Bizarre acquired by Activision
New racing and character-based games in the offing.
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".