A prominent, but not always reliable leaker is back with another surprise, claiming that PlayStation is currently planning on resurrecting the long-dormant Wipeout franchise with a brand new game. They claim that a new Wipeout is early in production but is known to be planned for the unannounced PlayStation VR 2 headset, as well as the PlayStation 5. The new Wipeout is said to be in development at Sony's XDev studio in Liverpool, England.
The leak comes from XboxEra's Shpeshal_Nick, who says that they're sharing their news out of fear of being "scooped." Unfortunately, that means that they don't have any more information to share about the new Wipeout project. It isn't clear if it's a PSVR2 exclusive running on PS5 or if it'll run on PS5 without VR. It isn't clear if it's intended to be a PSVR2 launch game or if it's a project that's still years out. All Shpeshal_Nick can say is that a VR Wipeout is in development for PS5.
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The Wipeout game franchise has a long and complicated history. The first title was released in 1995 and the most recent full release dropped in 2012 with Wipeout 2048. It's perhaps best known for its fast-paced gameplay, futuristic setting and ship designs, and its techno soundtracks often featuring licensed music from modern performers. Perhaps not coincidentally, the Wipeout franchise was developed by Sony's Studio Liverpool, which closed in 2012, with Sony's XDev as its successor.
Despite having ten games in the Wipeout franchise, including the 2017 Wipeout Omega Collection for PS4, it's never been a hugely popular product. Wipeout games have always reviewed well, though never as well as the initial PS1-era releases, of course. It just struggled to make an impact, especially since it was so often compared to Nintendo's F-Zero franchise unfavorably. To say Sony lost faith in the franchise wouldn't be an understatement, considering it shut Studio Liverpool down. Yet maybe Sony sees new potential in Wipeout as a VR game series.
As for the validity of Shpeshal_Nick's leak, it's difficult to make a proper assessment. Sony's already officially announced its plans for a new PSVR headset for the PS5, as of February 2021. Clearly, Sony's going to want big exclusives for that PSVR2 headset. Wipeout makes as much sense as anything else, in that regard.
All that PlayStation fans can do for now is wait for when Sony is ready to officially unveil its PSVR2 headset. A rumored release date for the headset is said to be holiday 2022, though that could obviously change depending on manufacturing or a dozen other reasons. A PSVR2 reveal would then be expected in early-to-mid 2022, and with it perhaps a Wipeout announcement, too.
Wipeout is rumored to be in development for PSVR2 and PS5.