Psygnosis

Psygnosis
Founded: 1984
Defunct: 2012
T-series code: T-113
Merged into: Sony (1993)
Headquarters: Liverpool, England, United Kingdom

Psygnosis (rebranded SCE Studio Liverpool in 1999) was a prominent development studio who developed many games on the Sega Mega Drive, Sega Mega-CD and Sega Saturn.

History

Born from the ashes of Imagine Software, an 8-bit game company, in 1984, Psygnosis was far ahead of its competitors. The company started developing games on several M68000 systems far before 16-bit became the norm (likely why their expertise was second to Sega in the Mega Drive and Saturn age). Psygnosis even produced its own development tools, such as ASM68K, for these platforms.

Psygnosis was ultimately bought by Sony Electric Publishing in 1993, as their main cash cow, the Commodore 64, was going under due to financial troubles within the company. Until 1999, the company was still known as Psygnosis, but Sony Computer Entertainment Europe ultimately renamed them to SCE Studio Liverpool, which they developed until their closure by Sony in 2012.

Softography

Master System

• Shadow of the Beast (1991)
• Bram Stoker's Dracula (1993)

Mega Drive

• Shadow of the Beast (1992)
• The Legend of Galahad (1992)
• Shadow of the Beast II (1992)
• Bram Stoker's Dracula (1993)
• Fatal Rewind (1993)
• 3 Ninjas Kick Back (1994)
• Lemmings 2: The Tribes (1994)
• No Escape (1994)
• The Second Samurai (1994)
• Puggsy (1994)
• Wiz 'n' Liz (1994)
• The Misadventures of Flink (1994)
• Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse (1995)
• Toy Story (1996)
• Shadow of the Beast III (unreleased)
• Hardcore (unreleased)
• Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame (unreleased)
• Globdule (unreleased)
• Whizz (unreleased)
• ResQ (unreleased)
• Walker (unreleased)
• Bill's Tomato Game (unreleased)

Game Gear

• Bram Stoker's Dracula (1993)

Mega-CD

• Bram Stoker's Dracula (1993)
• Mary Shelley's Frankenstein / Bram Stoker's Dracula (1994)
• Novastorm (1994)
• The Misadventures of Flink (1994)
• Puggsy (1994)
• Microcosm (1994)
• Shadow of the Beast II (1994)
• Sensible Soccer (1994)
• Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse (1994)
• Hardcore (unreleased)

Saturn

• Wipeout (1996)
• 3D Lemmings (1996)
• Destruction Derby (1996)
• Discworld (1996)
• Manx TT Super Bike (1997)
• Krazy Ivan (1997)
• Assault Rigs (1997)
• Wipeout 2097 (1998)
• Destruction Derby 2 (unreleased)
• Sentient (unreleased)
• Adidas Power Soccer (unreleased)
• Tenka (unreleased)
• G Police (unreleased)

Windows PC

• Manx TT Super Bike (1997)

References

NEC Retro has more information related to Psygnosis.