Psygnosis and Evolution Studios founder Ian Hetherington dies Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Psygnosis and Evolution Studios founder Ian Hetherington dies A UK video game industry veteran. News by Tom Phillips Deputy Editor Updated on 17 Dec 2021 40 comments Ian Hetherington, a pioneer of the British video games industry, has died. Hetherington was a founder of Imagine Software, Pysgnosis and Evolution Studios, and worked on games such as WipEout, Lemmings and Shadow of the Beast. Ian Hetherington. At Psygnosis, Hetherington's vision of how the future of video games might evolve helped position the studio as a key early partner for PlayStation - and led to the studio's work on the first PlayStation developer kits. In 1998, Hetherington moved on from Pysgnosis to found MotorStorm and WRC developer Evolution Studios, where he worked until 2007. After that, Hetherington served stints at Realtime Worlds, mobile game maker Midoki and VR outfit Immotion Group. A GamesIndustry.biz report on his passing includes numerous recollections from past colleagues and peers. Here's one, from Digital Extremes' Richard Browne, who worked with Hetherington in the early nineties: "Ian knew where the future was headed, he knew we'd have demos like the UE5 Matrix one even then; he invested insane money... All of this led to Sony, to our first glimpse of the PlayStation before anyone else. "Ian fought for every pound we invested in development. Psygnosis was totally run by development and little by marketing... More games. Better games. More studios - we expanded first in Liverpool, then Chester, Gloucester, London. Every team had its own identity but we all shared the Psygnosis ethos of quality. "He gave so many individuals the kickstart to incredible careers. Dave Jones and the DMA team. Martyn Chudley and Bizarre Creations. Jon Burton and Andy Ingram of Travellers Tales. Martin Edmondson and Paul Howarth at Reflections. The list goes on and on. Small teams he'd move all obstacles out of the way of so they could focus purely on writing the games of their imaginations. He was Willy Wonka!" Hetherington's fellow Imagine Software and Psygnosis founder David Lawson sadly also passed away this year, in August. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More News Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 4 Atari will hold RollerCoaster Tycoon rights for another decade Ups and downs. 7 Lady Dimitrescu will be a tad smaller in Resident Evil Village's Mercenaries DLC Level the playing field. 1 Overwatch 2 suffers another DDoS attack and character roster bugs Mei Mei. 13 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 4 Genshin Impact Path of Gleaming Jade dates, login event rewards Including other anniversary rewards and how to claim them. Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store