SCEE has announced the signing of an exclusive publishing deal with UK-based Evolution Studios, developers of the World Rally Championship (WRC) series, which should see the group developing for PS2, PSP and quite possibly the PlayStation 3. According to Phil Harrison, SCEE's executive vice president for development;

"We've enjoyed an unparalleled working relationship with Evolution Studios over the past 4 years and the quality of their work on the WRC franchise can be measured by the millions of loyal fans who love the series. This strategic alliance allows our organisations to work even more closely together as we prepare for the combined challenges of new formats and expanded game design horizons."

Evolution Studios will now develop the WRC games exclusively for Sony's consoles, namely the PlayStation 2 and PSP. In addition, Evolution Studios are currently advertising for next-generation positions, suggesting that we’ll see the WRC series migrate onto the Playstation 3 at some stage.

The studio is currently working on World Rally Championship 4 for the PlayStation 2 , which should be release in October, and recently announced the development of a PSP title at its satellite studio BigBig. SCE continues to expand its umbrella of second-party developers, working with Guerilla Games to have Killzone exclusively released on the PS2. With the PSP being release in Japan later this year and the PlayStation 3 on the horizon, the company will likely continue to build second-party support for its upcoming platforms.