New PlayStation studio will focus exclusively on Project Morpheus VR games

By Kris Wouk May 20, 2015

Sony Project Morpheus — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The VR wars are heating up. We’ve seen the hardware that various companies have in the works, and while each model has its own pros and cons, it now looks like what it’s really going to come down to is the software.

Similar to how a strong game library can help an underpowered game console become a best seller, the best VR headset in the world isn’t going to sell if customers can’t do anything fun with it. Sony seems to be very aware of this, and is currently hiring for a VR-exclusive studio to make games for its Project Morpheus, Eurogamer reports.

A number of job listings on Sony’s PlayStation Jobs site offer “an exciting and rare opportunity to join an ambitious new studio to create original games exclusively for Project Morpheus, PlayStation’s VR platform.”

The listing doesn’t offer many details on what those projects will be, but does reveal the new studio’s name, North West Studio. “Based in the North West of England, we aim to build a small but highly experienced team who want to build great games to showcase this exciting new immersive technology.”

For now that seems to be all that Sony is willing to share on the project. “We are still in the early planning phase with this studio, and are currently focused on hiring the right team,” a spokesperson told Eurogamer. “We look forward to sharing more news and formal announcements in the near future.”

Sources told Eurogamer that some DriveClub developer Evolution Studios staff are involved with the new studio, which will be based in Manchester.

As with the Oculus Rift, Sony’s Project Morpheus is set to launch in 2016. While Sony hasn’t shared much of what its E3 press conference on June 15 will show, it’s expected that Project Morpheus will occupy a fairly large part of the spotlight.

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Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…

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