Psygnosis

From Sega Retro

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.

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 consoles 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