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[LCfiner]

I don't see why MS would buy them. Why are people bringing this up as a possibility?

MS has been dropping studios and dealing with third party exclusives (or exclusive and timed DLC).

Maybe they'd pick up a few people to add talent to their studios - as could happen at any other healthy dev studio now, but not the full 200 person team.

 

[Owzers]

If Microsoft wants to compete with Gran Turismo then they should hire the Bizarre guys and greatly expand the Turn 10 studio and incorporate a more "arcade-ish" focused mode into Forza along with the turn 10 sim focused mode. If you look at Gran Turismo 5 it's just beastly in terms of features and modes.

 

[Superfrog]

Fucking hell, this is sad. I was hoping that they'd get away with partial layoffs after Blur and Bond bombed.

Now I also hope that Microsoft will jump in and buy them, at least the price should be low now... On the other hand, they probably would have already done that if they had wanted to. They have Forza as their main racing brand now.

 

[Vinci]

I don't want to be disrespectful towards those who have lost their jobs (and those who will do so in future) but the business side is stupid right now.

With one or two exceptions, yup.

If Microsoft wants to compete with Gran Turismo then they should hire the Bizarre guys and greatly expand the Turn 10 studio and incorporate a more "arcade-ish" focused mode into Forza along with the turn 10 sim focused mode. If you look at Gran Turismo 5 it's just beastly in terms of features and modes.

No one is going to compete with Gran Turismo, not in its genre. Best thing to do is bring out a racing game here and there prior to the next GT coming out. Takes 'em fucking forever to make the things anyway. But directly competing? No. Just like nothing is going to compete well with Mario Kart either.

 

[Diablohead]

1. MS forms new studio
2. New studio hires all Bizarre employees
3. Studio has two teams: one to create PGR and one to create Geometry Wars
4. Profit?

PGR5 sells only 500k.
Team is closed.

 

[APZonerunner]

1. MS forms new studio
2. New studio hires all Bizarre employees
3. Studio has two teams: one to create PGR and one to create Geometry Wars
4. Profit?

Geometry Wars belongs to Activision now, along with Blur. These guys will never make a Geometry Wars game again.

The Club is with SEGA and PGR is with Microsoft, so if they went with either of those two they could inherit at least one of their old IPs.

 

[Feindflug]

Fuck Activision. And Fuck MS for not buying them when they could.

QFT! this is really sad news, these guys made some awesome games.

At least there's a chance as many guys already mentioned that MS might pick them up and make a team for the PGR franchise - at least I hope so...either way MS did a really stupid move in the first place by letting Activision getting this studio.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Bungie next?

Activision might force some unreasonable deadline on them for their over-ambitious shooter MMORPG and then gut the studio when it bombs.

I certainly hope that won't happen, though.

edit: wait nevermind! I forgot that Bungie's relationship is just a publishing partnership and they aren't actually owned by Activision.

 

[Skiptastic]

Geometry Wars belongs to Activision now, along with Blur. These guys will never make a Geometry Wars game again.

The Club is with SEGA and PGR is with Microsoft, so if they went with either of those two they could inherit at least one of their old IPs.

Well that blows.

 

[plagiarize]

I don't see why MS would buy them. Why are people bringing this up as a possibility?

MS has been dropping studios and dealing with third party exclusives (or exclusive and timed DLC).

Maybe they'd pick up a few people to add talent to their studios - as could happen at any other healthy dev studio now, but not the full 200 person team.

the only thing that makes it remotely plausible is that MS have been reportedly trying to find someone to make PGR5, but i can't see them putting in the money to start up a team from scratch for it.

 

[Dead Man Typing]

Maybe I'm crazy, but I think having an alternate style racing game to release soon-ish after Gran Turismo re-lights that dwindling racing market is a really strong place to be.

People are going to love GT5 and it is going to sell gangbusters. But 6 months down the line, maybe people will be looking for something different, and that's where a Blur 2 would have made a lot of sense to me.

