MotorStorm dev looking to PS4

By Tom Bramwell Published 12 December, 2006

And talking about MotorStorm's origins.

MotorStorm developer Evolution Studios is putting plans in place for PlayStation 4 development, according to chief executive Martin Kenwright.

"I know people are looking at PS3 now, and I'm not being glib, but we're actually looking at PS4. I'm thinking where will it be in five years, how will we get there? What will the marketplace be like, the games, and who'll be buying them?" he explained recently to our sister site GamesIndustry.biz.

Part one of that interview deals with MotorStorm's origins, after Evolution has established itself on PS2 largely thanks to its licensed World Rally Championship (WRC) games.

"Me and Phil Harrison sat down at a rally event and thought, what five things can we do for PlayStation 3?" Kenwright recalled.

Between them the pair decided that since they were selling huge quantities in the relatively niche rally market, for the PS3 launch they might as well go after the entire driving genre instead.

"We figured, let's take the least cool sector and make it the coolest. We've got no competition, we're new and fresh, it's 'super-size me' racing. And we're not trying to be a me-too game. Because we've always been first or best."

Kenwright also repeated what Insomniac's Ted Price had said about his company's decision to focus on a new title, Resistance, rather than immediately translating Ratchet & Clank to the new PlayStation: "The only time you can launch a new IP is at the start of a life cycle," Kenwright echoed.

Moreover, MotorStorm was built to break through in the USA, because, "America has no idea about us, and we've done some of the best games you've never heard of."

"The last World Rally title was an incredible game and we thought, 'Wait until America gets a load of [MotorStorm].' So we were on a mission, we really were," said Kenwright. "Sony wasn't even on board at this point, I just went ahead and commissioned it and thought, 'We'll tell them later.' Sometimes you have to, you can't wait around, you've got to take risks."

For more on MotorStorm's genesis, check out part one of the gi.biz interview. Part two will appear later this week.

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About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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