It seems to be that time of year in the gaming industry. It’s the calm before the storm of the holiday shopping season, and titles simply aren’t being released. Studio heads are no doubt looking through their accounts with gathering worry. Just in the past week, PopCap games has announced it is laying off 50 employees, and OnLive restructured its entire company, laying off half of its staff and giving the finger to its former investors.

Today, Sony Computer Entertainment announced that it will be closing Studio Liverpool, and that its resources will be put into other studios. A statement from Sony said this about the closing:

As part of SCE Worldwide Studios, we do regular reviews to ensure that the resources we have can create and produce high quality, innovative and commercially viable projects in an increasingly competitive market place. As part of this process, we have reviewed and assessed all current and planned projects for the short and medium term and have decided to make some changes to our European Studios.

It has been decided that Liverpool Studio should be closed. Liverpool Studio has been an important part of SCE Worldwide Studios since the outset of PlayStation, and have contributed greatly to PlayStation over the years. Everyone connected with Liverpool Studio, past and present, can be very proud of their achievements.

Studio Liverpool posted the picture you see above to the WipEout 2048 Facebook page, as well as the following farewell message:

As some of you may have heard Sony have chosen to close Studio Liverpool as of today. This page will no longer be maintained by the WipEout Team.

We have loved making every game, every minute and every one of you. Keep the faith, keep loving WipEout.

Thank you for everything, Pilots. It’s been an amazing journey and we’ll miss you.
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Studio Liverpool was most known for the Formula One and Wipeout series of games. It is unclear at this time whether these franchises will survive the closing.