The founder of Imagine Software, Psygnosis and Evolution Studios, Ian Hetherington, has died after a short illness.
Hetherington was part of the team that launched PlayStation: he and the Psygnosis team directly influenced the technology that went into that first console. As the head of Psygnosis, he worked on major titles including Lemmings and Wipeout.
Hetherington co-founded the short-lived Imagine Software in 1982, before forming Psygnosis in 1984 alongside David Lawson and Jonathan Ellis. He stayed at the company until 1998, when he left to form Evolution Studios, another outfit based in the Liverpool area that went on to create a series of hit racing games, including WRC and MotorStorm.
He left in 2007 and has since held senior roles at Realtime Worlds, Midoki and Immotion Group. He most recently appeared in a documentary marking 30 years of Lemmings.
The news follows the death of fellow Psygnosis and Imagine Software founder David Lawson earlier this year.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-12-16-games-industry-pioneer-ian-hetherington-dies