Tag: Firesprite
News Horizon: Call of the Mountain PSVR2 Director Made Redundant by Dev Firesprite
"Its been a tough time over the past few months"
After almost seven years at the studio, Alex Barnes, director of PSVR2 spinoff Horizon: Call of the Mountain, has been made redundant by Liverpoool-based developer Firesprite. In March, a report from Eurogamer alleged that a toxic work culture had been allowed to develop at the PlayStation f
News Sony Studio Firesprite Accused of Alleged Toxic Culture in Exposé
"Death by a thousand cuts"
It sounds like all is not well at Sony studio Firesprite, which the platform holder acquired in 2021. Despite moving into expensive new digs in its home city of Liverpool, a Eurogamer report paints an extremely grim picture of the outfit, which is allegedly bleeding staff and lost its managing director Graeme Ankers...
News First-Party Firesprite's Dark PS5 Horror Could Be Due in 2025
Edited resume alludes to target release date
Firesprite’s long-rumoured dark horror PS5 exclusive could launch in 2025, according to the resume of a former employee. The information on concept artist Agnes Hvalstad’s Art Station page has since changed, but the Internet never sleeps, and ResetEra captured screenshots of the information prior to...
News PlayStation Developer Firesprite Has Moved to a New Studio, and It Looks Expensive
The swankiest place in Liverpool
It turns out you're not allowed to be part of PlayStation Studios unless you have a really cool office space. The latest member of Sony's first-party group to move into some swanky new digs is Firesprite, PlayStation's largest UK-based team. We can see the brand new studio in an update on its website, and it looks...
News Get to Know PS Studio Firesprite in New Developer Profile Video
In the spotlight
One of the newest additions to Sony's PS Studios group is Firesprite. The developer is PlayStation's largest first-party studio in the UK, easily dwarfing Media Molecule and London Studio, but we still haven't learned a huge amount about it. That's where this new video, which aims to profile the 10-year-old studio, comes in. As...
News Sony Studio Firesprite Lets Colossal Liverpool Office
It's over 20 times larger than its current premises
Sony first-party studio Firesprite is moving to a new office – and an absolutely gigantic one at that. The team, which currently occupies the roughly ~2,000 square foot Vanilla Factory, is moving to the former Bibby Line headquarters in Liverpool, UK’s Ropewalks district – and it’s taking...
Review The Persistence (PS4) - Virtual Reality Roguelike Is Sensationally Unsettling
Space race
Republished on Wednesday, 28th October, 2021: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of November 2021's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. The Persistence is a perfect name. Yes, it relates to some sci-fi mumbo-jumbo buried at the very core of the game’s lore, but really it...
News Sony's Biggest UK Studio, Firesprite, Has Just Made an Acquisition of Its Own
Fabrik Games folded into Sony's largest UK team
PlayStation Studios has grown quite a lot this year, with some notable acquisitions bolstering Sony's first-party lineup of developers. The most recent of these is Firesprite, a Liverpool-based studio that's already bigger than Sony's other UK teams combined. It's set to get even bigger, though; the...
News New Sony Team Firesprite Is Bigger Than Media Molecule, London Studio Combined
Liverpool studio is bigger than you think
Sony’s acquisition of The Persistence developer Firesprite this week certainly came as a surprise, but perhaps the even bigger shocker is the sheer scale of the team: totalling 250 employees, it’s actually larger in headcount than the platform holder’s two other UK-based first-party studios, Media...
News Firesprite Will Produce PlayStation Exclusive Games Outside Sony's 'Core Offerings'
Newly acquired studio working on unique projects
In case you've somehow missed the news, Sony Interactive Entertainment has just added Firesprite to its PlayStation Studios lineup. The acquisition brings the Liverpool-based team into the first-party fold, and it sounds as though the team is already working on some exciting stuff. While there's...
Mini Review The Persistence Enhanced (PS5) - Survival Horror Roguelite Still Rocks
Returnal
Before there was Returnal, there was The Persistence. Being tethered to PlayStation VR at launch, Firesprite’s roguelite sci-fi survival horror never quite got the attention it deserved, but it was a well-executed marriage of genres. Set aboard an abandoned deep-space colony ship overrun by a mutated crew, you find yourself revived by the...
News The Persistence Enhanced Spooks PS5 on 4th June
DualSense support, Ray-Tracing mode
After first releasing for PlayStation VR and then ported over to PS4 to be playable without a virtual reality headset, The Persistence Enhanced will now launch for PS5 on 4th June 2021 as an upgraded version of the original experience. If you own the original PS4 version, you'll be treated to a free upgrade,...
