Bizarre's Blur skids to 2010

By Robert Purchese Published 21 September, 2009

Multiplayer needs more time.

Activision has pushed Bizarre Creations' new racing game Blur back to 2010.

The Project Gotham Racing developer needs more time to beef up the "innovative and distinctive" multiplayer, explained the press release, spotted by VG247. Blur aims to allow 20 people to race online, or four locally in split-screen. Even more ambitious are the lofty community-driven goals of user-created content being shared by all.

Blur had previously been on the busy November grid, ready to match up against monsters like Gran Turismo 5 (theoretically) and Forza Motorsport 3. We hope the slip is minuscule, but Activision has not specified when in 2010 Blur will appear.

Plus, there could be another head-to-head on the cards, as Black Rock's promising Split/Second shapes for release early next year.

Find out more about Blur in our lengthy hands-on analysis written earlier this year.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (27) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Thalanos #1 2 years ago

    Good news. There are already too many driving games that I would like to buy right now. Blur was not one of them. Shifting the release and working on it some more might change that.

  • HermitArcader #2 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • MeBrains #3 2 years ago

    mental note to myself: this is activision - don't buy full price.

    which would have been a shame should I have had the hardware to play it... quite look forward to how this turns out.

  • cianchristopher #4 2 years ago

    A delay this close to release is not a good sign (today is the 21st September - the game was due to be released on 6th November - that's only 6 weeks from this Friday).

    I have a bad feeling about this one.....

  • bodypopper #5 2 years ago

    The games world needs a few more arcade racers rather than po-faced 'simulators'.
    The prospect of Blur vs Split Second will give both devs an incentive to polish their games so they shine. Bring it on I say but let's hope Blur is more than just Wipeout with cars.

  • wizlon #6 2 years ago

    Damn it, I wanted an arcadey racing game this side of the year, probably won't even play the multiplayer. I'll probably just wait for split/second, which looks a ton better.

  • HermitArcader #7 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Eraser #8 2 years ago

    The whole multiplayer excuse is probably just that. The real reason is more likely to do with Forza 3/GT5's releases or other small, insignificant titles like, oh, Modern Warfare 2?

  • menage #9 2 years ago

    Next to shift, GT5, DIRT, Forza 3, etc

    Thta's probably the smart thing to do, especially since it still doesn't look that hot next to all the neon.

  • RobotRocker #10 2 years ago

    The E3 build didnt look too special and I would imagine it would have got destroyed in this years market because of Forza/GT and NFS Shift. No major loss, but scheduling against Split/Second would be suicide since its going to be one of the major games of next year, even with Baron Von Kottick funding them.

  • Vroom #11 2 years ago

    Looked like it wasn't ready for primetime tbh.

  • menage #12 2 years ago

    @Genghis

    I'm surprised they releasing at all. Doesn't seem like a milkable enough franchise.

  • bodypopper #13 2 years ago

    @Vertical Stand

    Really? I mean arcade as in pre-Paradise Burnout not arcade as in 'ooh, Dirt 2 handles a bit too arcadey for my liking'.
    Care to name a few?

  • HermitArcader #14 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • menage #15 2 years ago

    Apart from GT5/Forza I can't see why anyone would buy an arcaderacer for 60 bucks. I just bought Paradise and Motorstorm 2 this year for 40 euro's combined. It'[s one genre where graphics and features already have hit ceilings of a sortThey will last me until Shift or something like it hits 20.

  • bodypopper #16 2 years ago

    @Vertical Stand

    Not really - I'm just scratching my head as how I could have missed all those OTT racing games that have apparently come our recently. Apart from Motorstorm, and Motorstorm PSP thingy, and, er, Pure which was bikes not cars...
    [adopts Paxman voice] Just answer the question man! Or are you an MP? ;-)
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 15:56

  • menage #17 2 years ago

    @Genghis

    I agree. I still don't see the point in asking the same price for something like Katamari and Fallout 3. But that's why I buy the latter fullpriced and the former when it hits the bins.

  • HermitArcader #18 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Roland_on_the_Ropes #19 2 years ago

    @eurogamer- hey guys the link in the article is directing back to the homepage. Just thought I'd let ye know

  • captainrentboy #20 2 years ago

    Having played both games recently I was pretty shocked to find that Disney's Split/Second racing game was faaar more exciting and original feeling to play than Blur.

  • menage #21 2 years ago

    @vertyical stand

    True. I won't say it's an easy solution. But taking a rehashed gameconcept with dozens of sequels and only marginal updates and having the guts to ask 60 bucks for it is pretty lame imo. I won't say the game isn't good by itself, but the amount of funds it took to create said game can't be the same as some other more original or fresher titles. The price should reflect that in some way. I know it's not possible to make a perfect calculation for it, and it's certainly not based on playing time (subjective). But asking 50-60 bucks for every game is just ludicrous.

    Digital distrubution games at least have a better reflection at times.

  • linea #22 2 years ago

    Given that the game features razzing round a fictionalised East London, do you think we could persuade them to lift a few features from Carmageddon for the Shoreditch sections while they're at it?

  • HermitArcader #23 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Alkeno #24 2 years ago

    Poor Bizarre... PGR4 was lovely and now are facing against monsters such as Forza3 and GT5 on their own (Microsoft really gave them a hand, my 360 was bundled with PGR4, a game I wouldn't have bought otherwise).

  • menage #25 2 years ago

    I think DLC games have been pretty reasonable so far (bar a few exceptions). Sure they're becoming more expensive, but they're also becoming better. Just look at Wipeout or Shadow Complex.

  • Darren #26 2 years ago

    Good decision. I'm a big admirer of Bizarre Creation's games and rate PGR 4 as one of the finest racing games ever but Blur, what I've seen of it, wasn't looking that great and faced stiff competition from other pre-Christmas titles. I think delaying the game for improvements will ensure that the game is not only better but, with a decent launch window, stand out more from the ten million other games coming out over the next three months, all of which will be demanding our attention and money.

  • RobotRocker #27 2 years ago

    @ Alkeno

    MS was the reason Bizarre left them and allowed themselves to be bought by Activision. They werent happy with MS demanding PGR4 ahead of schedule and so close to Halo 3. When the sales of it were quite dismal, they pretty much said "We are done with PGR and Microsoft" and left.

    At the same time, that was the worst move they could make cause if Blur flops, they are f***ed 3 ways from Sunday and will be making James Bond racers and GeoWars updates every 3 months till the end of time. Someone should smack Chudley over the head and ask why on earth he would even consider hoping into bed with Baron Von Kottick when he knows if Blur flops(And my god is it teetering on the edge of flop valley where Bionic Commando fell), the entire company is finished creatively.