SEGA opens new UK studio, first project: VITA Adventure game

[Pao]

Sega UK is on the up. Merely a month after confirming a large-scale expansion plan for Creative Assembly and its upcoming Alien game, the publisher said today it’s hiring for a new, unnamed “boutique” British developer, a studio “set up to focus its production resources exclusively for next generation platforms.”

The new outfit will sit alongside Sega’s internal technology experimentation unit in Solihull in the West Midlands of England.

If the location sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same location as Sega Racing Studio before it was closed and sold off to Codemasters three years ago. When Sega made the sale, however, it kept hold of six staffers to help form a division Sega calls its Technology Group (STG).

Since being formed 18 months ago, STG has helped other Sega studios gain a knowledge on PS3 and 360 and has experimented with prototypes for new systems such as 3DS, Move, Kinect, Vita and Wii U.

STG was the first unit within Sega West to get dev kits for these platforms, according to Gary Dunn, VP of product development for Sega West, speaking to VG247 on the phone yesterday.

“We wanted them to generate innovative prototypes that really used the hardware’s feature-set to its max. To cut a long story short, we were pretty blown away with one of the prototypes,” Dunn said.

“We put it through our greenlight process, and the studio we’re opening today is co-located with that technology group in Solihull to make the game of the prototype the tech group discovered.”

The game will be, according to the press release, a “unique action adventure experience” coming out in late 2012. Platforms weren’t specified in the PR, but Dunn did confirm on the phone that it’ll be on Vita.

“I can say the first game we’re putting into production is starting out on PlayStation Vita, so we’ll work on a new platform. That’s not to say it’ll be the only platform, but it’s certainly the platform we’re starting out this project with,” he said.

You’re not going to be hearing anything much about the project for another six months.

“In terms of the game, I guess it’ll be the New Year before we announce anything specific,” said Dunn.

“It may just be before that; I’d like to see how pre-production goes first. But I do anticipate it’ll certainly be this coming winter when we start talking about the game.”

Staffing up

The game will begin with “six or seven people” from STG working on pre-production, with another 15 people to come from recruitment.

Sega will “flex the production team out” with “a wide network throughout our various studios and through the technology group.” As recruitment ramps up, the STG staffers will go back to “innovating on everything new and shiny that comes across their desks,” according to Dunn.

The studio itself will be headed up by 16-year design and production vet Chris Southall.

Dunn is of the belief that the UK games development industry is one of the best in the world, and he’s keen to talk to those made redundant by THQ from Juiced developer THQ Digital Warrington this week.

“We are obviously looking for high-quality talent,” he said. “I know the guys that came from Juice Games [the old name for THQ Warrington] from way back. Colin [Bell, now ex-managing director] and I have known each other for years. If there’s any great talent looking for work out there, we’re more than interested to hear from them in becoming part of the Sega story.”

Today’s news will only add to the impression that Sega’s UK development effort is flourishing. As well as the continued success from Sports interactive and Football Manager, the publisher announced last month a brand new studio for The Creative Assembly to work on a new Alien game for consoles.

“We’re really pleased with game development in the UK. It’s our primary hub of games development in Sega West, I think it’s fair to say, in terms of our two key studios in Creative Assembly and Sports Interactive,” said Dunn.

“We’re supporting UK games development. We’ve got a strong and favourable pound for game development to be cost effective in the UK, and great talent, so we see no reason why. It seems the obvious place to invest. But the lead reason for starting the studio where we started it is to co-locate it with the Technology Group in Solihull.”

And the creation of both new studios has come simply at “the correct time.”

“We’re seeing new games, new hardware, we’re seeing diversification in the games market and we want a studio that can be agile, that allows us to sit with our innovation and Technology Group to be able to quickly put prototypes into action and let them see the shelves, be them virtual or otherwise,” said Dunn.

Those who wish to apply for the new studio can either email here or apply here.

http://www.vg247.com/2011/06/17/sega-op ... late-2012/

Sega building 'unique' Vita game at new studio

Publisher opens its third UK games developer.

