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Firesprite

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Firesprite
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded2012; 12 years ago (2012)
Headquarters
Liverpool
,
England
Key people
  • Graeme Ankers
  • Lee Carus
  • Chris Roberts
  • Stuart Tilley
  • Stuart Lovegrove
ServicesVideo game development
Number of employees
265 (2021)[1]
ParentPlayStation Studios (2021–present)
SubsidiariesFabrik Games
WebsiteOfficial website

Firesprite is a British video game developer formed in 2012 by former members of Studio Liverpool based in Liverpool.[2][3][4] In September 2021, Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired the company, making them a first-party developer for PlayStation Studios.

History

Firesprite was founded in 2012 by Graeme Ankers as managing director, Lee Carus as art director, Chris Roberts as technical director, Stuart Tilley as game director, and Stuart Lovegrove as programming director. The studio is staffed by some developers that were part of Psygnosis and the five people in the studio's core leadership team have worked on games for every PlayStation console[citation needed]. Psygnosis was mostly known for the Wipeout series.

In 2013, the team worked on the visuals of one of the launch titles for the PlayStation 4, an augmented reality tech demo, The Playroom. Run Sackboy! Run! followed on mobile devices in 2014 and received mixed reviews.[5] Again in collaboration with SIE Japan Studio, and one of the launch titles for PlayStation VR, The Playroom VR was created "in Japan Studio by the same team that brought you The Playroom on PS4" and released in 2016.[6]

Following up in May 2019 it was announced that an update would be released soon for The Persistence. Launching as a free update for owners of the game, the Complete Edition will bring The Persistence to flat-screen TVs for the first time.[7]

In March 2021, the company announced a partnership with Cloud Imperium Games to work on Theaters of War (working title), a large scale combined arms multiplayer game mode in development for their game Star Citizen.[8] Their partnership started in early 2019 after Cloud Imperium outlined their vision for the game mode,[8] but in April 2022, development of Theaters of War was transferred back to an internal Cloud Imperium vehicle tech team. According to Tyler Witkin in a Spectrum post, "work with Firesprite has ended."[9]

In September 2021, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that it had acquired the studio.[10] Later in the month Sony acquired Fabrik Games "in connection with Firesprite joining PlayStation Studios”,[11] bringing the studio's headcount to 265.[1] In February 2024, it was reported that layoffs were taking place at Firesprite in conjunction with Sony's cuts across the company. The studio's previously unrevealed Twisted Metal live service game was also cancelled.[12]

On February 29, 2024, Eurogamer published an investigation into Firesprite that found the company had devolved into a chaotic and toxic work environment. After the acquisition by Sony, crunch was implemented in order to finish Horizon Call of the Mountain and staff left in droves following a retention bonus payout in October 2023. Once all but one of the original founders left the studio, executives from Sony's XDev support studio took over. Multiple employees reported the studio's new leadership for sexual discrimination and ageism, but allegations were reportedly dismissed by Sony.[13]

Games developed

Title Year Platforms Note(s)
The Playroom 2013 PlayStation 4 with PlayStation Camera Additional work
Run Sackboy! Run! 2014 PlayStation Vita, Android, iOS
Air Force Special Ops: Nightfall 2017 PlayStation 4 with PlayStation VR
The Persistence 2018 PlayStation 4 with PlayStation VR, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows
Horizon Call of the Mountain 2023 PlayStation 5 with PlayStation VR2 Co-developed with Guerrilla Games
Star Citizen TBA Microsoft Windows Theaters of War mode, co-developed with CIG

References

  1. ^ a b "Firesprite acquires Fabrik Games". Gamesindustry.biz. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  2. ^ Hing, David. "SCE Liverpool devs form Firesprite". bit-gamer. bit-tech. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  3. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (6 December 2013). "From the ashes of WipEout dev Studio Liverpool rises Firesprite". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  4. ^ "Firesprite: Sony's Studio Liverpool Lives Again". 5 December 2013.
  5. ^ "Run Sackboy! Run!". Metacritic. Retrieved 7 June 2023. Mixed or Average
  6. ^ "25 fun facts about the Playroom VR (Warning: Contains bird poop)". 30 September 2016.
  7. ^ "The Persistence: Complete Edition". playstation.com. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Cloud Imperium Games and Firesprite Unveil Development Partnership for Star Citizen Multiplayer Mode". Firesprite. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Spectrum - v6.8.2". Spectrum. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Why PlayStation is buying Firesprite, one of the UK's fastest growing studios". Gamesindustry.biz. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  11. ^ "Firesprite acquires Fabrik Games". GamesIndustry.biz. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  12. ^ Schreier, Jason (27 February 2024). "Sony Cuts 900 Jobs in Gaming, Shuts Down a London Division". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  13. ^ Nightingale, Ed (29 February 2024). "Sony studio Firesprite has been shedding talent amidst accusations of toxic culture, staff say". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
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