Advertisement
Bizarre acquired by Activision News
PC
PSP
DS
Xbox 360
PlayStation 3
Wii
News
by
Tom Bramwell
Bizarre Creations has been acquired by Activision and is about to set to work on a pair of new games - one racing, one character-based.
In an announcement on its website this afternoon, the Liverpool-based studio described the deal as "fundamentally different" to other recent examples.
"Bizarre isn't a developer in financial trouble, and we're certainly not looking to be 'saved' by a bigger corporation," the company said.
"We're a developer looking to take our games to the next level, and make the absolute best products we can possibly make."
The studio will continue to be known as Bizarre Creations and there will be no redundancies, while existing products like Project Gotham Racing 4 - published by Microsoft - will continue to be supported post-release.
"Our goal at Bizarre Creations has always been to do all we can to nurture our creative and passionate teams, who excel at and enjoy what they do," Bizarre's managing director Martyn Chudley said in a statement.
"Activision's independent studio model will continue giving us creative freedom to build exciting new brands. Their financial support and marketing prowess will also enable us to build upon the commercial success that we currently enjoy, and take the company - and our games - to an even higher level."
Activision CEO Robert Kotick described Bizarre as "the leading independent developer with a proven track record in developing highly successful and influential original properties, especially in the racing field".
"They are one of the most innovative and creative studios in the industry, and we are very excited to welcome this talented creative team to Activision," he added.
Although terms of the deal were not disclosed, both parties insist the studio will be left largely to its own devices and that as a result of the deal Bizarre will now operate as a "truly multiplatform studio".
Advertisement
Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!
Poster
|
Inquisitor
[mod]
26/09/07 @ 15:15
0
What the hell?
Strange that MS didn't want a bit of that, PGR is one of their premier titles surely? |
|
Britesparc
26/09/07 @ 15:18
0
I imagine MS owns the PGR brand, so Bizarre couldn't take it to PS3 or anything. I imagine they'll bring in another developer to do PGR5.
But I agree: I would have thought MS would have snapped them up. I guess it's coz Bizarre wants to be seen as a multiplatform studio, not just an MS subsidiary. |
|
The Bodybuilder
26/09/07 @ 15:27
0
This feels like such bad news for the PGR brand.
On one hand, bizzare could go back to the "MSR" brand, on the other, that means PGR may be dead (no other team can do it like bizzare). |
|
0
I imagine MS owns the PGR brand, so Bizarre couldn't take it to PS3 or anything. I imagine they'll bring in another developer to do PGR5.
If that's the case they'll probably do what they did when they moved MSR 2 (PGR1) to the Xbox and call it something else.
Edited 2 times,
most recently on 26/09/07 @ 16:28
|
|
kangarootoo
26/09/07 @ 15:38
0
@Bertie
They don't have to be struggling. Activision could have just decided they wanted to buy them, made a good offer, and the diretors said "yeah, we'll have some of that dosh and investment thanks very much". |
|
0
Well I think they will regret it in the end but its up to them if they want more cash, as a gamer though I just know quality will drop when they cant focus on one uber version of their next IPs. Shame that, PGR4 might be the last too(no way is it going to another console - MS funded it and are in the process of publishing it now) atleast theres a good chance it might go out on its highest point, PGR2 and perhaps 4 being the highlights(much better than MSR was btw).
Really think MS should have made a better offer, perhaps they didnt see it coming either amidst the Halo3 hype? |
|
kissthestick
26/09/07 @ 16:04
0
They're already multiplatform surely? The Club's multiplatform isn't it?
yea, MS only wanted them for their PGR series and i guess the odd XBLA title here and there, MS never owned them |
|
0
Come on though they do owe alot of their success in recent years to their work with MS(MS have had that effect on alot of the partners theyve worked with so far some great games have come of it which is why Im picking up a 360 this year)... this will have pissed them off no doubt I think MS should start buying more now after this, people only complain when its MS doing the buying but look what happened when they listened to the moaners(PGR deed after this next one).
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 26/09/07 @ 17:16
|
|
kangarootoo
26/09/07 @ 16:14
0
@Calgon
"as a gamer though I just know quality will drop when they cant focus on one uber version of their next IPs" That isn't always the case though. The core racing team could remain as is, they could hire more people to do the other franchise, and everyone could benefit from better investment in tools and a more adaptable staff situation overall. These things usually come down to management quality. A well managed studio can develop several projects alongside each other without losing individual focus, a poorly managed studio can barely produce a single one. The creations of BZ thus far suggest to me their management works pretty well, so lets wait and see what comes from them in the future. Also, purely from a stability standpoint, having only one project in a studio is a very risky situation to be in however successful that project line has been in the past. Eggs and baskets, etc. The only real risk I see from this is that a new stakeholder could bring their own vision for hos the franchise should move forward, and that vision might be bollox (its amazing how much self belief controlling the puse strings creates in people who have no experience in their chosen field of meddling). |
|
0
kangarootoo @ ah maybe but it seems more often than not it shows when a games exclusive they are that bit better than the multiplatform offerings... other than that I dont know if this will result in improvement or the opposite. I like the team they have there anyway so hopefully it all turns out well.
|
|
0
Maybe microsoft are still feeling the disappointment of buying rare and wasnt prepared to do the same here MS seem to be buying 'franchise exlusives' (such as gears) and timed exlusives (such as bioshock, dirt ect) rather than buying out the entire developer. The risk is that in situations such as this you may keep the brand but loose the developer. Now if MS want bizarre to develop PGR5 they have to get the ok from activision.