As I said, maybe I'm crazy. But sometimes it takes one big name to make people remember why they like a certain genre, and then lots of people can start making money.

 

[dark10x]

Bungie next?

Activision might force some unreasonable deadline on them for their over-ambitious shooter MMORPG and then gut the studio when it bombs.

I certainly hope that won't happen, though.

Could happen.

Halo doesn't have the same draw it once did and it's possible that whatever Bungie come up with next won't resonate with a large audience (which Activision demands).

I thought they have remained independent, though.

 

[APZonerunner]

The one thing about Microsoft is that they've made sizable advances in the UK - making Peter M. the head of creative stuff for all UK studios, founding Ruffian, creating "Rare Birmingham", a whole new building on a seperate site spun-off from the main Rare base dedicated to Kinect stuff with I think somewhere in the region of 200 employed - then there's Lionhead. Another developer could easily fit into that infrastructure.

 

[bloodforge]

Bungie next?

Activision might force some unreasonable deadline on them for their over-ambitious shooter MMORPG and then gut the studio when it bombs.

I certainly hope that won't happen, though.

I'm pretty sure Activision is only Bungie's publisher, not owner(unless I missed that announcement), so they couldn't close it down, only stop publishing their tittles.

 

[Princess Skittles]

Take the big shots are Bizarre, form a smaller studio and focus on creating great XBLA/PSN titles.

There is no room for small guys in the shitty blockbuster field anymore.

 

[Wazzim]

If Microsoft wants to compete with Gran Turismo then they should hire the Bizarre guys and greatly expand the Turn 10 studio and incorporate a more "arcade-ish" focused mode into Forza along with the turn 10 sim focused mode. If you look at Gran Turismo 5 it's just beastly in terms of features and modes.

They're never going to beat Gran Turismo with Forza. Best is to get PGR big and steal every little NFS/Grid fanboy from EA/Codemasters.

 

[LCfiner]

Geometry Wars belongs to Activision now, along with Blur. These guys will never make a Geometry Wars game again.

The Club is with SEGA and PGR is with Microsoft, so if they went with either of those two they could inherit at least one of their old IPs.

that didn't hit me till now.

Activision is going to get Sledgehammer to create a first person Geometry Wars MP focused title. Geometry Wars: Flatland at War (only 5.99 per month to play)

 

[enzo_gt]

PGR5 sells only 500k.
Team is closed.

Way to cast the doom and gloom

I'd still buy it.

 

[Coen]

Geometry Wars belongs to Activision now, along with Blur. These guys will never make a Geometry Wars game again.

The Club is with SEGA and PGR is with Microsoft, so if they went with either of those two they could inherit at least one of their old IPs.

The more important question is: who owns the Metropolis Street Racer license?

 

[Complex Shadow]

but but but i loved geometry wars and pgr4 and blur. this is some fucked up shit. <='(

 

[Vinci]

Take the big shots are Bizarre, form a smaller studio and focus on creating great XBLA/PSN titles.

There is no room for small guys in the shitty blockbuster field anymore.

Amazing when a studio of 200 people is considered a 'small guy.' What the fuck is going on?

 

[TheOddOne]

The more important question is: who owns the Metropolis Street Racer license?

Microsoft.

MSR = PGR

 

[Princess Skittles]

Geometry Wars belongs to Activision now.

Hmm, does it?

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Yeah, BudCat's site is down. This disappoints me, I wanted to try and get a job there. We need more game devs in Iowa.

http://www.budcat.com/

Might add this to the OP and title.

 

[Diablohead]

Microsoft.

MSR = PGR

I thought Sega still own the name MSR and that is why on xbox it's PGR?

 

[Why For?]

Is there any hope MS could re-acquire and get them back on PGR?

 

[Princess Skittles]

What the fuck is going on?

The second video game market crash.

