News and Jobs
We're All Blogging...
4th February 2008
It's been pretty quiet on this part of the site lately. Why?
'Cos we're all devoting time to the blog. We've got staff from across the company posting, some are handing out careers advice, others sharing design philosphies, and yet more just showing off stuff they like. Be cure to check it out and send us some comments.
Evolution Studios - blogging like it's 1999 :-)
Blog Kicking Off...
29th November 2007
After quite a big delay, we're now in a position to kick the blog off. We've put a team together to contribute and we aim to have something fresh and interesting on there every day.
These are exciting times at Evolution as we work more with our friends at Studio Liverpool and get the sequel to MotorStorm made - expect to see posts about these subjects and more, as well as general messing about, from now on.
The blog link is the yellow book on the right hand side of the desk, and a left-hand link on the HTML version ;)
20th September 2007
PRESS RELEASE: Sony Computer Entertainment Acquires Evolution Studios and Bigbig Studios
Tokyo, 20th September 2007 - Sony Computer Entertainment today announced that it had acquired leading game developer Evolution Studios Ltd and its subsidiary Bigbig Studios Ltd to further expand its game development capability as part of Sony Computer Entertainment's Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS).
In a strategic move to secure excellence in game development for current and future PlayStation® platforms, the acquisition of Evolution and Bigbig formalises the successful and long established exclusive relationship between Sony Computer Entertainment and the two studios.
Evolution Studios, based in Runcorn, England is the award-winning developer of MotorStorm™, the million-selling #1 hit title for PLAYSTATION®3(PS3™). Since its establishment in 1999, SCE has enjoyed a highly productive and commercially successful relationship with Evolution - a studio with an unrivalled track-record for quality and productivity, having shipped a title every year for 6 straight years. Evolution established its reputation as the successful developer of the World Rally Championship series on PlayStation®2, also published by SCE. The studio is currently working on the next instalment of the Motorstorm franchise for PS3, scheduled for release in 2008 on Blu-ray Disc, along with content expansions for the original MotorStorm to be distributed via PLAYSTATION®Network.
Bigbig Studios, based in Leamington Spa, England was founded in 2001 with backing from Evolution Studios and SCE and is the developer of the Pursuit Force game for PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable), which has sold over 800,000 copies worldwide. The studio is currently working on the second title in the series, Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice, which will be available in October this year for PSP and on PlayStation®2 early in 2008.
"Our strategy is to create the best games by working with the best talent and Evolution and Bigbig are world-class additions to our team," said Phil Harrison, President of SCE Worldwide Studios. "The incredible people in these studios further extend the depth and skill of the industry's largest platform-exclusive development resource".
Following the acquisition, Mick Hocking, Managing Director of Evolution Studios, will also be appointed Group Studio Director for the three Studios ; SCE WWS Liverpool Studio, Evolution and Bigbig , reporting directly to SCE WWS Vice President, Michael Denny.
Studios across the WWS network share technology, production methodology and creative goals to build the best possible experiences for users to enjoy the most from the PlayStation family of hardware platforms and network services. With over 2,500 employees, SCE Worldwide Studios combines the talents of 15 game development studios in Japan, the USA, the UK and The Netherlands.
- ENDS -
Farewell to a Legend
17th September 2007
Everyone at Evolution Studios would like to express their profound shock and dismay at the loss of a rallying legend. Colin McRae thrilled the many rally fans at Evolution over the years, and our thoughts go out to his family at this difficult time.
MotorStorm 2.0 available for download
4th September 2007
Our friends at Sony have released this announcement on their site, so we can also bring it to you now. We'll follow this with more news on our upcoming downloadable content as soon as we can…
Our latest update to the game brings you a range of improvements detailed below as well preparing the game for the MotorStorm™ Revenge Weekend PLAYSTATION®Network download pack that will be available to purchase within days and two additional vehicle packs that will be available later this month. You will find more information on these in the PLAYSTATION®Store or within the PlayStation Forums at www.playstation.com in the coming days
Here's what the patch brings:
Vehicle Select enhancement - your last-used vehicle in each class will now be presented as the default choice during vehicle selection.
Assigned player colours are now displayed in the lobby to make keeping track of your friends and rivals easier during online races and Eliminator matches.
Further Player-Stat Improvements.
Purchasers of 'Coyote Revenge' can now race this track in Online and Time Attack.
Purchasers of Eliminator Mode will find results from this mode also contribute to their Fame Ranking.
Track Exploits for Grizzly and Raingod Mesa have been addressed.
Headset support - An occasional firewall conflict with headset communications has been resolved.
Headset support - voice comms output now available exclusively through headset.
Many other improvements and tweaks throughout the game.
20 June 2007 - We are please to announce that, in the very short term future, our friends at Sony Computer Entertainment Japan will launch something special on the PlayStation3 Network. We can't say what, but let's just say it might have something to do with MotorStorm, going online, and playing it with other humans.
