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Activision Closes Budcat; Bizarre Closing On Friday, February 18th
- Thread starter KennyLinder
- Start date
MMaRsu
Banned
Ninja Scooter said:
:lol
Activision's handling of Bizarre has been poor at best. Sure they may have known risks going into Activision, but they have so much money it's insane. I'm sure they offered Bizarre a crazy amount, because why not?
Yes Bobby kotick is a fucking dick, and Activision shuts down studio's too easy. They make them churn out mediocre games and release them in dumbass period's and then shut them down. Yeah sure I'm being a real crybaby here *rolls eyes*.
If they'd have make them a game similar to PGR, put it out in a quiet period ( when there are no games like Modnation Racer, Split Second and Red Dead Redemption in the same month ) they could have actually made a big profit. But nooooooo, why don't you make this lame ass James Bond title? Or do you actually think Bizarre wanted to do that game? :lol
KingJ2002
Member
Ninja Scooter said:
^^ this.
at the end of the day bizarre sold themselves to Activision.
if they would have sold to EA... they could have been one of the first devs apart of their EAP program
if they sold to Microsoft they could have kept creating the games they loved but they just wasn't feeling the corporate structure and arrogance of Microsoft being number 1.
if they would have stayed independent... they could have went belly up.. after all PGR wasn't Halo level in terms of sales... it was more complimentary to the Xbox lineup.
all in all... they are still a great team and no one knows that better than MGS considering the level of success they had. so i hope Microsoft rebuilds the bizarre creations or just buys them outright.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/...ev_Bizarre_Creations_Puts_Staff_On_Notice.php
it's not rumor, official response
it's not rumor, official response
hydragonwarrior
Member
Just wondering, but did the PS2/Gamecube/XBox generation have as many studio closures as this gen? I'm willing to bet the PS1/N64/Saturn had the lowest amount.
This sucks. I knew Bizarre's relationship with Activision would end up this way. The best case scenario is ex-Bizarre employees forming a new studio and partnering with Microsoft on PGR5. I can't see any publisher interested in buying the entire studio.
It seems like the racing genre has pretty much collapsed these last few years. Split Second, Blur, Pure, pretty much everything has flopped. Need for Speed franchise went into a big sales decline IIRC. The only successful racers seem to be Forza and Gran Turismo, both heavily-promoted/bundled first party games.
It seems like the racing genre has pretty much collapsed these last few years. Split Second, Blur, Pure, pretty much everything has flopped. Need for Speed franchise went into a big sales decline IIRC. The only successful racers seem to be Forza and Gran Turismo, both heavily-promoted/bundled first party games.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Stay classy, Acti. Stay classy.
jufonuk
not tag worthy
Well The future of gaming looks like this:
(I am talking about consoles and PC's)
AAA Games FPS, TPS, ACTION ADVENTURE, MMORPG, SPORTS GAMES FIFA MADDEN. games with bloated budgets and masses of hype that if they fail to sell will take down devs, but if they make a profit hope you like seeing them run into the ground...
Nintendo Games (yes is a bit catch all but you get my drift)
Indie Games
Downloadable games from XBLA, PSN, Steam, WiiWare, lower risk meaning lower budget, you may get the Odd SHMUP or Port of a fighting game.
Then there is shovel ware just flooding the market with cheap crap.
Games that are going the way of point and click (not aas relevant as they used to be)
SHMUPS,FIGHTING,Racing, Experimental games that cannot turn a profit (brutal legend etc)
and Platformers (I dont think they will be as relevant as they once were, except for Nintendo Games)
Handhelds will suffer sales hits due to Android/App store low prices and shovelware apps, see GTA CTW for example hopefully Nintendo will be the exception, but again it is usally Nintendo Developed games that seem to sell better than thrid party games
Well the games industry was fun while it lasted
(I am talking about consoles and PC's)
AAA Games FPS, TPS, ACTION ADVENTURE, MMORPG, SPORTS GAMES FIFA MADDEN. games with bloated budgets and masses of hype that if they fail to sell will take down devs, but if they make a profit hope you like seeing them run into the ground...
Nintendo Games (yes is a bit catch all but you get my drift)
Indie Games
Downloadable games from XBLA, PSN, Steam, WiiWare, lower risk meaning lower budget, you may get the Odd SHMUP or Port of a fighting game.
Then there is shovel ware just flooding the market with cheap crap.
