Sony Closes Drive Club Developer

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Drive Club has had its fair share of “bumps in the road,” but shutting down a Sony’s Evolution Studios developer is still sad to see.

Sony confirmed the news to GamesIndustry.biz earlier today:

…We have reviewed and assessed all current projects and plans for the short and medium term and have decided to make some changes to the European studios structure. As a result, it has been decided that Evolution Studio will close. It is regrettable that this decision will lead to compulsory redundancies.

Unfortunately, the studio had also seen significant layoffs exactly a year ago. 55 employees were let go on March 23rd of 2015, not long after the official release of Drive Club.

Numerous employees from Evolution Studios have reached out through Twitter and other social media platforms to express their appreciation, and of course disappointment around the news.

It’s the end of an incredible era for #EvolutionStudios. Thanks to all of you: https://t.co/YYPJNvbMxd #DRIVECLUB pic.twitter.com/ERQiQ48SGR

— Jamie Brayshaw (@PhenomEvolution) March 22, 2016

There’s no indication just yet as to what will happen with Drive Club, but the game still has a decent following on the PS4. There was even a showcase of a VR version of the game shown at GDC last week (seen in the video below). It’s always sad to see people in the industry lose their jobs, and especially studios that did such great work. Here’s to wishing all the best to the Evolution Studios crew in their future.