News The Persistence Enhanced Respawns on PS5 This Year
It's a persistent game
While all eyes are on developer Firesprite’s next project – presumably it’s in production for Sony’s next-gen PlayStation VR headset, in light of recent news – the studio is giving its previous game another crack. Survival horror roguelike The Persistence first launched as a
News Job Listings Renew Speculation Regarding Virtual Reality Horizon Spin-Off
Firesprite hiring for VR adaption of massive console IP
Firesprite, the studio behind PlayStation VR’s surprisingly enjoyable survival horror roguelite The Persistence, is recruiting a string of new staff for a “VR action adventure project adapted from one of the most original and successful multimillion-selling console IP titles in the last 10...
News Survival Horror Roguelike The Persistence Creeps to PS4 from 21st May
Non-PSVR version will be free for original owners
We thoroughly enjoyed survival horror roguelike The Persistence several years ago when we reviewed it for PlayStation VR, awarding it a 7/10 in our review and describing it as “both gut-wrenching and weirdly replayable”. Well, now those of you without virtual reality headsets can see what all the...
News Play The Persistence Without PSVR in Free Complete Edition Update
Frightening freebies
One of PlayStation VR's best kept secrets is The Persistence, a roguelike horror experience that we're big fans of here at Push Square. The developer, Firesprite, has been doing an admirable job of keeping it fresh too, dropping a big, free update a few months back that brought new modes and options to the title. It seems the...
News Excellent PSVR Horror The Persistence Gets Huge Free Update
New accessibility features added, too
There’s no better feeling than when a game you already enjoy gets a huge free update. Firesprite’s brilliant PlayStation VR roguelite horror The Persistence is set to receive an enormous patch next week, which bundles in a bunch of new modes and various other bits and pieces at no extra cost. You can’t say...
Interview From Psygnosis to Persistence - Reassembling Studio Liverpool into Scouse Scares
We fire up Firesprite's studio history
In our third article following Push Square’s visit to Firesprite, we sent one of our retro enthusiasts who was particularly eager to learn more about the links between its studio’s history with Psygnosis and Studio Liverpool. In time for the launch week of the sci-fi horror game The Persistence we also...
Soapbox Playing The Persistence As My First Ever PSVR Experience
Jamie and the magic torch
I felt well situated to visit Firesprite to play its PlayStation VR stealth horror game The Persistence for Push Square recently. I’m local to Merseyside, so travelling from my home to its Liverpool office took twenty minutes in total. I’m also a keen retro gamer, and once I had the fascinating opportunity to talk to...
In space, she wore the brown pants
Push Square recently visited the Liverpool city centre base of the independent studio Firesprite in the sunny North West of England to discuss The Persistence, which in the words of Game Director Stuart Tilley is a “brutal, sci-fi, stealth horror roguelike” game releasing on PlayStation VR next week. We sat...
News Procedurally Generated Horror The Persistence Haunts PSVR in July
Endure and survive
Firesprite’s long anticipated procedurally generated horror The Persistence will spook PlayStation VR headset wearers from 24th July. Available to pre-order from the PlayStation Store now – with a discount for PlayStation Plus members – the title fuses the popular rogue-lite genre with first-person Dead Space-esque...
E3 2017 The Persistence Brings Brilliant Procedurally Generated Horror to PlayStation VR
Dead space
Sci-fi horror hasn’t really had a champion on consoles since Dead Space, but The Persistence looks like a worthy addition to the genre. A procedurally generated title for PlayStation VR, the title sees you whisked away to a far-flung corner of the galaxy, where a black hole investigation has gone horribly awry. You’ll play as a...
News The Persistence Is Dead Space for PlayStation VR
Well, kinda
Blimey, the original Dead Space was so good, wasn’t it? The sequel was decent, too, but that inaugural entry was a masterpiece. With the series all but dead, it’s nice to see its spirit alive and well with PlayStation VR exclusive The Persistence. Like, it’s not even trying to hide its influences is it: abandoned space station?...
News Sony's Studio Liverpool Rises from the Ashes as Firesprite
They Liverpool
The closure of Studio Liverpool, formerly Psygnosis, came as a nasty and sudden shock to the wider video game community. Spearheading the much loved WipEout and Colony Wars franchises, it was undoubtedly one of Sony's most beloved first-party developers. We've not heard a great deal from the defunct company's former staffers, and...
