Two More First Party PS3 Games Canned - Heavenly Sword 2 Also Canned?

[Robin]

Oh man this is really starting to piss me off, why is everyone including Sony jumping ship on the PS3!

The Getaway and Eight Days (that cool thing shown at E3 ages ago) have had their production ceased! It is very unlikely that either will see the light of day!

Sony is really not helping things in the "no system selling exclusive games" dept which many critics have been moaning about.. If they are doing this to make Singstar or something they ought to be shot!

The Getaway slips away​

SCEE ceases production of the London gangster game sequel, along with another PS3 exclusive, Eight Days.

The Getaway and Eight Days are in development limbo because Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has stopped work on the two games from the London studio. The decision was made so that the company could "redistribute resources and budget" toward other first-party projects.

In a statement, a Sony spokesperson said, "This decision was made following an internal review of all games, and it was deemed that with the incredibly strong list of exclusive first-party titles coming up both this year and in the near future, resource should be reallocated to enhance those projects closer to completion."

Announced at E3 2006, Eight Days was a PlayStation 3 game that combined third-person shooting with driving action. The Getaway, also for the PS3, was to continue on from the PlayStation 2 game, which was released in 2002 and spawned a sequel and a PlayStation Portable spin-off called Gangs of London. Little was known about the modern action-adventure game other than the fact that it was to be set in a photorealistic London.

Sony London, which was established in 2003 by the merging of Getaway developer Team Soho and Studio Camden, has previously worked on games including EyeToy: Play and SingStar Pop. The studio employs around 225 people.

This isn't the only shake-up at Sony's internal studios. Last month, it was announced that Shuhei Yoshida--at the time senior vice president--would be stepping up to the plate as the new Sony Worldwide Studios head. Yoshida replaced Phil Harrison, who left after 15 years to go to Infogrames.

Just to refresh you memory here was the supposedly in game footage for Eight Days which mixed cutscenes and gameplay constantly jumping from one to another to create a real cinematic experience, a great concept I thought and it looked brilliant! Oh well, thats not going to happen now!



And the short but sweet Getaway trailer which really could have given us a next gen GTA London but that is also now in the can..



Oh and to boot Red Alert 3 is being put on hold for the PS3 version only, probably because EA have had a relapse of the 'we can't make PS3 games disease'.

Red Alert 3 for PS3 'on hold'
Electronic Arts confirms that only the Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game will be coming in autumn.​

Yesterday, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe revealed that it had "ceased production" on two first-party PlayStation 3 games, The Getaway and Eight Days.

Today, it's Electronic Arts' turn, as the megapublisher has told the press that the PS3 version of the Soviet-themed Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 is also being put into cold storage.

An EA rep simply said, "We can confirm that the development of Red Alert 3 for PS3 has been put on hold. EA LA is focusing resources on development for PC and Xbox 360 which will ship simultaneously this autumn." No reason was given for pulling resources from the PS3 version of the game, or whether gamers could realistically expect work to be continued on it at some point in the future.

Red Alert 3 is the first installment in the Command & Conquer spin-off series since 2001 expansion pack Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge. The real-time strategy game takes place in an alternate-technology future where World War III is raging between the US, the Soviet Union, and a never-defeated Imperial Japan. For more information on the game, check out GameSpot's recent preview.

So what next, they gonna pull something else like La Noire (which may not happen anyway), Killzone (god forbid!)....

Robin.

 

[McLaren]

How lame. I thought Eight Days looked badass.

 

[Kent]

Yeah, Eight Days looks awesome.
Getaway... Not too excited but still disappointed to see it go.
All we can hope is that there will be replacements (better games at that).

Here's to hope!

 

[Dave A]

Makes you wonder just how much work has been done on these games since they were first shown, news hasn't exactley been rife. To my knowledge there's been pretty much no news on either since they were foirst shown other than maybe the odd mention. Perhaps they were never going to be released and were simply tools to generate hype about the PS3 when it was launched.

