No Man’s Sky

Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky might not have started life on the best foot forward, but it has quickly grown into one of the best space exploration games on the market over the course of many significant updates. No Man’s Sky features a huge open world filled with all sorts of planets to discover and things to do, and the VR edition adds another layer of immersion to it all – making it the definitive way to experience what it has to offer.

In addition, PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst has also confirmed in a message published on the official Sony Interactive Entertainment website that, as part of the company’s restructuring, the complete closure of SIE London Studio is also “proposed”.

SIE London Studio was founded in 2002, following which it went on to work on the Singstar and EyeToy lines of games, before going on to develop 2019’s acclaimed PS VR exclusive first-person shooter Blood and Truth.

In October 2022, the studio announced that it was working on a live service PS5 title set in a contemporary fantasy version of London. The game was set to be the studio’s most ambitious title to date.

Half-Life: Alyx

Half-Life: Alyx was a dream come true for legions of fans, but when Valve announced that it was a VR-only game – there was an element of skepticism associated with anticipation. But when Half-Life: Alyx was finally released, fans were elated with joy and all those skepticism washed away. In so many ways, Half-Life: Alyx is the perfect example of how to craft a AAA game for the VR platform – thanks to a potent combination of a meaningful story and well-designed gameplay ideas that leverage the capabilities of the platform to the fullest.

Recently, for instance, Toby Haynes – who was until recently the lead character artist at Rare – took to Twitter and announced that he’s joined Playground Games, and will serve as Character Lead on the upcoming Fable. At Rare, Hynes worked on Sea of Thieves, as well as the in-development Everwild. Before joining Rare in 2020, Hynes was at SIE London Studio for several years, where he worked on PSVR title Blood and Truth.

Fable has apparently been in the works for quite some time, but it’s going to be a while longer before it finally launches. Leaks have claimed that the game won’t release until 2023– whether that means we won’t be hearing much about it this year remains to be seen.

As of tomorrow I will be starting a new chapter @WeArePlayground as Character Lead on a little game they are working on. #Fable #PlaygroundGames #XboxGameStudios #Xbox pic.twitter.com/5Uw3zbmPBy

— Toby Hynes (@TheRedbranch) January 23, 2022

SIE London Studio delivered one of PSVR’s best games to date in 2019 with their cinematic first person shooter Blood and Truth, and given how good that game was, it’s no surprise that there are many who are keenly waiting to hear something about what their next project is going to be. According to co-studio head Tara Saunders, it’s apparently going to be a big one.

Speaking in an interview that was recently published on the developer’s official website, the newly minted co-studio head talked about the value that SIE London Studio places on healthy work practices, and how that’s balanced with game development, before adding that the game they are working on right now has “huge potential.”

“I want us to dream big and realise our full potential… but at the same time ensure that there is a real emphasis on ethical and sustainable game development practices,” Saunders said. “We have super strong values in place that mean we should be keeping in mind the importance of inclusivity, balance and team spirit on a day to day basis. Our next project has HUGE potential and we want to leverage that to the max by empowering the team to thrive and deliver a top quality game!”

One would assume that whatever their next game is, it’s going to be VR-related. The developer has said in the past that it wants to keep investing in virtual reality, while Sony also recently announced that they’re working on a next-gen VR headset for the PS5. A killer app releasing alongside the headset right off the bat from the people who made Blood and Truth would be hard to turn down for anyone.

It’s probably going to be a while before we hear anything about the game though, so all we can do at this point is wait. Recent job ads posted by the studio have suggested that their next game will have an online component. Stay tuned, and we’ll keep you updated on any new info that comes our way.

SIE London Studio might not have the blockbuster pedigree of other fellow Sony first party developers like Naughty Dog or Sony Santa Monica, but they’re coming off of a well-made and successful game in PSVR-exclusive Blood and Truth– which means there’s no shortage of curiosity among the masses about what it is that they’re working on next.

