Activision Buys Bizarre Creations - PGR Multi-Platforming?
Well done to the cheeky Liverpool... game developer.
SPOnG was shocked and surprised this afternoon to see that British based, Project Gotham Racing developer, Bizarre Creations has been acquired by Activision.
We were shocked because, well, there goes another independent developer. We were surprised because we would have expected Microsoft to have protected the Xbox exclusivity of the hugely wonderful Project Gotham Racing franchise.
We're also rather intrigued by one of the statements buried inside Bizarre's own announcement of the sale (you can see the whole thing by using the link at the end of this story):
This suggests to us that with a major chunk of funding now coming not from a platform holder - Microsoft for PGR exclusivity - but from a software publisher seeking as many outlets as possible, we might possibly see all Bizarre Creations games going multi-platform in future.
We will report back as soon as we know.
Not that Bizarre Creations is just known for PGR though - we've also had Geometry Wars, The Killing Game Show, The Club and, of course, Metropolis Street Racer among others emerge from its top secret Liverpool English studios.
Of course, the lads at Bizarre are cock'o'hoop about the whole thing, stating:
Then it moves into 'industry reality speak':
Then there's the nuts'n'bolts:
"* Bizarre Creations continues to exist as is. We won't become Activision Liverpool or anything like that.
* We will have absolutely no redundancies.
* All of our teams continue to exist exactly how they are at the moment. Amax team (PGR4) and Shitstorm team (The Club) will move onto new games, whilst our Shared Technology team will use this opportunity to take our experience and tech to new levels and new formats.
* The Activision way of running things is "hands off". Bizarre continue to have creative control over what we do, we still run the studio how we see fit, and we still get to run our own web site and do all sorts of fun community things! :)"
You can read the entire quote right here - and good luck to all concerned says SPOnG.
We were shocked because, well, there goes another independent developer. We were surprised because we would have expected Microsoft to have protected the Xbox exclusivity of the hugely wonderful Project Gotham Racing franchise.
We're also rather intrigued by one of the statements buried inside Bizarre's own announcement of the sale (you can see the whole thing by using the link at the end of this story):
"...we are a truly multiplatform studio now..."
This suggests to us that with a major chunk of funding now coming not from a platform holder - Microsoft for PGR exclusivity - but from a software publisher seeking as many outlets as possible, we might possibly see all Bizarre Creations games going multi-platform in future.
We will report back as soon as we know.
Not that Bizarre Creations is just known for PGR though - we've also had Geometry Wars, The Killing Game Show, The Club and, of course, Metropolis Street Racer among others emerge from its top secret Liverpool English studios.
Of course, the lads at Bizarre are cock'o'hoop about the whole thing, stating:
"The perfect solution for us is to join the ranks of Activision, alongside their other talented studios. It's a pretty incredible chance for Bizarre to improve ourselves and make the most of all the fantastic new opportunities this opens up. Also, given the excellent support Activision offer this can mean only one thing: better games."
Then it moves into 'industry reality speak':
"This is fundamentally a different deal than some you've seen around the industry recently. Bizarre isn't a developer in financial trouble, and we're certainly not looking to be "saved" by a bigger corporation. We're a dev looking to take our games to the next level, and make the absolute best products we can possibly make. Likewise, Activision is not in the business of "buying out" struggling developers either."
Then there's the nuts'n'bolts:
"* Bizarre Creations continues to exist as is. We won't become Activision Liverpool or anything like that.
* We will have absolutely no redundancies.
* All of our teams continue to exist exactly how they are at the moment. Amax team (PGR4) and Shitstorm team (The Club) will move onto new games, whilst our Shared Technology team will use this opportunity to take our experience and tech to new levels and new formats.
* The Activision way of running things is "hands off". Bizarre continue to have creative control over what we do, we still run the studio how we see fit, and we still get to run our own web site and do all sorts of fun community things! :)"
You can read the entire quote right here - and good luck to all concerned says SPOnG.
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Comments
deleted 26 Sep 2007 16:42
1/2
Holy Jebus! PGR on PS3???????
SuperSaiyan4 27 Sep 2007 09:11
2/2
No PGR on crapstation sorry, I own the delaystation and its s**t.
PGR franchise is owned by Microsoft just as Gears of war is, so as Phoenix says 'Get back in your hole grub!'
PGR franchise is owned by Microsoft just as Gears of war is, so as Phoenix says 'Get back in your hole grub!'