The Wipeout N64 Release That Nearly Tore Sony and Psygnosis Apart

Here is a bit of PlayStation history that is equal parts funny, spicy, and very inside baseball: the studio that helped give the PS1 its cool-kid identity — Psygnosis — nearly blew up its relationship with Sony in the late 90s by dropping a Wipeout game on Nintendo 64. Yes, the same Psygnosis that Sony later folded and shut down. Buckle up.

The studio that made PlayStation feel like PlayStation

Sony snapped up UK developer/publisher Psygnosis in the early 90s, right before the first PlayStation launched. Then Psygnosis did the thing: Wipeout, Colony Wars, and the Formula 1 games helped define what the PS1 felt like — especially in Europe. Sleek, moody, very cool. So imagine Sony’s face when a Nintendo 64 version of Wipeout turned up in the middle of the console war.

The flashpoint: Wipeout 64

At a recent PlayStation anniversary event, former PlayStation PR boss Alan Welsman told The Game Business he was as stunned as anyone back in the day. The newsletter’s written recap softened the language, but in the video he really lets it rip:

"What the fuck was Psygnosis doing on the N64? Traitors."

Context matters: he said it jokingly while pointing straight at former Psygnosis PR lead Glen O'Connell in the room. But the joke lands because there was some real friction behind it.

The simmering tension before the explosion

Back then, gaming mags were buzzing that Sony wanted to sell Psygnosis. The chatter blamed the studio’s multiplatform hustle — making games not just for PlayStation and PC, but also the Sega Saturn. That neat little narrative has been contested over time, and even then Psygnosis was considered too valuable to offload. Still, the talk left a mark.

How Psygnosis saw it

O'Connell’s take: yes, Psygnosis was aligned with Sony, but the company ran with a lot of autonomy because the founders prized independence. That’s why the first two Wipeout games launched on PlayStation but also landed on Saturn — and in his view, Sony didn’t see that as a problem.

Wipeout 64 was different. O'Connell says that at one E3, the game just showed up — literally appearing on Nintendo’s booth — and a bunch of Sony folks were looking around like, wait, what? That surprise came out of Psygnosis keeping the freedom to make the games they wanted on the platforms they chose. It also meant that the studio’s maverick streak would later clash with the bigger Sony machine.

Quick timeline

• Early 90s: Sony acquires Psygnosis ahead of the PS1 launch.
• Mid 90s: Wipeout, Colony Wars, and Formula 1 help define PlayStation’s identity (especially in Europe). The first two Wipeouts are PlayStation-first, but they also hit Sega Saturn.
• Pre-1998: Magazine rumors swirl that Sony wants to sell Psygnosis, supposedly over its Saturn and PC output; that version of events is now disputed, and the studio was seen as too valuable to dump.
• 1998: Wipeout 64 materializes at E3 on Nintendo’s booth, catching Sony off guard. Welsman later jokes about it on camera; O'Connell explains the autonomy that enabled it — and the headaches that followed inside Sony.
• Later: That independence didn’t save Psygnosis in the long run. Sony ultimately shut the studio down years after it helped build the PS1’s vibe.

Why this is fascinating

This is one of those stories that explains the odd contradictions of the PS1 era. Sony wanted PlayStation to feel cutting-edge, and Psygnosis delivered that in spades. But the same renegade energy that made Wipeout a cultural calling card also led to moments — like Wipeout 64 showing up at Nintendo’s E3 booth — that made Sony see red. Inside baseball? Totally. Also the kind of chaos that created a whole generation’s aesthetic.