Sony cancels "Eight Days" and "The Getaway"

[FrieChamp]

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced that it has stopped production on two PlayStation 3 titles that were in development at the Sony London Studio - Eight Days and The Getaway.

A statement from the Corporation read as follows: "It has been agreed that production of both Eight Days and The Getaway will cease immediately due to the redistribution of resources and budget.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/s ... he-getaway

Wasn't JamesL working on one of these? Any comments?

[Furyo]

James had shown us that very first teaser for Eight Days back in early 2006...that's how long that project was

[2d-chris]

It's a shame when titles so many developers have worked on get canned Chances are I know a few of them.

[General Vivi]

NO JAMES!!!!!!!!

edit: man.... sony sucks balls

[JamesL]

Hey guys, not been on here for a few days. Mostly been out getting pissed and commiserating the end of what was for me almost two and a half years work.

The canning was in the end a business decision, and no reflection on the quality of the project, though this fact doesn't help the team of 60 plus people who have been pouring their souls into the title...

I'm still working at Sony right now on an unannounced project, but things like this make you carefully reconsider your options. The three to fours hours a day commuting into central London is considerably tougher now that I know that neither of these games will never see the light of day (I've worked on both titles during my time here).

It's gutting, especially as the decision was entirely nothing to do with the quality of the title, which I think is the best game by far I have ever worked on. All those environments, levels, characters, systems, animations and VFX essentially written off. It's enough cry over...

[kleinluka]

Man that really blows!!! I am really sorry.

If I were you though, I'd save what I could and put it in my portfolio That way it's not all wasted work..

[Pericolos0]

holy shit thats really horrible james, you're living one of my worst nightmares . Big condoleances, and hopefully better luck in the future

[Mazy]

Really sorry to hear that James I gotta admit that my impression of Eight Days is.....well nothing apart from the trailer they showed a couple of years ago, but it sucks under any circumstances to have all your work lost like this

[2d-chris]

You Know, I worked on a game that was being published by Sony that was dropped just before full development started, It wasnt 2.5 years work but at least a year. Like Klein said though some good can come out of it if you use content for your personal portfolio. One talented artist I know has worked in the games industry for 6 years and still didnt have a published title :X now that is rotten luck?

I'm not dissing Sony particually, as canned projects are common before full development, but that far in it really must suck.

[Furyo]

I can only imagine how much of a toll this commute can take on your life. God knows I'd never cope with that much time off my day. Sincerely sorry for that misfortune, however you can probably find that during the project you got a lot better at your job and may have developed other skills. Nothing ever goes to total waste I think. Like others said, if Sony aren't a bunch of jerks you can probably use some of your work in a portfolio.

[Zacker]

This must indeed be some quite sad news for James...

[JamesL]

Cheers guys.

I think I should be able to use a bunch of stuff for a portfolio, Sony are generally pretty good to their employees so I can use work made her to help if/when I move on. As it goes I don't know how essential it will actually be though, every job I have ever gotten in the industry was due to people I knew and had worked with previously recommending me. This looks likely to be the route into my next job too.

Regarding the project itself it's a real shame that more of the game wasn't exposed to the public. The title had masses of content ready and the alpha was far in advance of anything shown in '06. I guess it's a stark reminder to myself and everyone else looking in, that the games business is just that. A business.

Still life moves on and you never know, I might even end up working with some Mapcorians next

[Thrik]

At the very worst you can just use it in a private portfolio. No reason for your employer to ever know.

[Minos]

That sucks James, you have my condolences. But yeah, look at the bright side, you are probably a dozen times better now than when you started working on those titles

[Zeta]

ouch