PGR to continue - Microsoft

By Tom Bramwell Published 27 September, 2007

Bizarre buyout aftermath.

With Bizarre Creations now part of Activision, attention has turned to the developer's existing titles and whether they have a future.

The biggest news of their fate comes from Microsoft, which owns the rights to the Project Gotham Racing series. "Project Gotham Racing is a signature racing franchise for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live and we plan to continue the series but we have nothing further to announce," the publisher said in a statement yesterday. PGR4, recently completed, is due to go on sale here on 12th October.

In a statement to fans marking the acquisition yesterday, Bizarre said PGR4 "will continue to be supported after its launch in October". As to who will pick up the reins of one of the 360's best exclusives, that's a question for another time.

As for the other games, Newsweek's N'Gai Croal says he has confirmed that while SEGA owns the rights to The Club and EA owns the rights to Boom Boom Rocket, Bizarre itself has kept a hold of Geometry Wars, which means now it's technically Activision's. Sierra's deal for Geometry Wars Galaxies on Wii and DS is not affected by the deal, however.

As for Bizarre itself, Activision's announcement of the deal revealed that the Liverpool-based studio is set to go to work on a pair of new titles - one racing, one character-based - and that it expects the first of these to be released "after fiscal 2009".

So, in the meantime, let's all just concentrate on getting All Platinums.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (39) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • HarryB #1 5 years ago

    :(

  • BartonFink #2 5 years ago

    :'(

  • cathalzx #3 5 years ago

    Why didn't Microsoft buy them!?!?! And there was me hoping for MSR on xbla....

  • Blerk #4 5 years ago

    "Project Gotham Racing is a signature racing franchise for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live and we plan to continue the series but we have nothing further to announce," the publisher said in a statement yesterday.

    They then added "Shit. Shit shit shit." before realising that they hadn't hung the phone up properly.

  • mkreku #5 5 years ago

    I wonder.. if Bizarre had taken PGR with them to Activision, would it eventually have come out on the PS3 too?

  • BadBoyBonner #6 5 years ago

    Strange move by MS considering the Rare fiasco - but obviously the reason for buying Rare was to bring a style of game to the 360 that most other developers wouldn't dare comercially. Such fears can be displayed by the lack of outright commercial success of Viva Piñata.

    Goes some way to explain the, relatively, quick release of PGR4. I guess MS feel driving games on the 360 are 10 a penny, lol.

    My real thought is that as MS own the rights to the PGR series and that they figure most of the 360 owners (obviously not EG readers on here) wouldn’t really notice if a different developers name appears between the MS intro Vid and the game Intro Vid.

    Maybe MS were trying to dictate policy a little too much for Bizarre’s liking– and maybe MS spat the dummy out a bit, hence the non release of Geometry Wars Waves on Live. Bizarre would no doubt have gained the critical mass to complete this kind of deal much earlier had they not backed the Dreamcast and Original Xbox. On the scant information about the deal, and the positive noise coming from Bizarre, you have to guess they got some very good terms, which should continue production for many a year.

  • bloke #7 5 years ago

    >Why didn't Microsoft buy them!?!?!

    I suspect they didn't come up with as much cash as Acti. :-)

  • kissthestick #8 5 years ago

    So Forza is MS' number 1 driving game?

  • Razz #9 5 years ago

    As I've said before, MS probably just own the name "PGR" much like how SEGA owned "MSR". If Bizzare really wanted to go multiplatform they could just change the title of the franchise.

    OTOH, it's possible that MS own more rights to PGR than just the title, such as intellectual properties relating to game mechanics such as the "Kudos" scoring system, in which case that idea is screwed. :)

    Also, what would be the point of going multiplatform? Other than the Wii there isn't really a strong rival in the market, i.e. the PS3. And currently I can't fathom Bizzare developing a Wii game. But who knows? Perhaps after this acqisition then can start to set their sights on something fresh!

