by James Brightman on Tuesday, April 08, 2008
According to a report in Develop, Sega has shut down its racing studio in the U.K., which to date has developed just one game: the Xbox 360 and PS3 remake of Sega Rally. The report cites a former staff member who said that the Solihull-based studio is closed effective immediately.
Sega founded the studio back in 2005 to help the publisher regain a foothold in the racing genre while drawing on the U.K. development sector's racing heritage. At the time, Sega appointed former Codemasters vet Guy Wilday to run the studio.
The racing outfit had grown to over 60 staff, but it's currently not clear, Develop said, if the employees will be laid off or at least offered positions at one of Sega's other U.K. studios, such as The Creative Assembly or Sports Interactive. It's also unclear what the status of the studio's unannounced project is at the moment. Even if the staff leaves Sega, Develop wisely points out that the workers shouldn't have too much trouble finding jobs at other racing-oriented studios in the region, such as Codemasters, Black Rock, Bizarre Creations, Eutechnyx, Evolution, Reflections, Sony Liverpool and Criterion.
GameDaily BIZ has contacted Sega for further information, but has not heard back as of this writing.
[UPDATE] We have now been provided the following statement:
"Regrettably SEGA today announced that it is to commence consultation with a view to the unfortunate closure of the SEGA Racing Studio in Birmingham, UK. The decision is part of a review of SEGA's Western Development Studios to ensure that each studio is a profitable entity in its own right, and unfortunately the SEGA Racing Studio's 5 year plan would not result in a successful return for the SEGA business moving forward. SEGA would like to stress that there will be no changes within their other internal development studios."
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