Why are UK studios struggling (to make good games?) *spawn
- Thread starter Xbat
- Start date
Define 'struggling'.
FarticusMaximus
Newcomer
UK studios struggling?
Rocksteady
Traveller's Tales
Zoe Mode
Playground games
Reflections
Sumo
Slightly Mad
Media Molecule
Creative Assembly
Rockstar North (collaborations)
Ninja Theory
Frontier
Codemasters
Climax
Just to name a few. Seems to be a fairly healthy UK development scene.
Rocksteady
Traveller's Tales
Zoe Mode
Playground games
Reflections
Sumo
Slightly Mad
Media Molecule
Creative Assembly
Rockstar North (collaborations)
Ninja Theory
Frontier
Codemasters
Climax
Just to name a few. Seems to be a fairly healthy UK development scene.
D
Deleted member 86764
Guest
From the second line of the OP, Xbat's view is that UK output (along with Japanese output) is not very good where once it used to excel. So definition seems to be not struggling in terms of number of activity or even commercial success, but just not producing good games any more. It's the sort of argument that really needs some actual meat to be supplied, such as a list of games over the years and how they've been generally regarded.
Maybe I used the wrong word and maybe its just Sony first party in the Uk not delivering.
Maybe I just had a brainfart but during ps2 times I feel like there was a lot more games coming from the UK. Maybe its just because AAA games have become so big that the output had to slow down.
Maybe its just my memory betraying me
wouldn't be the first time.
Maybe I just had a brainfart but during ps2 times I feel like there was a lot more games coming from the UK. Maybe its just because AAA games have become so big that the output had to slow down.
Maybe its just my memory betraying me
wouldn't be the first time.
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What are the games you're talking about? What was the fabulous content your comparing to?
Getaway, Primal, Soulreaver , wipeout series, Pgr, burnout series,Micro machines,Timesplitters, I'm sure there were more.
Thinking about it though It could of just been because I was in my youth and not a cynical adult yet
I also think I was more aware where the studios were back then, didn't know batman was made by a uk studio. What was the game they made before batman? I have a faint recolection of a ps2 fps game where you played as a cop called Mason I think it was called urban chaos? Awesome game.
Thinking about it though It could of just been because I was in my youth and not a cynical adult yet
I also think I was more aware where the studios were back then, didn't know batman was made by a uk studio. What was the game they made before batman? I have a faint recolection of a ps2 fps game where you played as a cop called Mason I think it was called urban chaos? Awesome game.
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FarticusMaximus
Newcomer
Getaway, Primal, Soulreaver , wipeout series, Pgr, burnout series,Micro machines,
Timesplitters,
Thinking about it though It could of just been because I was in my youth and not a cynical adult yet
I hear ya on Bizarre, Criterion and Free Radical. Those are sorely missed studios.
Arguably the Codies have moved on to bigger and better things though. As fun as Micro Machines was, I personally think Dirt 3 is the best game they have made.
Quite a few of those games were developed by studios that broke and birthed new studios. Wipeout's Studio Liverpool was let go. Timesplitters was from Free Radical who made a mess of Haze and then were bought by Crytek. Codemasters stretches back to the 8 bit computers with a very diverse and checkered output.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Chaos:_Riot_Response
That's by the Studio that developed Batman, to answer your own question, but they were only established in 2004, releasing their first title in 2006. So hardly part of the pre-PS3 UK heritage!
It's true that Sony has closed and downsized a few UK studios, but I don't immediately see an issue with UK games. It can be argued that Japan has stayed very formulaic (or completely outlandish) which has reduced their relevance over the years, but the UK remains like any Western nation very varied in output and lively with developer community.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Chaos:_Riot_Response
That's by the Studio that developed Batman, to answer your own question, but they were only established in 2004, releasing their first title in 2006. So hardly part of the pre-PS3 UK heritage!
It's true that Sony has closed and downsized a few UK studios, but I don't immediately see an issue with UK games. It can be argued that Japan has stayed very formulaic (or completely outlandish) which has reduced their relevance over the years, but the UK remains like any Western nation very varied in output and lively with developer community.
Prophecy2k
Veteran
Maybe I used the wrong word and maybe its just Sony first party in the Uk not delivering.
