Cancelled WipEout PS4 game was going to feature car-like ships

WipEout is a seminal part of PlayStation history. Its thrilling anti-gravity racing, stylish presentation and pumping soundtrack by CoLD SToRAGE made it a hit on the original PlayStation and a cultural phenomenon.

Several sequels and spin-offs followed in the 1990s and 2000s, culminating in 2017 with WipEout Omega Collection, a PlayStation 4 compilation game. Before that, the last new entry was the 2012 PlayStation Vita spin-off WipEout 2048, while the last home console instalment was the PlayStation 3’s WipEout HD, released in 2008.

Spiritual successors like the underappreciated RedOut 2 and Pacer have helped fill the anti-gravity racer void. However, it transpires that Sony’s Studio Liverpool was planning to take the series in a new direction with an official WipEout sequel.

As reported by Time Extension, a cancelled WipeOut game has been uncovered in WipEout Futurism, a new book celebrating the history of the anti-gravity racing franchise.

Credit: Read-Only Memory / Studio Liverpool / Time Extension

Over a decade ago, Eurogamer reported that Studio Liverpool was working on a new “dramatically different” WipEout game for PS4. Before it was cancelled, the project was reportedly “far along” in development for between 12 and 18 months.

The book reveals this project was known as WipEout Zero. Studio Liverpool envisioned a more accessible WipEout game based on a “rival” anti-gravity racing league. WipeOut games were notoriously difficult, but Zero’s wider tracks and easier controls would be more welcoming for new players.

Traditionally, WipEout games feature futuristic spacecraft that float above the track. In an attempt to appeal to traditional car racing game fans, WipEout Zero’s ship designs, on the other hand, were inspired by real-world cars. As shown in concept art from the book, the cars were covered in decals like the bike in the Akira science-fiction anime.

“The ship designs became very car-like,” Lead Designer Karl Jones explained to Time Extension. “They were still anti-gravity – so no wheels – but at a glance, they looked like futuristic cars, not spaceships.”

Credit: Read-Only Memory / Studio Liverpool / Time Extension

“We thought that would make a big difference to people’s perception that it is actually a racing game. Tracks were so much wider and they were mainly on roads, which again helped that relatability that we needed so much.”

While there were no weapons, Jones explained how the cars “articulated to react to the ground and absorb impacts” and could attack rivals with “a very short-range melee attack” that was “a bit like a pinball bumper.”    

As development continued, Studio Liverpool created a concept video showing “cars starting up, testing their systems, lining up and then heading off into a race through the streets and across stretches of water in a future Tokyo.”

Sadly, WipeOut Zero was cancelled after Sony closed Studio Liverpool in 2012. Since then, the franchise has been dormant, apart from the 2015 re-release of WipEout HD and 2048 in the PS4’s Omega Collection.

It’s a shame, as it sounds like Zero would have taken the anti-gravity racer in an interesting new direction that would have perhaps resonated with more players. Looking back, Jones was “gutted” that Zero never reached the finish line as it was “showing so much promise, so early on.”

Would you have liked to see a WipeOut game with car-like ships? Let us know in the comments below.