedication and series fans for being the "best in the world". It's unclear...
News Shenmue III Headed Towards Full-Scale Production At Last
Expect new videos early next year
Many had hoped that we'd get a glimpse of Shenmue III at PSX 2016 this month, but the show came and went without word of Yu Suzuki's long-awaited sequel. However, the former SEGA man has provided an update on the project at long last, revealing in the latest issue of Japanese mag Famitsu that the title will be...
News Media Molecule Opens Satellite Studio in Brighton
Pier we go
Media Molecule's borderline cringe working culture has culminated in the creation of a new satellite studio based in Brighton. The Guildford-based organisation has opened the new workspace in order to accommodate a group of devs who have been commuting from the seaside town for many years. While those on location will still make regular...
News DICE Explains Why Star Wars: Battlefront Had To Skip PlayStation 3
If only you knew the power of the next-gen
EA and DICE's interpretation of Star Wars: Battlefront is coming to next-gen consoles this November, totally skipping the likes of the PS3 and Xbox 360. This might prove a bitter pill to swallow for those of you that haven't yet upgraded to the PlayStation 4, but according to Star Wars: Battlefront's...
News Capcom Teases New PS4 Title That Will Turn Heads
"Sony's made a really incredible system"
It’s been a quiet generation for Capcom so far. While free-to-play dungeon crawler Deep Down was expected to be its first flagship PlayStation 4 release, the game has been delayed dozens of times, with its beta still out of sight. Fortunately, the Japanese publisher is set to pick up the pace early next...
Company doesn't want to take the Call of Duty route
When Battlefield 4 went toe-to-toe with Call of Duty: Ghosts late last year, EA's offering was found somewhat wanting. While the game's multiplayer mode was a revelation — with "emergent" gameplay and rapidly changing arenas — the title was blighted by issues which prevented players from...
News PS4 Exclusive inFAMOUS: Second Son Goes Gold
Time for a break
There's exciting news for PlayStation 4 owners, as inFAMOUS: Second Son has officially gone gold. In case you're not familiar with developer jargon, this means that the game is finally completed and is now ready for mass production. Sucker Punch's co-founder Brian Fleming confirmed the news through Twitter, stating that it's a "big...
News There Are More Developers Working on PS4 Than Any Other Console
Teacher's pet
This week just keeps getting better and better for the PlayStation 4. With Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima proclaiming that the system is the "best console" currently available and Sony revealing that it has already sold over five million units, figures have now been released that show that a whopping one-in-five developers are...
News PS4 Answers the Call of Duty with Next-Gen Focus for First-Person Property
Fighting new formats
With upstart Sledgehammer working on the umpteenth Call of Duty game, Activision executive Eric Hirshberg has shed some light on the title's development, revealing that it will be built with the PlayStation 4 in mind. Speaking with IGN, the suit said that the studio is "approaching this as next-gen first development"...
News Bethesda Issues a War Cry for 'Bleeding-Edge' PS4 RPG
Will there be any Fallout?
Last year was a rather quiet period for Bethesda, but a recent job listing for a games programmer has surfaced. The recruitment drive seeks to add new members to a "team that is pushing the bleeding-edge of role-playing game development". Alright, we're listening. With the Zenimax owned outfit set to release Wolfenstein:...
News Want More PlayStation Vita Games? Thank the Skies for Unity
Join hands in joy
The tired old sentiment that the PlayStation Vita has “no games” has long been disproved, but even more software is never a bad thing. Fortunately, the system could be about to enjoy a healthy injection in its content catalogue, as Unity has announced that the latest version in its entry-level cross-platform game development...
News Hello Games Won't Delay No Man's Sky in the Wake of Flood
Reach for the stars
Indie developer Hello Games is back up and running at "full speed" after a flood devastated the studio on Christmas Eve. Despite the ordeal, its latest game – the hugely ambitious No Man's Sky – will not see a delay. "We won't let that happen," said managing director Sean Murray. "At times recently I've wanted to be...
News Until Dawn Staying Zipped Up Until the New Year
Keeping the chill out
Supermassive Games’ frustratingly frigid PlayStation 3 exclusive Until Dawn is set to keep covered up until the New Year, studio gaffer Pete Samuels has announced. There were rumours – yet again – earlier this week that the PlayStation Move powered title had been cancelled, but apparently that’s absolutely not the case...