I just cant see that happening . . . |
|
Britesparc
26/09/07 @ 16:52
0
I think MS not buying them is more to do with them wanting to go multiplatform than anything else. I seem to remember an interview where they said they wanted to focus more and more on multiplatform development. Didn't sound like they wanted to be tied to the 360.
Turn 10 doing PGR5 would be quite good: I'd quite like Forza's career structure with PGR's handling and Kudos :-) |
|
Eighthours
26/09/07 @ 16:55
0
MS does own the PGR IP, so perhaps they could get Turn 10 to do a sequel.
Good idea. The PGR series won't be developed by Bizarre anymore if MS decides to carry on with the series - it's just been confirmed over on the PGR4 forum. "Our games will now be published through Activision, as they are our parent company. So in terms of PGR, this is Microsoft's call now, because it's their game. They may decide to do another game, but it won't be developed by Bizarre Creations. We have new titles to start work on now, once our current games are finished... :) We will, of course, continue to support our PGR fans through our forums... Stubbs" |
|
rhinoxious
26/09/07 @ 17:33
0
Mybe they were worried that if they sold to MS they would have to make PGR forever and ever and ever and ever.
They might as well have got a job at EA instead! Sounds like a good thing to me, I really like PGR, but I prefer having british developers with cash and the ability to pick their own projects and platforms. That's how we got MSR and PGR in the first place.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 26/09/07 @ 18:34
|
|
0
rhinoxious well being bought by anyone isnt a good thing to you either then in that case because they have less choice now(they probably wont be doing any exclusives which both you mentioned were) as developers than they did when they were independently working with many publishers. I prefered that scenario personally and yes I would have liked them to continue on PGR, but it might turn out ok, still cause for concern IMO though.
Would it have to be coded from scratch, Do MS own the code or just the brand name?. I read somewhere that the Forza and PGR teams have actually been sharing code between projects this time around, which would be a positive way of looking at it but I still dont think it will be the same without Bizzarre doing it though its more than just the code.
Edited 2 times,
most recently on 26/09/07 @ 18:49
|
|
MasterGrief
26/09/07 @ 18:48
0
Could care less TBH if PGR5 comes to PS3 or not
GT5 all the way baby :) |
|
0
Come on this makes perfect financial sense for both parties, especially with the way things are now. Activision get a new raft of IP's to add to their already impressive collection, and with Bizzare's record these are sure to be money-spinners. Bizzare lose some of that danger faced by stand-alone deveolpers when a game doesn't do as well as predicted. Activision would take the financial brunt of any losses. The amount of money it takes to make games these days, being part of an EA or a Codemasters or an Activision is the best way to assure the company's future for a long while.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 26/09/07 @ 21:11
|
|
The Bodybuilder
26/09/07 @ 20:33
0
>"SEGA own the MSR IP, it's why the name was changed to PGR for the Xbox launch. "
It came to me soon after I made the post. Either way, PGR/MSR without bizzare is like halo without bungie. As far as I'm concerned, PGR is now dead (after 4). I can't imagine anyone doing it better than bizzare. |
|
SeesThroughAll
26/09/07 @ 23:18
0
Hmmm... Does this mean Geometry Wars is going to come out on the PSN?
|
|
0
Koopa Trooper Really then why does 360 perform at higher framerates or with more geometry on screen than PS3 in so many games? Thought about Textures, memory achitecture? Poor thought out statement on your part, some nice pre-rendered bitmaps and backdrops with use of the Blu-Ray space perhaps but its a slower drive and the memory setup aint as good(I prefer real-time/full 3D graphics anyway).
PGR was great while it lasted, makes the 4th installment more important now sort of. Did someone say they only care about GT5? Fair enough, me? Nah I'll stick with PGR4 thanks its actually good fun, looks better, has more fresh ideas, has a bit of personality about it and it doesnt take them 4 years to finish it... lets not forget "teh M0|2B!K3S!"
Edited 3 times,
most recently on 27/09/07 @ 02:17
|
|
Mentalist(air)
27/09/07 @ 12:31
0
@Koopa Trooper
The Xbox 360 hasn't really pushed the boundaries of racers very far, I suspect it is a poor architecture for racers. Of course, only TEH POWER OF TEH CELL will enable developers to innovate in racing games. You are such an incredible fool. I shall be interested to see where MSR/PGR goes now, since it's moved publisher once again. I really liked the way all of the cars in the original MSR cost less than 40 grand. I've actually got a car that was in MSR. I just hope that Activision doesn't make the series go all urban-street-nighttime-fast-and-the-furious-bollocks like Juiced and the NFS series. |
Want to comment on this article? Log in, or register!