 

[tino]

So how many bad CoD game until Activision close Treyarch? Serious question.

 

[Dead Man Typing]

Microsoft.

MSR = PGR

Sega, actually.

PGR =/= MSR2

Bizarre owned all the tech and the art assets, but I'm pretty sure Sega owned the name Metropolis Street Racer.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

I thought Sega still own the name MSR and that is why on xbox it's PGR?

Here is what appears on their official website. No mention of MSR:

* Bizarre Creations pumpkin logo © Bizarre Creations Ltd 2005
* 'Disney's Treasure Planet' is a trademark of Disney
* Project Gotham Racing, PGR, Project Gotham Racing 2, PGR2, Project Gotham Racing 3, PGR3, XBox, and Xbox 360 are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
* Dreamcast and the Dreamcast logo are Copyright Sega Enterprises Ltd. 1998.
* Formula 1 and Formula 1 97 are official products of the FIA Formula One World Championship licensed by Formula One Administration Ltd. Copyright Psygnosis 1996 - 98.
* PlayStation, PlayStation2 and PS2 are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
* Sega, Genesis and Megadrive are trademarks of Sega Enterprises Ltd.

 

[Wazzim]

So how many bad CoD game until Activision close Treyarch? Serious question.

It isn't about quality but about sales.

 

[Kinyou]

 

[Clear]

Trying to be positive about this:

Technically what happened today was the whole studio being placed on a 90-day notice of closure.

I see from the updated article on EG that Activision are making noises about "plotting out a future for Bizarre", which means that there is a slim chance of them selling off the studio.

To be honest I have no idea who'd buy them (Sony are unlikely, given that they have Evo not far away in Runcorn, MS don't appear to be terribly interested in internal development), but lets keep our fingers crossed.

 

[TheOddOne]

I thought Sega still own the name MSR and that is why on xbox it's PGR?

Yeah, the name stayed with Sega. The rest pretty much is owned by Microsoft.

Trying to be positive about this:

Technically what happened today was the whole studio being placed on a 90-day notice of closure.

I see from the updated article on EG that Activision are making noises about "plotting out a future for Bizarre", which means that there is a slim chance of them selling off the studio.

To be honest I have no idea who'd buy them (Sony are unlikely, given that they have Evo not far away in Runcorn, MS don't appear to be terribly interested in internal development), but lets keep our fingers crossed.

Actually, they are. Look up 343, Good Science and Bigpark.

 

[Skiptastic]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/113/1134855p1.html

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.

MS buys Bizarre, includes Geo Wars as part of the deal. It's still possible!

 

[-viper-]

It isn't about quality but about sales.

It's entirely Activision's fault for not marketing the game properly.

They make so much money from the Call Of Duty series so why does it matter if one game released by Bizarre underperforms?

 

[TouchMyBox]

So Activision buys Bizarre, sends all their games to die, and then kills the studio.

what?

 

[KingJ2002]

Geometry Wars belongs to Activision now, along with Blur. These guys will never make a Geometry Wars game again.

The Club is with SEGA and PGR is with Microsoft, so if they went with either of those two they could inherit at least one of their old IPs.

i'm sure bizarre creations can come up with another arcade hit... but couldn't Microsoft also buy geometry wars back?

i doubt activision will devote any resources to that franchise after BC gets sold off.

 

[Vinci]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/113/1134855p1.html



MS buys Bizarre, includes Geo Wars as part of the deal. It's still possible!

I'll save someone else the minimal mental effort:

NINTENDO SHOULD BUY THEM~! YAY!@

....


yeah?


maybe?

 

[jetjevons]

Sad, sad news. These past couple years have just been absolutely brutal on game devs. So many great shops going belly up.

 

[Kyoufu]

Wait... Bizarre had 200 staff? Doing what?