It’ll likely be a while before we hear any concrete details about that, but we may have gotten our hands on some early information. As discovered by Twisted Voxel, the LinkedIn profile of David Skilton (who is VFX Lead at SIE London Studio) mentions that he is working on an unannounced PS5 game.

Meanwhile, interestingly enough, a job listing for the position of Lead Online Programmer at the studio’s own website mentions “development of the online features required for our next big title”, entailing “networked physics and animation systems, game logic, matchmaking and session management.”

Given the fact that the PS5 only features PSVR support via backward compatibility (and not natively) for now, the question is, of course, whether the game that SIE London are working on is meant for Sony’s next virtual reality headset- especially since the studio has expressed in the past that it’s going to stick with VR for future projects as well.

It will likely be a while before we know for sure, so all we can do right now is speculate. Either way, stay tuned, and we’ll keep you updated should we learn anything new.

Though PS5 games will not feature native support for PSVR, virtual reality will still very much be brought over into the next generation of PlayStation thanks to backward compatibility, with select titles also benefitting from enhancements– and one of the best first party exclusives released for PSVR has received some impressive enhancements in preparation for the console’s launch.

SIE London studio recently took to Twitter and confirmed that their VR exclusive first person shooter Blood and Truth, which launch last year, has received a new update that adds several enhancements to the game. These includes higher frame rates of upto 90 FPS, improved resolution, highest detail assets being used at all times, and improved texture detail.

Other first part PS4 exclusives have also been receiving similar enhancements in the lead-up to the PS5’s launch. God of War and Days Gone, for instance, will both run at 60 FPS on the upcoming next-gen console.

Blood and Truth is currently available on PS4. In our review of the game, we called it “a rewarding, action-packed romp fully equipped with a great crime story and movie-quality acting from its lovable characters”. You can read our review through here.

https://twitter.com/LondonStudioHQ/status/1325762873176547328

Sony has announced a spotlight on PlayStation VR titles for this week, starting today from 7 AM PST and lasting till Friday. There will be announcements and news for a number of different PlayStation VR titles, though the focus is on previously revealed games. This spotlight coincides with a PS VR promotion on the PlayStation Store stating on September 9th.

Some of the titles that will see discounts in the sale include Arizona Sunshine, Blood and Truth, Astro Bot Rescue Mission, Borderlands 2 VR, Farpoint, Superhot VR, Tetris Effect and more. The promotional sale will be available until September 23rd, 11:59 PM PST. Of course, the obvious question is: What about updates on the PlayStation 5?

Sony noted that there would be no PS5-related news for the week, which is a bummer. Nevertheless, with rumors stating an event happening sometime in mid-September, we may see something announced for next week. This would be in line with UK retailer SimplyGames’ emailing customers about pre-orders going live “any day now.” As always, stay tuned for more information in the coming days.

BLOOD AND TRUTH

SIE London Studio’s Blood and Truth was an unexpected surprise earlier this years. Promising and delivering on the allure of high-octane action and a story you could actually invest in, it was a better game than most expected. Another area where it impressed quite a bit was the visuals, with crisp technical work across the board, excellent animations, and truly impressive facial and performance capture.

Blood and Truth has probably been the best game to hit PSVR in 2019, and fans and critics alike clearly took a liking to its high octane action and its blockbuster set-piece-filled campaign. Now, developers SIE London Studio have put out a new free update for the first person shooter that brings some new features, described in detail over at the official PlayStation blog.

Most notably, the update adds a New Game Plus mode, allowing players to restart the campaign and play with all previously unlocked weapons, mods, and skills. Leaderboards have also been added to the game, allowing players to compare their scores for each mission against other players across the globe. There’s even an option for you to filter scores based on just the previous week.

Meanwhile, the game also sees new challenges being added, pertaining to a variety of weapons. These are the pump action shotgun, dual SMGs, dual sawed-off shotguns, the 9mm pistol, and the assault rifle. SIE London Studio also promises that more free updates will be coming for the game soon.

Blood and Truth is available now, exclusively for PS VR. At launch, it topped sales charts in the UK, becoming the first virtual reality game ever to do so. Read more on that through here.