"We had decided in December that we should refocus our creativity efforts on external studios, rather than internal development. We will be looking to sell our studios, but that doesn't mean that we're immediately putting a 'For Sale' sign on them. They still have important projects to finish for us."

The studios within the stable are some of the best known in the market and include:

• Reflections, based in Newcastle, currently working on Driver 4.
• Melbourne House, based in Australia, working on current gen versions of Test Drive.
• Paradigm, based in Dallas, currently working on Stuntman 2 and Battlezone.
• Shiny Studios, based in Laguna Beach, currently working on one undisclosed project and new versions of Earthworm Jim.
• Eden Studios, based in Lyon, working on Test Drive for next generation systems.