In a move to continue to grow into a real powerhouse third-party publisher, Activision has just announced the acquisition of Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars development house Bizarre Creations. Noted as a move to simply improve the brand, the buy out is more of a help us make better games kind of move for the England-based developer. Bizarre, who had before made games almost exclusively for Microsoft, will produce their final game exclusively for the company when Project Gotham Racing 4 finally hits store shelves.
The move itself follows another recent big move by Activision when they acquired Guitar Hero creators RedOctane. From Activision:
“Activision continues to grow and drive greater value for our shareholders by broadening our portfolio and entering new gaming categories with strong global appeal,” said Robert Kotick, chairman and CEO of Activision.
“Bizarre Creations is 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.”
Currently, Bizarre is working on the Sega title, The Club. The group at Bizarre had this to say about the move to Activision:
“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.”
“Bizarre isn’t a developer in financial trouble, and we’re certainly not looking to be ’saved’ by a bigger corporation. We’re a dev looking to take our games to the next level, and make the absolute best products we can possibly make. Likewise, Activision is not in the business of ‘buying out’ struggling developers either.”
As for what’s coming up, it seems Bizarre is already thinking ahead:
“Both of our two main game teams are about to start work on two new AAA titles for Activision,” Bizarre said. “One will be a racing game, and the other a character game. Of course we’ll make some more detailed announcements in the future, but be prepared for something big and exciting!
“…Our Shared Technology team will use this opportunity to take our experience and tech to new levels and new formats,” the studio added. “…Our future titles can be on whatever we please - we are a truly multiplatform studio now.”