 

[Lain]

I'm not too concerned. The trailers for both games were pretty neat, but amongst all the other games I want, I doubt I'd have ever gotten around to picking up either The Getaway or Eight Days. Besides looking pretty, nothing made them absolute must-have titles.

 

[Kent]

I'm not too concerned. The trailers for both games were pretty neat, but amongst all the other games I want, I doubt I'd have ever gotten around to picking up either The Getaway or Eight Days. Besides looking pretty, nothing made them absolute must-have titles.

I hate to say it but you're right (I hate to say it because I'd like to pretend Eight Days would be a purchase for me).

However, the truth is, GT5P, GT5, RE5, MGS4, COD4, and GTA4 will be all I need (and some extra). Actually, GT5P and GT5 are all I need but I wouldn't mind something to break up the racing.

Point is, I agree with you yaywalter. 👍

 

[Sprite]

I did hear that Sony pulled these games in order to get heavenly sword & killzone 2 done. Apparently the staff were put to task to finish those games.

 

[Robin]

Oh and now there are rumors that Heavenly Sword 2 has been shelved... although it was doubtful there would be a sequel anyway...

SCEE sheaths Heavenly Sword 2 development?

Source: Gaming blog Kotaku.

What we heard: June began with a massacre of PlayStation 3 exclusives coming out of Sony's European operations. Earlier this month, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe broke the news that it had suspended development on SCEE London Studio's modern-day action adventure The Getaway and high-octane crime drama Eight Days. According to SCEE, The Getaway and Eight Days were shuttered so that the company could "redistribute resources and budget" toward other first-party projects.

However, it now appears that The Getaway and Eight Days weren't the only titles party to Sony's culling of first-party endeavors. According to gaming blog Kotaku, the follow-up to Ninja Theory's 2007 PS3 exclusive Heavenly Sword has also been placed in stasis. As for the why, Kotaku's sources tells them that the game was "no longer seen as commercially viable," echoing sentiments expressed over the cancellation of SCEE London Studios' projects.

Though work on the game was being handled internally by Sony Cambridge, Kotaku also reports that relations between Ninja Theory and Sony have nonetheless become strained. As such, the developer reportedly plans to move out of the digs it shares with Sony Cambridge to set up shop elsewhere.

Despite debuting to much fanfare and considerable hype from Sony in September 2007, Ninja Theory's Heavenly Sword proved not to be the system-selling title the publisher had hoped for. Though it met a welcome reception from critics, Heavenly Sword sold just 139,000 units in the US during September (according to the NPD Group), and did nothing to jump start PS3 sales, which stood at 119,000 units on the month. The game quickly dropped out of the top 10 by November, and through May totalled just over 345,000 copies in the US--decent, but not amazing numbers.

The official story: Unsurprisingly, Sony Europe was less than receptive to inquiries. "I think it is fair to say that we do not comment on rumour and speculation, especially about games that have never been announced," a SCEE representative told Kotaku. "We are still dedicated to our first-party studios and are very excited about the fantastic exclusive titles coming this year."

Bogus or not bogus?: Heavenly Sword offered a compelling God-of-War-with-a-red-hot-heroine premise, but it wasn't enough to translate to sales. Also throw in the fact that a Ninja Theory employee said that a second game is "highly unlikely" on the developer's official forums, and this looks not bogus.

Robin

 

[Rainmaster]

it's still a rumour
otherwise I'm gonna kill SCEE president
grrrr :/ I bought ps3 because of heavenly sword
the game sold over 1 million copy
now they try to cancel it.
idiots.


edit: relax
nothing is cancelled

"We (Ninja Theory) never started work on HS2 as we wanted to focus on new multiplatform IP. Sony owns the IP for HS and we have never been privy to what they would do with it.

As for moving, we have been planning to move to larger premises for future expansion for the best part of a year. There is nothing bitter about the move.

And the rumour that the team has been disbanded is ridiculous. We have had an unbelievably loyal team especially as we went through some difficult times securing a new publishing deal. We have a new publisher and are busy on our new project which is going very well so far.

HS is far from our thoughts at the moment.

Tameem

 

[TopHat]

Nothing was canceled because nothing ever happened in the first place?