Firesprite

How persistence paid off for a family of Studio Liverpool alumni.

- Chris Chilling

As a natural optimist, Firesprite’s Stuart Tilley didn't see the closure of Studio Liverpool coming. But then why would he? Despite suffering a few rounds of redundancies in previous years, the developer seemed in reasonable shape. It had just released Wipeout 2048, one of the biggest-selling and best-reviewed of PS Vita’s launch line-up, and was prototyping future projects when the axe suddenly fell, calling time on one of the UK game industry’s most enduring successes. “It seemed so seismic for such a long-running studio, one that had some really talented people and had just made yet another hit launch title to be closed,” Tilley says. “You normally get a sense when something’s going to go down,” Firesprite’s art director Lee Carus adds. “People start saying to you, ‘Is everything okay?’ or, ‘I’ve heard a few things’. But there was none of that.”

There was only one possible response to such bad news. “Everyone piled down the pub,” Tilley recalls. “Whatever time we started – lunchtime, early afternoon – we stayed there until closing and got…” He’s interrupted by Carus – “It was absolutely magnificent,” – and they both laugh. “It shouldn’t have been, but it was one of the best nights out we’ve ever had,” he continues. “We all went there to try and right the wrongs of the world, then decided, well, we’re not going to fix anything here, so let’s just carry on.”