Sony London Suspends Production On The Getaway, Eight Days

Sony London Studios has announced that it has reallocated its development resources away from The Getaway and Eight Days, both previously in production as PlayStation 3 titles. Planned as the third entry to Sony's The Getaway series, the PlayStation 3 release for The Getaway was being considered for a possible film adaptation, according to screenplay writer Katie Ellwood in a March interview with UK entertainment site Den of Geek. Despite earlier rumors of the game being canceled, an April article in UK newspaper The Guardian reported that London Studios devoted a small team to pre-production on The Getaway. The group was to be joined by the bulk of Eight Days' development team once the third-person shooter was completed. The team working on Eight Days, which was announced at Sony's E3 2006 press conference, was said to have begun "ramping up to full production." The decision to stop production on The Getaway and Eight Days comes after the May promotion of Shuhei Yoshida from senior vice president of SCEA to president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide. Speaking on Yoshida's appointment, SCEI CEO and president Kaz Hirai said, "Under the leadership of Yoshida, who has proven track record in managing creative talent, SCE WWS will accelerate the software development for the PlayStation 3 and PSP platforms and vigorously expand the gaming market." Said Sony London Studios in a statement released earlier today: "It has been agreed that production of both Eight Days and The Getaway will cease immediately due to the redistribution of resources and budget. This decision was made following an internal review of all games and it was deemed that with the incredibly strong list of exclusive first party titles coming up both this year and in the near future, [resources] should be reallocated to enhance those projects closer to completion."