Sega has today opened its third UK studio, formed from key staff that headed up the now-defunct Sega Racing Studio.

The new group is formed of six talented staff that, in 2008, were given the chance to remain at Sega when the racing studio was shut and sold off.

The Solihull studio is currently building a PS Vita game set for release in 2012, Sega West production boss Gary Dunn has said.

"It’s going to be a PS Vita game that absolutely uses many features of the hardware to the max, and gives you some truly innovative gaming opportunities not seen before," he explained in a new interview with Develop.

"I personally wouldn’t want to put this project under a genre of any kind."

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/44949/Sega-bu ... new-studio

[Pao]

Did not want to open a new thread for small tidbits, but after the news of SEGA canceling few of their in-deveoplment games, I decided to inquire about what Hardlight (the new UK studio) is doing... Through some web and twitter searches.

The Story writer for the game, Tom Jubert (Who worked on Binary Domain, among other games) has said the following on his Blog (This was back in December 2011):

Of most interest, though, is probably the secret project that's taking up most of my time. I'm currently narrative designer for a major new Sega IP for Playstation Vita being developed up at Sega's new 'boutique' studio outside of Birmingham. Boutique, for once, is actually being applied quite fairly - this is a bunch of around 15 highly talented chaps and chapesses producing what Sega sorely needs: new, ambitious, home-grown intellectual property. The studio's creative team is headed by Simon Woodroffe of Simon the Sorceror and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth fame, and we're working on what is probably only the second game I've worked on which I felt might really do something great with its writing. (The first was the ill-fated Hydravision zombie game.)

The game's being designed from the ground up with narrative as its focus, and right now myself and another designer are knee deep in fleshing out the gameplay scenarios and producing a vertical slice. We're hoping to be able to announce details Q1 next year. Story development is actually in large part being informed by the aesthetics and philosophy of mind that I'm researching at King's, and I'll probably bore you to tears with some details on the latter some time soon.

http://tom-jubert.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-looms-work-pervades-sega-game.html

So, the game is in a stage where it can be shown-off at this time of the year I presume. That Simon Woodroffe fellow has an impressive Track Record.

It's worth nothing that Hardlight was recruiting for Programmers when I checked gameindustry.biz last month.

[ROJM]

Its not these type of games that's going to get canned, its the type of titles or new ones that require a bit of money that are getting the chop and that includes various arcade games as well. Considering that sega  consumer side of things is moving full steam ahead in becoming a digital DLC company, Vita games won't get affected,much.

[Sharky]

The studio's creative team is headed by Simon Woodroffe of Simon the Sorceror

HOLY CRAP! Sign me the fuck up!
One of my favourite games as a kid... I hope it's something similar.

[ROJM]

HOLY CRAP! Sign me the fuck up!
One of my favourite games as a kid... I hope it's something similar.

Looking at the Vita controls, you could do a new variation of a point and click adventure game.

[STORM!]

  Looks like SOA is the only part affected by the latest reestructure??

 DLC only company sounds bad for me... -_-

[Pao]

HOLY CRAP! Sign me the fuck up!
One of my favourite games as a kid... I hope it's something similar.

Looks like he bailed out in mid development, I just hope the game wasn't cancelled...

Simon Woodroffe, who was head of games design for Sega West, is the new studio creative director at Rare. He's in charge of all aspects of design at the Microsoft-owned studio.

Woodroffe, who has over 20 years of experience making games, was a designer on Simon the Sorcerer before forming Headfirst Productions and developing Call of Cthulhu for the Xbox. Since then he's spent time with Midway Games (Wheelman), Ubisoft and most recently with Sega, working on Renegade Ops and Sonic Generations.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-04-17-sega-design-chief-joins-kinect-sports-dev-rare

[Sharky]

d'awwwwwww! Oh well, easy come easy go.

[Pao]

Apparently, the game switched platforms? From Vita to iOS:

Unannounced Game (iOS)
Sega Hardlight

Disappointing if true...  :/

https://sites.google.com/site/tjubert/about-1