Firesprite: core staff at Studio Liverpool is back

IGN can confirm that the spirit of Sony Liverpool has officially returned, and it’s done so in the form of Firesprite, a studio made of remnants from the defunct studio. The team’s first project together was helping a still-functioning Sony-owned developer – Studio Japan – with the bundled-in PlayStation 4 game The Playroom.

“[Firesprite] came about organically, but we all had a shared vision,” the new studio’s Managing Director, Graeme Ankers, told IGN. “The founding team met up socially after Studio Liverpool and we talked about all the things we had achieved over the years, the platform launches, the variety of games, going back to [the] Psygnosis days and through to F1 and WipEout. We knew we wanted to carry on making great games.”

Indeed, the core leadership team at Firesprite – consisting of five people – helped create games for each and every piece of PlayStation hardware, from PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3, to PSP and Vita. They have over 80 years of collective experience working on PlayStation titles.

With Studio Liverpool shuttered and some core members of the team still talking regularly with each other, they began meeting at one of their apartments, discussing what they wanted to do next. They began to figure things out and “moved quickly into getting an office and putting together the Firesprite team,” according to Ankers. “Over the years, we worked with some of the best games content creators and quickly built a team of 20 people, 15 of which had been on the journey with us through the years at Studio Liverpool. It’s an energetic mix of experience and new talent.”

“We have been working hard on creating a new game engine and tool chain that allows us to put the creative power in the best hands – the artists and designers,” Firesprite’s Technical Director, Chris Roberts, said. “That puts us in a great position delivering the best experiences for players. It also allows us to get our games running on multiple platforms including mobile – so we can deliver platform specific features that make the best games.”

As for what that game is, Firesprite is mum. “Unfortunately, I can’t talk about the next game yet, [but] sometime soon I hope,” Ankers said. “We do love playing with new ideas and technology and have put a lot of work into building a game engine. We’re excited about the future. It’s a great time to be making games and it’s what we love.”

When asked if Firesprite can be counted on to make a PlayStation-exclusive, what with its experience slanting heavily towards PlayStation development, Ankers stressed that his team is independent, even with their solid Sony connections. “We do have a lot of experience on PlayStation platforms,” he admitted, “and it’s been fantastic being part of the journey on all of them.”

And would Firesprite ever want to go back to its old franchises with Sony’s permission? Say, a new Colony Wars or WipEout? “I don’t know where this journey is going to take us. Ultimately, we love these games, but the decision isn’t ours. WipEout is a special game. Its soul comes from Liverpool’s development history.”

Delusibeta wrote:Good stuff.

Yukiho wrote:Now bring back Colony Wars and G-Police. Thanks!

Steve wrote:To me they will always be Psygnosis.

Buffalo wrote:Awful name, cool dudes.

smyrrhphy wrote:Never heard of them.

Sony studio Firesprite has been shedding talent amidst accusations of toxic culture, staff say

Sony-acquired studio Firesprite has recently suffered high profile exits amid accusations of a toxic workplace culture, Eurogamer has been told, as part of an investigation into the studio begun ahead of the layoffs announced by Sony this week.

The Liverpool-based developer released PlayStation VR2 launch title Horizon Call of the Mountain last year, after being acquired by Sony in 2021. But the impact of crunch for that game's release and changes in the company's senior leadership have subsequently led to discontent within the studio, staff have told Eurogamer - something one source described as "death by a thousand cuts".

Most concerning are reports from sources that two senior leaders from Sony support studio XDev, brought in to help lead Firesprite, have since been accused of sexual discrimination and ageism. A subsequent internal investigation by Sony is said to have resulted in the claims being dismissed as a "misunderstanding".

Job cuts at Firesprite were announced earlier this week as part of mass layoffs across Sony Interactive Entertainment. Around 900 SIE employees (equating to eight percent) will lose their jobs, though it's unclear how many at Firesprite are impacted. Bloomberg reported that the studio's live service Twisted Metal project was cancelled as a result of the job losses. Eurogamer understands the studio was also separately working on another high profile game in a Sony franchise.

Ahead of these layoffs, sources say an "alarming" number of employees had left the studio in recent months following a retention bonus payout in October, designed to reward staff for remaining on at the developer after the Sony acquisition for a further period of time.

Public employee reviews of Firesprite on company review site Glassdoor describe "horrendous" studio heads who are "way out of their depth" and "just care about their money", leading to a "toxic, bullying culture" and "culture of fear". One recent review takes a more sympathetic view, though, stating Firesprite's "old way" was disorganised and Sony has re-moulded the studio, which has "ruffled many feathers".

Eurogamer has spoken to a number of sources close to the company to understand the causes of this discontent, all of whom wished to remain anonymous for the sake of their careers. Others told us they did not wish to take part in this investigation for fear of reprisal.

All but one of the original Firesprite founders have now left the company over the past year. "The last of what made Firesprite a good place to work went with them," one source told Eurogamer. Sources we spoke to remain unclear as to why the founders left, and there's talk of a "domino effect". Internally, there has been speculation the founders were forced out by Sony rather than taking a voluntary exit, sources have said. The sudden departure of former studio head Graeme Ankers in May, for instance, was described by one source as simply "unbelievable" as, based on recent all-company meetings, he appeared to be planning for the studio's long-term future.

New leadership was subsequently brought in from Sony support studio XDev, something one source described as "classic nepotism". Staff we spoke to described the new bosses as either out of their depth or holding different values to Firesprite's original founders. One said: "It seems leadership doesn't need to be earned. And trust is gone." Another source described them as an "inadequate toxic mess", "tyrants" and "bullies" who treat people "like it's a factory".

Eurogamer understands an internal investigation took place after around 13 grievance complaints were submitted against two XDev leaders with regards to sexual discrimination and ageism. While sources say Sony dismissed these complaints as a misunderstanding, Eurogamer understands some of those involved explored legal options to take the matter further, and have since received a financial payout from Sony.

A push to hire specific talent prompted roles to be invented to hire specific people, sources say, only for this effort to be scuppered by a hiring freeze from Sony. "Sony has committed the worst possible mistake in buying a studio and meddling to the point where it may end up in a death spiral and unable to complete any of the projects it is working on," said one source.