The game was first announced on April 22, 2003, with SCEE revealing a plot outline, the main characters, and the basic game mechanics. It was also revealed that the game would run off a tweaked version of the "Primal" game engine, with new special effects technology used to produce the game's "cinema-grade effects." Playable demos of a 60% complete build were first shown at the August 2003 Games Convention in Leipzig, with a European release date slated for November. The game was also shown at the September 2003 PlayStation Experience in London.