News Naughty Dog's Next Generation Daxter Is Pretty Terrifying
Kill it with fire
It’s no secret that The Last of Us nearly didn’t exist. Before starting work on the survival horror opus, creative director Neil Druckmann and his team considered rebooting the Jak & Daxter franchise with a realistic twist – and the early results were more terrifying than any of the horrific things that you see during...
News Don't Worry, Killzone: Shadow Fall Will Have Dedicated Servers
Smooth as a Helghast's helmet
A lot like cloud compatibility and 60 frames-per-second, dedicated servers have become a bit of a buzzword in the build up to the PlayStation 4. While plenty of PlayStation 3 titles took advantage of the preferred online networking functionality, many pondered if the same would apply to Sony’s next generation console...
Weirdness God of War Creator David Jaffe Has Finally Lost His Mind
Claims latest project is being funded by pensioner who can cure werewolves
God of War creator David Jaffe has always worn the signs of a mad genius. After all, who could forget his customary curse-laden rants or that weird Twisted Metal trailer where he started shooting a machine gun at a replica of Sweet Tooth’s famous ice cream truck – in the...
News Nolan North: PS4 Is Amazing, Is Going to Push Boundaries
Voice actor talks up Sony's next generation system
Nolan North has seen an “unbelievable” PlayStation 4 game in action. Unfortunately, the voice actor has conveniently forgotten the name of the release, leading us to believe that the title in question’s currently unannounced. The Uncharted star mentioned the mysterious release in an interview...
News Naughty Dog Just Received 120 PS4 Development Kits
You should probably be hyped
Naughty Dog definitely isn’t sitting around twiddling its thumbs. Company co-president Christophe Balestra published a picture of a big pile of boxes on his Twitter page overnight. What’s inside them? Oh, just 120 brand new PlayStation 4 development kits. We’re going to assume that the company’s not merely going...
News There Was Very Nearly a World without Grand Theft Auto in It
Like nailing jelly to kittens
While we’re all chomping at the metaphorical bit to play Grand Theft Auto V, ex-DMA Design (now Rockstar North, of course) employees have revealed that the original PSone game almost didn’t make it to market. Chatting with The Guardian, producer and creative director Gary Penn explained that the project was a mess...
News Polyphony's Yamauchi: Gran Turismo 6 Is "About 80 Percent Done"
Remember, it's supposed to be out in December
Gran Turismo 6 producer Kazunori Yamauchi has revealed to Famitsu that the PS3 racer is "80 percent" complete, despite the impending December 6th launch date. Yamauchi said: The basic components are already complete, so overall I'd have to say about 80 per cent. The physics engine, the steering...
News Sony's Secret to Indie Success: Don't Be a Jerk
Wise words
Sony has the indie development community eating out of its hand like a hedgehog hovering over a plateful of mealworms. The platform holder has turned its third-party relations around, assembling a dream team of taste-makers who have become the focal point of the brand. And during that transition, the company has learned some important...
News Don't Expect Any PS4 Specific Features in The Division Just Yet
Pure and simple
You won’t be swiping the PlayStation 4 controller’s touchpad to change weapons in Ubisoft Massive’s upcoming The Division – well, not in the current build anyway. Chatting with Official Xbox Magazine – we know – game director Ryan Bernard explained that the Swedish company is focusing its attention on parity between the...
News No Assassin's Creed on Vita This Year, But You'll Be Able to Stream from PS4
Sail the seven seas
Against all of the odds, Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation was a solid success. The decent PlayStation Vita exclusive sold very well, but sadly there’s no portable version of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag in the pipeline. That’s becaus
News Unprecedented Number of Developers Working on PS4, PS3, and Vita
"We've never seen anything like this"
As the war for developer support rages on between Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, the PlayStation maker has admitted that it’s seeing an unprecedented level of interest in its platforms. Speaking with Develop, SCEE account manager Agostino Simonetta noted that after four years in the job, the current surge of...
News Compulsion Games Scratching Its Head Over PS4's Power
Sony's system providing new challenges
While the PlayStation 3 was a beast to develop for, the PlayStation 4 is proving a much simpler option. However, the console’s horsepower is prompting some headaches among developers – as studios agonise over the best ways to employ all of the platform’s added performance. One such outfit is Compulsion...
News The Crew Designed with PS4's 'Play as You Download' Feature in Mind
Convenience content
For corridor conflicts like Call of Duty: Ghosts, the PlayStation 4’s ambitious ‘Play as You Download’ feature is unlikely to prove a problem. Developers can easily arrange data so that the first level of the campaign is pulled off the server first, followed by the second, third, and so on. But for open world games such as...
