As with the first installment, "Wipeout 2097" was developed by Liverpudlian developer Psygnosis and the promotional art was designed by Sheffield-based The Designers Republic. The development cycle ran for seven months. To cater for the increase in "Wipeout" players, an easier learning curve was introduced whilst keeping the difficulty at the top end for the experienced gamers. The game was originally intended as a tracks add-on for the original "Wipeout". No sequel had been planned, but Andy Satterthwaite (who worked on the MS-DOS version of the original) was asked by Psygnosis to apply for the role "internal producer". He did, and during the interview, asked to do a sequel to "Wipeout", but instead ended up developing extra tracks. The add-on was titled "Wipeout 2097" because Psygnosis did not want to give the impression that it was a full sequel. In the United States, it went by the name of "Wipeout XL" because it was felt that American players would not understand the concept of the game being set a century in the future. The American title was originally to be "Wipeout XS" (for "Excess"), but it was pointed out that XS could also stand for "extra small". Satterthwaite ended up with a team of two coders (two of whom were new), six artists, and Nick Burcombe.