    Onward to 2K9! ^_^
    Edited by Razz at 27/09/07 @ 09:17

  • LeD #10 5 years ago

    Well pardon me if I'm being thick, but wouldn't it be possible for Bizarre to continue working on the PGR series for MS and the title to be co-published? Or something.

  • Razz #11 5 years ago

    I suspect they didn't come up with as much cash as Acti. :-)

    Nah. I suspect Bizzare didn't want to be chained to one platform.
    Edited by Razz at 27/09/07 @ 09:21

  • Talha #12 5 years ago

    Strange move at an even stranger time. Why didn't MS buy them? Why did they choose Activision?

    In a word, Bizarre.

  • Darren #13 5 years ago

    If Microsoft own the Project Gotham Racing name then they could either choose to have another developer continue the series exclusively on the 360, IMO not a good idea, or Bizarre Creations could make sequels under a different name for multiple formats - PC, PS3 and 360 - which would be better except it would means that the quality of their games will invariably suffer. Multiformat games can be excellent but they rarely measure up to the standard of the best exclusive titles as devs have to design the games with the lowest common denominator in mind. I think it's a shame that Activision and not Microsoft bought Bizarre Creations really...

  • cymro #14 5 years ago

    Microsoft sharpens cheque book. poaches all the necessary staff.
    keeps franchise going for next to nothing.

  • The-Bodybuilder #15 5 years ago

    CSR (City Street Racer), here we come.....

  • kangarootoo #16 5 years ago

    @Blerk

    "They then added "Shit. Shit shit shit." before realising that they hadn't hung the phone up properly."

    Heeheehee, nice.

  • Dizzy #17 5 years ago

    "Strange move at an even stranger time. Why didn't MS buy them? Why did they choose Activision? "

    Why does MS need to buy everything? They have the money... but they don't need to buy any dev that makes an awesome game on their system. MS seems to support dev studios that have a killer game (Bioshock, GoW) with marketing instead of buying them. Seems to work...

  • kangarootoo #18 5 years ago

    @LeD

    "Well pardon me if I'm being thick, but wouldn't it be possible for Bizarre to continue working on the PGR series for MS and the title to be co-published? Or something."

    Its perfectly feasible, but the arrangement is no longer the same. Previously BZ develop and MS publish. If Activision is now the publisher, but MS still own the IP, things could get sticky regards who has the final say on things. As the publisher, I would expect Activision to be funding the development, which wouldn't previously be the case. On that basis they would likely not want MS telling them how to make the game (which they would do, because they own the IP).

    That probably doesn't sound very clear, but I guess thats because it isn't. Act. could cimply license the IP I guess, but I'm not sure that is really the MS way (take the Halo film as an example, where they wanted their own hands firmnly on the steering wheel).

  • jonsaan #19 5 years ago

    Oh that is just awful news. Look forward to yearly updates of Gotham with added 'street' appeal. :(

  • LOLLERS #20 5 years ago

    "Why didn't Microsoft buy them!?!?!"

    Maybe they really didn't want to keep making PGR to infinity + 1

  • orac1971 #21 5 years ago

    wheres the PGR4 demo? an alternative to the endless Halo 3 hype ATM

  • Beano #22 5 years ago

    "PGR to continue"

    Great... but who will develop it?

    And have MS the right to the PGR source/engine or just the name?
    Edited by Beano at 27/09/07 @ 11:08

  • The-Bodybuilder #23 5 years ago

    PGR > Forza (IMO).

    PGR/MSR have been the only racing games I have played extensively (I bought games like GT purely for the multiplayer). Bizarre have been at the helms for what? Almost a decade now?

  • bonker #24 5 years ago

    "Multiformat games can be excellent but they rarely measure up to the standard of the best exclusive titles as devs have to design the games with the lowest common denominator in mind."

    They could always just not do a PS3 version ;)

  • kangarootoo #25 5 years ago

    "Multiformat games can be excellent but they rarely measure up to the standard of the best exclusive titles"

    Only in graphical terms surely? Its makes not one difference to the gameplay whether a title is cross platform or not (unutual control systems not withstanding).

