A shocking rumour started not long ago that developers of PGR and Geometry Wars, Bizarre Creations, was to be shut down. Activision has released a statement reading as follows:
“Over the past three years since our purchase of Bizarre Creations, the fundamentals of the racing genre have changed significantly. Although we made a substantial investment in creating a new IP, Blur, it did not find a commercial audience. Bizarre is a very talented team of developers, however, because of the broader economic factors impacting the market, we are exploring our options regarding the future of the studio, including a potential sale of the business.”
Whatever happens, we wish the team well. We will keep you updated with any further news.
minerwilly
A friend of my one of my best friends works in there , hes a top bloke and worked there since the PGR days .
I think they where all worried and concerned when Activision took over given their track record , lets face it before CoD just what had Activision really done (ok River Raid)
Liverpool has always been at the cutting front of gaming in this country right back as far as Matthew Smith from Software Projects right here on my road became a millionaire at 16 with Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy. I hope that if Activision cut ties with Bizzare that they can go back to either being successful again in their own right or at least work with someone who treats them better . My ten cents is that Blur was better than Spilt Second (particularly the brilliant MP ) but releasing within a Fortnight of Split Second was crazy .
SpikeyMikey23
is that where your name comes from? or are you really this matthew smith guy and we have a millionaire in our midst? if its the latter, ill take a copy of this game please ;)
minerwilly
I blew all the money before I was 20 and ended up on a hippy commune in Holland , worked in a Butchers and fixed bikes for a bit . Still working on Jet Set Willy III . ;)
Tuffcub
Now the odd thing is Matthew Smith did end up in Holland, in a commune.
So either
A) You have a very good knowledge of Mr Smith or
B) You are Matthew Smith. In which case – Yay! (and also get a haircut) :D
cc_star
I agree with your sentiment and I really do hope theres a happy ending. But I fail to see what publisher could have supported a new IP launch (Blur) better, Disney did nothing for Black Rock studios Split/Second, a couple of trailers and that was it, Acti went to town promoting Blur for a month or two… It just didn’t work out, also many developers would give their limbs to work on licenced title like Bond, obviously its a double-edged sword but… still, it’s Bond.
Colinbarr66
Really? I saw loads of Split/Second trailers at the cinema and I’m pretty sure I saw a few on TV. Only saw Blur advertising a couple of times. The problem with Blur was it’s timing with other releases and the lack of a price drop. It never dropped price for ages (I know, I was too cheap to buy it). Only pretty recently it started to drop, Split/Second dropped to £25 after a week and I know plenty of people that bought it just on the price.
solidsteven
Didn’t activision make a couple billion dollar with COD? surely they can afford to keep this studio or has it become tradition to close a studio shortly after a COD release?O_O
DJ-Katy
I’m really a fan of Bizarre Creations, they’ve made quite a few good titles in recent years.
Releasing Blur 7 days after Split/Second was retarded and completely Activision’s fault, whether Split/Second flopped or not, they couldn’t predict that, it is just good business sense to avoid releasing a game with the same genre as a competitor’s game at the same time. FFXIII vs White Knight Chronicles anyone?
I own both of the games so my two cents are they were both good, I preferred Split/Second’s single player and Blur’s mp, but both were just different enough to warrant a play of each. As far as advertising goes, I’ve seen loads of Blur advertising, absolutely nothing for SS.
GranTurismo-Disciple
That was bull!! The part about bizzare creations and a few comments from a so called millionaire, i have heard it all now