News Cerny Simulated Gameplay as an Eight-Year-Old to Aid Knack
Nutty professor
Everything that industry legend Mark Cerny has described about the PlayStation 4’s production process has been relatively orthodox thus far. The company maintained close contact with its first-party teams throughout production, collaborated with third-parties to properly understand their requirements, and kept the system’s...
News Mark Cerny: I Hope Sony's Impact Will Match Nintendo's In Years To Come
PS4 system architect talks at Gamelab
PS4 system architect Mark Cerny has revealed his hope that in years to come, Sony's status within the games industry will match that of rival Nintendo. Speaking at Gamelab in Barcelona, Cerny said: I have a great friend who lives in Kyoto in the eastern part of Japan. He runs a developer there and he's worked...
News LittleBigPlanet PS Vita Dev Signs Agreement With PixelJunk Studio Q-Games
More details to come later
LittleBigPlanet PS Vita developer Double Eleven has signed an publishing agreement with PixelJunk creator Q-Games. Double Eleven recently ended its exclusivity deal with Sony, and has since moved into publishing, with Limbo and Frozen Synapse being two games it has helped bring to market. Here's what Dylan Cuthbert,...
E3 2013 More Than 500 Developers Are Working on the PS4
Chomping at the bit
If you were worried that the PlayStation 4 could fall victim to a pesky software drought, we reckon that it’s probably best if you put those concerns to the back of your mind. An updated press release published by Sony has revealed that a whopping 505 developers are currently actively producing or planning content for the next...
Feature Five Movies That Would Make Great PlayStation Games
Pull out the popcorn
Films and games are two incredibly similar mediums that often overlap. Sometimes, this results in incredibly lacklustre movie adaptations, such as the Hitman flick, or rushed releases like Transformers: Dark of the Moon. However, that's not to say that some properties don't have the potential to make excellent PlayStation games...
News Sony Santa Monica Pitched the PlayStation 4's Share Button
Everything's better with friends
You may know first-party powerhouse Sony Santa Monica best for creating the God of War games, but Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida has revealed that the developer also played a pivotal role in one of the PlayStation 4’s most important features: the Share button. Chatting candidly with EDGE magazine, the...
News So, God of War: Ascension Supposedly Cost $50 Million to Make
Money, money, money
If you assumed that God of War: Ascension was a cheap, easy-to-make spin-off, then you were dead wrong. According to a translated interview with 20Mituten, lead producer Whitney Wade has hinted that the prequel had a budget somewhere in the region of $50 million. That’s a colossal sum, almost on par with its chief antagonist,...
News Retro City Rampage Creator Planning New Project for PlayStation Vita
Specifics under lock and key
Retro City Rampage creator Brian Provinciano has been particularly complimentary of Sony’s strategy with the PlayStation Vita over the past few months. Writing on Twitter earlier in the year, the one-man development shop encouraged indie outfits to work on the platform, after the portable version of his Grand Theft...
News Warrior's Lair Designer: Sony's Internal Studios Never Had Much Faith in the Vita
Ex-Idol Minds employee spills the beans on troubled exclusive
Do any of you remember Warrior’s Lair? The PlayStation 3 and Vita dungeon crawler – originally revealed as Ruin – made a big splash during the platform holder’s E3 press conference way back in 2011, primarily due to its first real hint at the potential of cross-save. However,...
News FuturLab: Sony Has Had Its Passions Stoked to Blast Furnace Temperature
The people behind PlayStation are fired up
We apologise for continually bleating on about it, but Sony has changed. There’s a marked adjustment in attitude exuding the company that was once deemed anachronistic and arrogant, and that bodes well for the PlayStation 4 as last week’s Games Developers Conference proved. The firm’s positive...
News BlazBlue Producer Planning New Fighting Game Franchise for PS4
Rebel two
Fans of outrageous sprites may be excited to learn that Arc System Works is hoping to create a brand new fighting game franchise for the PlayStation 4. According to Shoryuken’s translation of Dengeki’s interview with BlazBlue series producer Toshimichi Mori, the company has nothing to show yet, but is itching to start production on...
News Beyond: Two Souls Didn't Cost As Much to Develop As You Think
Just a little bit more than Heavy Rain
When you spend twelve months filming with Hollywood actors Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe, you’d think that your game’s budget would be through the roof. But according to Quantic Dream’s head honcho David Cage, the upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive Beyond: Two Souls didn’t actually cost that much money to...