Can you guess what it is? :P
13th June 2007 - Another Racy Night...
There are a few poorly heads in the studios this morning: last night was the fourth annual Evolution Studios visit to Chester Races, followed by a slap-up meal at Chez Jules.
Our driving expert Terry was the biggest winner with a modest 80 quid, but our real priority was to party. With 20 magnums of Champagne on the house to accompany the beer and wine it was always going to get messy, but everyone was fairly well-behaved in the end, and despite what the picture suggests we didn't all dress like plastic gangsters.
Here's to next year!
26th March 2007 - Evo Wins the Treble!!!
We recently went to number 1 in the pan-European PlayStation3 charts shortly after the console launch. This means we've managed to nail the top spot across the three big gaming territories - Japan, North America and Europe. If you are one of the people who has helped this happen, then many thanks to you and we hope you are enjoying what we delivered. We now aim to extend your experience of the game with plenty of fresh content in the coming months. Our CEO Martin said:
"To see MotorStorm top the European, the Japanese and the US PlayStation 3 charts is just fantastic. Developing MotorStorm to a standard we were all happy with was certainly a challenge - but the team here really delivered. Evolution has a reputation for delivering high quality racing titles, but the consensus was to come up with something really special for Sony's new hardware. We're delighted that the public has agreed with the press and made MotorStorm a worldwide number one PLAYSTATION 3 title."
So, how do we top that? You'll just have to wait and see...
22nd March 2007 - Welcome to Our Site - If you've ever visited evos.net before you'll know that our website was never really a priority for us. We make games after all, and always found that the guys who could work on a site had more important stuff to do.
With the launch of this new site, all that changes. Pardon the pun but we're going to evolve this new one, adding content and new features as often as possible and trying stuff out all the time. We've started with a focus on the corporate brochure and some nice concept art - but you'll see that there is much more to come.
The new site is all about exploration - please have a good look around at the launch content, remember to use the menu in the bottom-right corner, and feel free to get in touch using the options available.
Schmoozing…
It's been a crazy few months at Evolution as we've welcomed dozens of magazines and websites into the studio, to show them MotorStorm and chat about how we make games. Late last year 2 buses turned up with our friends from Sony and journalists from Spain, Germany, Holland, France, Austria and the rest of Europe. Over the past couple few weeks and in the coming weeks you'll see interviews with Martin Kenwright, Paul Hollywood, Simon Benson, Nigel Kershaw and others, in such places as Official Playstation Magazine, Play Magazine, TVE, Move-X Games, Kronen Zeitung, Threespeech.com, T3 Magazine, Mega Score Magazine, gamesindustry.biz, Eurogamer TV, and many others.
The Italian press couldn't make it to us on this trip - so Creative Director Paul Hollywood went to them, and chatted to over 20 different groups in Rome last week.
We've also had GameSpot and GamerTV pop in recently too - expect some quality coverage of our stuff all over the world in the coming weeks.
3D World paid us a visit too and we shared a lot of our techniques and processes so that 3D artists can see how we tackled MotorStorm™.
We were also delighted to have some major coverage (and a really cool cover) in Develop magazine. You can grab a PDF version over at http://www.developmag.com/ (registration required).
Thanks to all this attention, it really feels like we've crawled out from under our rock to show the world who we are. Exciting times indeed!
What People are Already Saying...
IGN 3rd November 2006
"PS3's off-road epic"
"To say it looks awesome is an understatement:"
"fabulously filthy fun"
"eye-meltingly fast racing epic"
Kikizo 27th November 2006
"Simply put, there's no next-gen racing game as cool as this."
"you have to say 'wow'"
"instantly enjoyable, highly addictive and wonderfully unpretentious throughout"
"a proper next-gen gaming experience."
"spellbinding stuff"
"wildly entertaining"
"the game plays like a dream"
"pornographically attractive"
"we're in love with MotorStorm"
"if there's one game that really shows off the POTENTIAL of the PS3… it's MotorStorm"
"Evolution is to be saluted for putting together such an awesome package"
"MotorStorm is the PS3's first killer app"
1up 01st December 2006
"MotorStorm is the obligatory showcase title"
"looks gorgeous in motion"
Gaming Excellence 19th November 2006
"MotorStorm uses the PS3's power to its advantage"
"amazingly detailed"
"MotorStorm is the definition of next-gen arcade racing"
C&VG November 2006
"chock-full of genuine belly-aching moments"
"a crazy, shit-hitting-the-fan affair"
"delivers a truckload of standout moments"
"bloody funny game"
GamesRadar 23rd November 2006
"the title we're most excited about playing"
"Evolution Studios' mud-tastic racer"
'Contact Us' replies
17th September 2007
We've slowed down a little with our replies to the 'Contact Us' mail system, largely due to holidays. Please rest assured that all mails will get a reply, but it may take longer than usual. Also, rememer that a lot of questions are answered in our new 'FAQ' section, which is peeping behind the top of the newspaper ready to be looked at.
