A variety of outlets (Joystiq, Kotaku, NeoGaf, GiantBomb, VG247) are reporting that the studio responsible for games such as Blur, Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars has been put on notice by Activision, and it could be closed or sold off.
From Activision: "Over the past three years since our purchase of Bizarre Creations, the fundamentals of the racing genre have changed significantly. Although we made a substantial investment in creating a new IP, Blur, it did not find a commercial audience. Bizarre is a very talented team of developers, however, because of the broader economic factors impacting the market, we are exploring our options regarding the future of the studio, including a potential sale of the business."
This is a reminder to anyone who works in the video game business that taking risks means you are putting it all on the line. As we saw with the Elite fiasco at EA, no one is immune to being let go for commercial disasters.
With corporate margins being squeezed across the board in the video game world, I have no doubts that we might be seeing an era of conservative thinking really start to take hold in development houses. Events like this have major ripple effects across the industry, from talent moving around to the more psychological effects of seeing a seemingly successful development house dumped after one major flop.
It'll be interesting to see if anyone looks to buy Bizarre, but most likely any suitors have already been contacted and the likely destination is closure of the studio. We'll keep our eyes open for any further events.
With corporate margins being squeezed across the board in the video game world, I have no doubts that we might be seeing an era of conservative thinking really start to take hold in development houses. Events like this have major ripple effects across the industry, from talent moving around to the more psychological effects of seeing a seemingly successful development house dumped after one major flop.
It'll be interesting to see if anyone looks to buy Bizarre, but most likely any suitors have already been contacted and the likely destination is closure of the studio. We'll keep our eyes open for any further events.
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