News Killzone: Shadow Fall's Single Player Component Is Finished
Guerrilla Games is piling on the polish
Killzone: Shadow Fall’s single player campaign has been playable from start to finish for a “couple of months”, game director Steven ter Heide has revealed. Writing on Twitter earlier this morning, the Guerrilla Games employee stated that he was taking advantage of the quiet time in the office to play...
Talking Point Are 'Game Over' Screens a Relic Best Left in the Past?
Try again
The threat of failure in games is a foundation that’s existed as long as the industry itself. Ever since the days of Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and more, the idea that you can ‘lose’ at a title is something that we’ve come to expect. But while this mechanic was originally conceived as a means to conclude sessions and ultimately...
News Bitsquid Engine Support Expanded to PlayStation 4
Using its many limbs to reach into the next generation
The engine behind PlayStation Network puzzler Hamilton’s Great Adventure is extending its reach to the PlayStation 4. Bitsquid has confirmed that its multiplatform development suite will be compatible with Sony’s impending next generation system, promising a flexible production environment...
News Expect Particle Effects to Look Even Prettier with PhysX on PS4
Reality just got a lot blander
Nvidia’s luridly named PhysX technology will bring realistic physics to the PlayStation 4, the graphics company has announced. Developers will be able to utilise new software development kits on Sony’s next generation system, which in turn will result in more life-like destruction, character models, and clothing...
News Sony: There's Still Plenty of 'Highly Significant' Titles in Development for PS3
Life in the old dog yet
Despite the recent announcement of the PlayStation 4, Sony has insisted that there’s still plenty in the pipeline for the PlayStation 3. Chatting with the PlayStation Blog, SCEE president Jim Ryan insisted that the manufacturer’s current platform will remain an important part of the company’s output for the foreseeable...
News Sony's Entire Suite of First-Party Studios Are Working on PS4
Twelve teams hard at work on Sony's next generation machine
There’s been no shortage of exclusive content on the PlayStation 3, but it looks like Sony’s aiming to maintain its impressive output on the PlayStation 4. Chatting with IGN, Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida has insinuated that all twelve studios in Sony’s stable are...
News Just What Has Happened to The Last Guardian?
Different day, same old questions
The Last Guardian, The Last Guardian, wherefore art thou, The Last Guardian? We fully expected Team ICO’s hotly anticipated – but oft delayed – adventure to re-emerge during Sony’s big PlayStation 4 blowout this week, but once again, Fumito Ueda’s giant catbird was nowhere to be seen. We didn’t e
News Guerrilla: PS4 Development Isn't As Expensive As You Think
Phew
With studios folding by the dozen due to the weight of increasing development budgets, many analysts have questioned how teams will survive the transition to the impending next generation. However, chatting with Gamasutra immediately after last night’s Killzone: Shadow Fall reveal, Guerrilla Games’ managing director Herman Hulst has...
News What Does Uncharted's Tenzin Have in Common with The Last of Us' Ellie?
Connected over a curry
Tenzin was one of the more interesting characters from Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The Tibetan explorer couldn't speak a word of English, making his relationship with protagonist Nathan Drake pretty unique. However, according to an excellent feature on GameSpot, the character was originally conceived as a mute female, who...
News Starbreeze Starts a Storm with New Co-Op Shooter
Stockholm syndrome
Starbreeze, the Swedish studio behind the solid Syndicate, has revealed a few scant details about its upcoming co-op shooter, Storm. The sci-fi title – which doesn’t have any platforms attached to it – is currently in development, and is described as "our future". It's unclear whether that's a tagline, or the company being...
News Sony Bend on the Struggles of Creating a Convincing Female Lead for Golden Abyss
Elena job
For as interesting as Nathan Drake is, the protagonist has always relied on strong female characters to properly etch out his personality. According to a recent post-mortem with Gamasutra, that’s one area where Uncharted: Golden Abyss developer Sony Bend struggled. The game’s writer and director John Garvin has revealed that female...
News PlayStation All-Stars Started Life as a Capture the Flag Game
Lost the lead
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale wasn’t always a fighting game. Chatting with Siliconera, lead designer Omar Kendall revealed that the mascot mash-up went through a number of prototypes before settling on the final format that you see today. “There were all sorts of little gameplay demos and prototypes,” Kendall recalled,...