Games that are going the way of point and click (not aas relevant as they used to be)
SHMUPS,FIGHTING,Racing, Experimental games that cannot turn a profit (brutal legend etc)
and Platformers (I dont think they will be as relevant as they once were, except for Nintendo Games)
Handhelds will suffer sales hits due to Android/App store low prices and shovelware apps, see GTA CTW for example hopefully Nintendo will be the exception, but again it is usally Nintendo Developed games that seem to sell better than thrid party games
Well the games industry was fun while it lasted
Release date timing was part of it. As I said before, May was a bloodbath before you even considered the other racing games coming out at the same exact time.
But you have to remember it is not like Activision needs low sales as a reason to fuck with a studio. IW delivered a monster and still got screwed for the most part. This is a bit less surprising because racing game sales seem to have been taking a dive along with music game sales. I'm guessing GT5 will be able avoid the trend (though I'm not sure heavily hyping a release date for months and randomly delaying it to later in the month helps much) and we'll see if Hot Pursuit fares better. Between all the games EA and Codemasters put out every year, the genre is getting saturated.
I don't know about the mistakes that have been made at BC, but Activision did so many things wrong with both Blur and Bond that it seems unfair of them to solely blame BC by closing or selling them.
1. The Blur concept itself was just not very appealing to many consumers. I mean, who wants to mix Mario Kart and licensed cars in a realistic setting? People had been used to either cartoony fun racers or post-apocalyptic battle racers like Twisted Metal when thinking of cars and weapons. I remember that even BC fans were extremely underwhelmed by the game during the development phase. It eventually got a little better towards the release when it became clear that BC put some extra effort and polish into Blur. I don't want to know what the quality of the game would have been if Activision hadn't given BC more development time and delayed the game. So at least the latter seems to speak for Activision, though.
2. The release date of Blur was fucked up. The decision to release almost simultanously with the only other high-profile arcade racing game at that time (Split/Second) was extremely unfortunate by both Activision and Disney.
3. The release date of Blood Stone was fucked up. To release in the same week as Black Ops is absolutely inexplicable. No matter what the actual game quality or the budget is, you don't roll out ANY of your own releases simultanously to Call of Duty. The only possible explanation I can think of is that Activision had already written off the game, made the decision to part company with BC and simply wanted to piss off BC. Nevertheless, it was a terrible decision business-wise.
1. The Blur concept itself was just not very appealing to many consumers. I mean, who wants to mix Mario Kart and licensed cars in a realistic setting? People had been used to either cartoony fun racers or post-apocalyptic battle racers like Twisted Metal when thinking of cars and weapons. I remember that even BC fans were extremely underwhelmed by the game during the development phase. It eventually got a little better towards the release when it became clear that BC put some extra effort and polish into Blur. I don't want to know what the quality of the game would have been if Activision hadn't given BC more development time and delayed the game. So at least the latter seems to speak for Activision, though.
2. The release date of Blur was fucked up. The decision to release almost simultanously with the only other high-profile arcade racing game at that time (Split/Second) was extremely unfortunate by both Activision and Disney.
3. The release date of Blood Stone was fucked up. To release in the same week as Black Ops is absolutely inexplicable. No matter what the actual game quality or the budget is, you don't roll out ANY of your own releases simultanously to Call of Duty. The only possible explanation I can think of is that Activision had already written off the game, made the decision to part company with BC and simply wanted to piss off BC. Nevertheless, it was a terrible decision business-wise.
Technosteve
Banned
Why did they even buy this studio? Did they really think Blur will be the next mario kart?
Dreams-Visions
Member
not sure, but it was to be expected. as costs of development rise, the ability of developers to handle even one failed project shrinks. especially when coupled with the tough economic climate.hydragonwarrior said:
this was predicted before this generation got started, as reports of developers having to hire scores of additional artists and programmers to make assets and content for this generation of consoles surfaced. more people = more money being spent. more money being spent = more eggs in one basket.
you can follow the rest of the logic from there. next generation will see even more closures and mergers if the next wave of consoles are no easier to program for...for all of the same reasons.
Dr Frasier Crane
Member
My thoughts.
Sony take it over and strip out 1/2 the studio.
Roll into Sony Liverpool/Evolution
WIPEOUT PS3 PROPER!
WINRAR.
Or Sony win the Euromillions, use that to buy the MSR IP off Sega, then make MSR2. Then I make sex mess everywhere.
Sony take it over and strip out 1/2 the studio.
Roll into Sony Liverpool/Evolution
WIPEOUT PS3 PROPER!
WINRAR.
Or Sony win the Euromillions, use that to buy the MSR IP off Sega, then make MSR2. Then I make sex mess everywhere.
Technosteve said:
Activision had huge (unrealistic) hopes for Blur:
"Additionally, we expect to release our highly anticipated racing game Blur from Bizarre Creations. From a business perspective, we are targeting Blur to do for racing what Call of Duty did for shooters, and that was the goal when we originally acquired Bizarre Creations to make this game." - Michael Griffith, Activision
StopMakingSense
Member
richisawesome said:
He meant wholly-owned by Activision.