We've Added Stuff...
September 11th 2007
We've decided to add some Frequently Asked Questions to the site, in order to save people the need to drop us a line.
They address topics such as WRC, some technical MotorStorm issues, and working / placements at Evolution.
We'll be adding more as they arise, and making it look a bit prettier. We'll also add a link to it from the 'Contact Us' form so you can check before sending us a message. Those who do drop us a line are all guaranteed a reply...unless their mails are abusive :)
You can find it just peeping out of the top of the Newspaper.
We've also speeded up our load times, and we're adding an ability to scroll manually across our desk, and a Blog from the staff at Evo is coming soon. More updates will roll out as soon as possible.
June 15th 2007
Time Attack - IMPORTANT NOTICE
The MotorStorm 1.2 update is now available and the Time Attack mode is in the PlayStation Store for European players.
It is very important that you go online and get the update before downloading Time Attack as if you have update 1.1 on your PS3, this can cause a problem. If you have already encountered this problem, simply delete the 1.1 update from your PS3 using the game data utility and then go online to get the 1.2 update and everything should be resolved. Apologies for this inconvenience and happy racing!
June 15th 2007 - Update Delay Clarification. Felice Sandifer (our stateside Senior Producer) has clarified the reason for the delay to our MotorStorm update over on the new PS3 blog, which is basically "a new issue was found on the patch that could result in people not being able to establish a network connection". Hopefully you'll agree that it is worth delaying the release in order to address this issue. As soon as more information is available you can be sure that us or Sony will let you know it.
14th June 2007- Patch Delays -Sincere apologies to all of you who have been left disappointed by the delay to our MotorStorm update, especially those who took the time to contact us. Unfortunately there have been a few teething troubles to resolve, which we are pleased to say are now all fixed. It really is just around the corner now, and is well worth the wait - in fact you can expect an announcement from our buddies at Sony any time now.
27/04/07 - Online Update
We're pleased to announce that details of our forthcoming update to the MotorStorm online multiplayer game have been released by our friends at Sony. It contains details of the improvements we've made and you should see that the major issues you've mailed us about have been addressed.
You can view the details here.
If you have mailed us about these issues then expect a reply over the next few days as we start to catch up.
Cheers!
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PSFree!
23/04/07
For all of us at Evos, making a hit game is pretty cool. However, what all we really wanted was some free stuff to celebrate. So it was a great day when our Office Manager Chris turned up with a massive truck containing free PlayStation3s for every member of staff. And so it was that on a beautiful early Spring day we all queued to pick one up, much to the envy of our neighbours.
Many of us are now setup at home and sharing our PSN IDs, so you can expect to take a serious pasting from us at MotorStorm online soon, plus we've also set up an Evolution folding group to help with the great work at Stanford.
This is the first in a series of freebies planned for staff over the coming months. Visit the jobs section of this site for more info on how to join us!
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23/03/07 - The wait is over, MotorStorm™ has reached European shores
After topping the charts in North America and Japan, MotorStorm™ is launched in Europe today. The reviews have been fantastic so far, and the game is rapidly gathering an army of fans over the pond.
A labour of love for all of us at Evolution Studios, our first launch title has become the most eagerly anticipated for PlayStation®3 and we're all extremely proud of our achievement. So get ready for some downright dirty, brutal off-road action around the stunning Monument Valley in any of the 7 vastly different vehicle classes. We hope that you'll enjoy it as much as the rest of world has thus far.
"This is the pinnacle of off-road racing. It has never been anywhere near this good." - Play Magazine.
And just because the game is on the shelves around the world now this doesn't mean that the MotorStorm™ experience will end there, over the forthcoming months we'll be delivering all new content to extend the experience… Watch this space.
MotorStorm™: Launched and Loved!
12/03/07
After almost two years of solid graft, MotorStorm™ is now flying off the shelves in North America for PlayStation3. They join Japan who became the first territory to launch late last year where it topped the PS3 charts, outselling the launch titles and instantly becoming one of those rare phenomena - a Western game loved by our Japanese cousins.
Reviews for the game are overwhelmingly positive and the team here at Evo feel really flattered, plus it'll be available with the European launch of the PS3 in a couple of weeks and finally we can point to it in the shops and say 'I made that'!
Work on the game isn't over yet though - we've got some 'DLC' (downloadable content) ready to deliver, with loads more in production to extend the life of the game for as long as possible, especially online. As soon as we can reveal details of this we will, look out for new modes, new tracks and new vehicles amongst lots of other treasure.
The 'Storm has only just begun!