One of the longest-lived game development houses in all of Europe, Studio Liverpool, was abruptly closed by parent company Sony this morning. All games in development at the studio have been cancelled, affecting what an unnamed source told Eurogamer includes a Wipeout game that had been in development for 12 to 18 months and a "Splinter Cell-style game," both planned as PS4 launch titles.

"Liverpool Studio has been an important part of SCE Worldwide Studios since the outset of PlayStation, and have contributed greatly to PlayStation over the years," the company said in a statement. "Everyone connected with Liverpool Studio, past and present, can be very proud of their achievements. However, it was felt that by focusing our investment plans on other Studios that are currently working on exciting new projects, we would be in a stronger position to offer the best possible content for our consumers."

Sony will retain the rights to the Wipeout franchise, though it's unclear what plans it has for the series past quality Vita launch title Wipeout 2048, Studio Liverpool's final release. The studio space itself will be repurposed to house other Sony departments.

Studio Liverpool got its start in 1984 as an independent developer/publisher called Psygnosis, releasing moderate PC hits like Obliterator and Shadow of the Beast throughout the '80s before achieving much greater notoriety in the '90s for publishing DMA Designs' Lemmings titles.

Sony Publishing's acquisition of Psygnosis in 1993 would help secure some key franchises for the new and unestablished PlayStation, giving the system not just successful futuristic racer WipeOut but also Destruction Derby, G-Police, and the (mostly forgotten) Colony Wars series (though Wipeout and Destruction Derby games did eventually show up on other systems). The developer was fully folded into Sony Computer Entertainment and renamed as Studio Liverpool in 1999, maintaining a focus on Wipeout and Formula One titles in the years since.

Studio Liverpool's shuttering follows Sony's closure of Redmond-based MAG and SOCOM developer Zipper Interactive in March, and Warwickshire, England-based Pursuit Force developer Bigbig studios in January. The company still maintains 13 distinct studios worldwide, including four around the UK.