Maybe I just had a brainfart but during ps2 times I feel like there was a lot more games coming from the UK. Maybe its just because AAA games have become so big that the output had to slow down.
Maybe its just my memory betraying me
I'm struggling to understand why you think this?
What are the latest Sony UK games released outside of Driveclub? And that game is pretty decent (73 metacritic rating is not bad - not far off Destiny).
I can only think of KZ: Mercenaries from Guerilla Cambridge, and that game is arguably the best FPS game on a portable console to date.
Oh yeah, there's Tearaway... Rave reviews.
Then all the last-gen Uk games:
LBP - critical and commercial acclaim
Motorstorm - critical acclaim, commercial success on the earlier iterations
Wipeout - critical acclaim and commercial success
Resistance Vita (can't remember the name) - bomba and critically panned
Buzz - niche party game, commercial success
Singstar - casual game, pretty much prints money for Sony
I'm struggling to think of anything else...
So really, only the Resistance Vita game can be considered a Turkey out of Sony's UK studios' recent output. A far cry from Sony Uk "not delivering".
There are quite a few non-Sony Uk studios making excllent games:
Rocksteady
Codemasters
etc
And then there are MS-owned studios whom either have struggled or simply don't make games anymore that you nor I would want to play:
Rare - casual Kinect games, some critically panned, some quite good, very casual focussed
Lionhead - haven't made a decent game since "Black and White"
The maker's of Crackdown - made Crackdown, a cult classic and critical darling, dunno how it sold.
I don't think UK devs in total are making crap games. I just think that a lot of them are making more casual games for the european market, since those titles sell really well here. It's just more expensive to develop games here in the UK.
But I would argue that Sony's UK devs out of all of them are still some of the most successful UK developers.
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It could probably be argued that since the 16bit era, the UK's impact has lessened. Back in the day with Bullfrog creating pioneering titles like Populous, and DMA Design/Psygnosis creating Lemmings, et al, the UK had a significant impact on the gaming landscape. If we look at someone like Peter Molyneux, he was amazing with his creation but he's become something of a joke. But that's just the ever-changing nature of the market. I don't think the UK is any worse in the global space now than any other nation.
Sigfried1977
Legend
Getaway, Primal, Soulreaver , wipeout series, Pgr, burnout series,Micro machines,Timesplitters, I'm sure there were more.
Thinking about it though It could of just been because I was in my youth and not a cynical adult yet
I also think I was more aware where the studios were back then, didn't know batman was made by a uk studio. What was the game they made before batman? I have a faint recolection of a ps2 fps game where you played as a cop called Mason I think it was called urban chaos? Awesome game.
The Getaway was always regarded as a me-too, decent-at-best GTA clone, Primal (which I quite liked) didn't exactly set the world on fire (and neither did the studio's next title Ghosthunter) and Soul Reaver is a Crystal Dynamics game, i.e. it was made outside the UK. Micro Machines is a Code Masters game, and as far as I know they've been doing quite well for themselves with Grid, Formula1 and Colin McRae. They just haven't fully embraced the next hardware generation.
The two shambolic Vita shooters Resistance Burning Skies and CoD Declassified were made by Nihilistic Software, a studio in NA.
Prophecy2k
Veteran
Thanks for that, as I though the Vita Resistance game was Sony Cambridge.
All this talk of Primal though does make me sad. Cuz I adored that game!!
We really need a next-gen sequel and continuation of the series.
Prophecy2k
Veteran
This is so true. Those games all came out of what was for me the golden age of PC gaming. I f'in loved the old Bullfrog games.
Sucks they got assimilated into EA, consumed and shat down the drain
Well, from the perspective of the Midlands gaming development scene it has been a bit of a disaster of late.
First core had TR taken away and then folded. Several spin off studios also folded. Eurocom, Climax Nottingham, Free Radical, etc all folded. Crytek UK nearly had the plug pulled, and of course Rare don't make good games anymore.
First core had TR taken away and then folded. Several spin off studios also folded. Eurocom, Climax Nottingham, Free Radical, etc all folded. Crytek UK nearly had the plug pulled, and of course Rare don't make good games anymore.
D
Deleted member 11852
Guest
Guildford!