Driveclub and MotorStorm Creators Reveal Wushu Studios

Driveclub and MotorStorm have been two of Sony's most influential racing franchises in recent memory, outside of Gran Turismo. The developers behind them have banded together to form a new game studio called Wushu Studios.  Some of its talent consists ofstudio founder Alan McDermott (former Evolution Studios, PlayStation), design director Nigel Kershaw (former Evolution Studios, PlayStation, Deep Silver, Revolution Software), and art director Stuart Trevor (former Evolution Studios, PlayStation).

Surprisingly, Wushu Studios' first effort will not be a racing game. Instead, it's a brand new IP set in the sci-fi genre. "[W]e can confirm that prototyping began in September 2017 using Unreal Engine 4," the studio claimed in a prepared statement.

“Our core team at Wushu have worked together closely on numerous projects over the years so there was no downtime in figuring out how to work together, we just fell straight into a groove kicking around game ideas that appealed to us as players and developers”, said studio lead McDermott.

“We firmly believed in the idea that our initial concepts needed to be gamepad experiences as quickly as possible, so we turned to Unreal Engine for it’s amazing rapid prototyping capabilities. This approach has helped us figure out which of our concepts would allow us to flex our creative muscle most. It’s definitely not what people will be expecting to see from us; it’s absolutely not a racing game!”

Operating out of Liverpool, McDermott confirmed that the team is currently self-funded but is open to partnering with other companies as development progresses on its maiden title.

“The company is currently self-funded and our 11 strong team are working towards sharing our new IP with potential partners at GDC in San Francisco in March," McDermott tells Gadgets 360.

"Whilst we’re open to any and all discussions that could help us realize our vision for the game, our current objective is to team up with a partner that can not only provide additional funding for development, but that also has experience and established profile in the industry."