 

[intheinbetween]

it would be easier (even better) for MS just hiring these guys for Turn10

 

[edbrat]

Have you played it? It was actually quite fun, killed a lot of skeptics in the process. The marriage between Kart racing and real cars made it actually more fun than the latest Mario Kart, not that that's saying much. I wouldn't call it revolutionary, it was just a fun, fun game.

Granted, PGR was the pinnacle of Bizarre games' quality and success.

yeah i was hugely sceptical of Blur before release, thought the concept was unexciting and if poorly implemented would almost certainly be a clusterfuck. Then played the demo on a friend ORDERING me to play it and that was it, played so much multiplayer and hooked up with a nice bunch online who I still play with. The power ups were pretty well balanced and enhanced the racing aspect. I LOVE Mario Kart but appreciated Blur hugely for its speed and brilliant online. I was looking forward to Blur 2 and am really gutted its not going to happen.

I can't see how any studio would be willing to sell to Activision now unless you have a title as successful as WoW or are in a super cheap location, unfortunately I think BC's UK location probably counted against it when Acti were weighing up this decision.

Really hope the Bizarre folk land on their feet, commiserations to all.

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

I'll save someone else the minimal mental effort:

NINTENDO SHOULD BUY THEM~! YAY!@

....


yeah?


maybe?

They would have more chances before getting shit canned,
and if they they headed a new Mario Kart it would be a big seller that might move the franchise forward.

 

[dark10x]

It's entirely Activision's fault for not marketing the game properly.

They make so much money from the Call Of Duty series so why does it matter if one game released by Bizarre underperforms?

Activision has become an incredibly aggressive company and they exist 100% to make money. They do not wish to drive the industry forward.

Obviously, making money is important to every company, but there are some which also place an importance on creativity and quality.

Take a look at Universal Pictures. Scott Pilgrim bombed hard in the theaters and what did they say about it? They were disappointed that more people failed to see it, but felt that such films were important to the film industry regardless of numbers". They supported it despite its failure.

If Edgar Wright had been a development house, he would have been out on the street after Scott Pilgrim.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

A 200 person studio making 1 or 2 games a year probably costs a lot to operate why do you guys assume another company would want to take on this bloated mess? What do you guys want videogame bailouts? I know it's sad people lose their jobs but Bizarre's output is clearly not worth their costs.

 

[Wazzim]

it would be easier (even better) for MS just hiring these guys for Turn10

So those hundreds of people at Turn10 will have the ability to make yearly Forza games?

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Activision has become an incredibly aggressive company and they exist 100% to make money. They do not wish to drive the industry forward.

Obviously, making money is important to every company, but there are some which also place an importance on creativity and quality.

Take a look at Universal Pictures. Scott Pilgrim bombed hard in the theaters and what did they say about it? They were disappointed that more people failed to see it, but felt that such films were important to the film industry regardless of numbers". They supported it despite its failure.

If Edgar Wright had been a development house, he would have been out on the street after Scott Pilgrim.

That's different Universal as far as I know don't have to fund the day to day operations of Edgar Wrights personal movie studio. They can just choose to not work with him again or slash his budget next time around.

 

[Sipowicz]

Activision has become an incredibly aggressive company and they exist 100% to make money. They do not wish to drive the industry forward.

who does?

relying on a few key franchises while shitting out the odd new ip is hardly a trait unique to activision. the only difference being that they do it while remaining profitable

 

[enzo_gt]

A 200 person studio making 1 or 2 games a year probably costs a lot to operate why do you guys assume another company would want to take on this bloated mess? What do you guys want videogame bailouts? I know it's sad people lose their jobs but Bizarre's output is clearly not worth their costs.

If Turn10 is looking to expand, perhaps the new Bizarre creations can work in conjunction with Turn10 to pump out PGR sequels and Forza sequels alternatively. As much as I hate that business model, the 2 year cycle is could be aided with distribution of asset development between the two.

Anyone remember the old plans to alternate GeoW and Halo every other year and Forza/PGR every other year?