GarthVaderUK
Banned
Activision don't own Bungie (thank goodness).
Anyways, good to hear they're considering selling Bizarre. Hope someone out there wants to buy them...
Anyways, good to hear they're considering selling Bizarre. Hope someone out there wants to buy them...
Ninja Scooter
Member
Really? The only logical explanation you can think of is that they wanted to "piss off" Bizarre? It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that when Activision got the Bond license and put BC to work on the game they were banking on a major motion picture release this holiday to coincide with the game and help create some built in hype and audience that would lessen the actual marketing costs to promote the game themselves.Superfrog said:
Warm Machine
Member
You can't sell a dev if you fire everyone there. In the absence of Intellectual Property, Companies buy developers for people, pipelines, and tech but mostly people. Without people pipelines and tech isn't worth anything.
GitarooMan
Member
Really sad news, Bizarre is very talented. I do think Blur was a bit of a misstep, just a strange direction to go in that had very limited appeal. But hopefully they will all eventually land on their feet and get to work on some more great stuff.
The "pissing Bizarre off" explanation is nonsense, but no, it really couldn't. Even before MGM's current financial woes, the next Bond movie wasn't planned to be out until fall 2011.Ninja Scooter said:
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
And this is why Bobby Kotick is a shit businessman. His success is all about luck. Buy studios and franchises and try to make things stick. To hear people talk about Kotick you think they were talking about William Randolf Hearst or Richard Branson or Bill Gates or Andrew Carnegie or something. Kotick and Activision gambled on some kind of magic success with Blur and lost. The reason for this is they do not understand entertainment industries. All of their successes have happened without (and despite) their influence.
Part of what's going on here is that the UK govt phased out tax subsidies for game development this year. Without the subsidies, the UK becomes a much less attractive market to operate in. The UK development community is getting decimated.
The other thing is that the sales potential for racing games declines later in the hardware generation. You can launch a new racing franchise early in a gen; thereafter the window closes. Activision's statement essentially confirms that they've reached that conclusion. Because it now looks like this hardware gen is going to drag on for several more years, there is little value in a racing game studio without an established franchise.
The other thing is that the sales potential for racing games declines later in the hardware generation. You can launch a new racing franchise early in a gen; thereafter the window closes. Activision's statement essentially confirms that they've reached that conclusion. Because it now looks like this hardware gen is going to drag on for several more years, there is little value in a racing game studio without an established franchise.
TacticalFox88
Banned
WTF?! Activision has more than enough money to keep them up financially. Pieces of shit.
BloodySinner
Banned
TacticalFox88 said:
lol But Microsoft didn't, rite?
TacticalFox88 said:
this is not how businesses work. it sucks but unprofitable sections of companies are not perpetually kept afloat by other segments all the time.
the only exceptions are strategic initiatives like MS with the search division currently - or their xbox division in years past
MiniBossBattle
Member
Man, my hearts go out to the Budcat people. They are really helpful and anyone would benefit from having them on their team. They did a lot of ports which is not an easy thing to do.
I believe the exception is 99% of the gaming industry. Since companies like Sega, Namco, EA etc. would've been bankrupt already if they operated in any other industry. We've come to a point that companies like EA are celebrating 'less losses' instead of 'profit'. :lolLCfiner said:
Visualante
Member
What a crock of shit, I played GT5 at the beginning of October- Forza 3 has nothing to worry about in terms of car handling and feel. And I hardly think Bizarre are masters of that realm anyway, they make fun cars to drive not simulations. Lots of people who played PGR4 felt it was a confused game.eso76 said:
Rhindle said:
Even established franchises are doing badly. PGR4 sold less than PGR3, Motorstorm 2 sold a less than the first game and I suspect Motorstorm 3 will do less than that. Every new console generation needs a few racing games but when that consumer demand has been met there's no need for more of the same - till the next console generation comes along. The problem is that this console generation will be far longer than usual - 6 or 7 years instead of the usual 5. The irony is that publishers and developers can't afford the higher development costs of the Xbox 720 and PS4, but diminishing consumer interest, diminishing sales and many, many bombas are even worse.
TwiztidElf
Member
Screw Activitision. I'm done. Activision ban for me (that includes Blizzard dammit). I was close to getting DJ Hero 2 aswell.
I think back to the F1 licence going to Codemasters to stink it up instead of Activision picking it up and giving it to BC to do.....and shake my head in bewilderment.
I think back to the F1 licence going to Codemasters to stink it up instead of Activision picking it up and giving it to BC to do.....and shake my head in bewilderment.