  • Twincoil #26 5 years ago

    Rallisport Challenge dead in the wake of a takeover

    PGR dead in the wake of a takeover

    The best driving games ever RIP.

    Fucking fuckity fuck fuck wank fuck bollocks....tit. :(

  • Freek #27 5 years ago

    Doesn't matter if you own the rights to the name, without the developer to go with it, it's worthless.
    No doubt we'll see the true successor to the series come from Activision under a different name, and multiplatform.
    So really, for gamers it doesn't change all that much.

    It happened once already with the series, due to Sega owning the rights to Metropolis Street Racer.

  • Martin #28 5 years ago

    I'm probably going to regret this but take a look at the EA lineup and tell me you can't find some gems in there.

    Skate - an EA franchise - got 9/10 from EG just the other day for instance.

    Not everything from EA is crap and rehashed crap, just most of it. :)

  • Darren #29 5 years ago

    CVG have a story with quotes from Bizarre Creations saying that they've handed the PGR franchise over to Microsoft and won't have any involvement with the series anymore but that Microsoft could continue it if they want with another developer at the reins. That's massively disappointing. Let's hope PGR4 is as good as Edge claim it is in their 9/10 review because it looks like the end of an era. :(

  • Calgon #30 5 years ago

    kangarootoo controlls aswell as graphics I think but having said that since they are so familiar to the 360 hardware controlls included maybe the 360 versions wont suffer too much. I still say 360 owners have lost something here theres no way you can spin it too positively from that side. As Twincoil said look what happend with RalliSport another respected IP on the Xbox(well the second one was far more enjoyable than the first IMO), it just wouldnt be the same.
    Edited by Calgon at 27/09/07 @ 12:42

  • Bumhug360 #31 5 years ago

    "Doesn't matter if you own the rights to the name, without the developer to go with it, it's worthless. "

    Guitar Hero 3 isnt looking too bad, Tomb Raider has switched developers and still does well

  • Darren #32 5 years ago

    Yes, that's true but it's hard to imagine anyone else doing a better PGR without Bizarre Creations at the helm. That said, PGR 4 is the fifth game in a series that started on the Dreamcast so maybe Bizarre just wanted to move onto to new things. It must be dull making the same games year after year, I often wonder how Tiburon, the developers of the Madden NFL series, manage to stay sane churning out virtually the same game every year; it must really stifle your creative drive! LOL

  • RatBastard #33 5 years ago

    The last good independent UK developer gone. People buy an organisation with some flavour not just headcount, like Eurocom or Climax, unless you are a crazy German company. Wonder what the pricetag on Bizarre was....?

  • Freek #34 5 years ago

    Tomb Raider is the exception, it's creators ran it into the ground and it took a fresh team to bring it back to it's roots.
    GH 3 isn't allot more then just GH2 again with a new song list, Rock Band is where the real inovation lies.

  • The-Bodybuilder #35 5 years ago

    >"Guitar Hero 3 isnt looking too bad, Tomb Raider has switched developers and still does well "

    Compared to rock band? Yes, it is.

    And lets not forget championship manager and football manager.

  • kangarootoo #36 5 years ago

    @Freek

    "Tomb Raider is the exception, it's creators ran it into the ground and it took a fresh team to bring it back to it's roots."

    Ooh now come on. A bit of reasearch might come in handy before you start re-writing history.

    Core were working on the same franchise for years and years and years. I'm not a bit surprised that they got burned out, continually hoping the next project would be something new, but continually being told another TR game was required. Plus the AoD title was just badly managed by the publisher, resulting in loads of wasted time and generally hammering the last nails into the coffin.

  • DAN.E.B #37 5 years ago

    NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    best racing series EVER!!!!!!!!!
    PGR RIP

  • captainrentboy #38 5 years ago

    They could hand development duties over to Bungie :)

  • AgentBalti #39 5 years ago

    All this fuss over nothing. Even if it's not PGR, what's in a name? As long as the IP is progressed nobody will give a monkeys.