Activision pockets Project Gotham dev Bizarre Creations
Independent UK developer Bizarre Creations of Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars fame is now the property of Activision following an acquisition announcement this morning, making the studio one of Activision's wholly owned subsidiaries. The move by Activision follows last year's purchase of Guitar Hero publisher Red Octane, and while financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Activision notes that its first Bizarre Creations game will not be released until sometime following fiscal 2009.
That said, Bizarre Creations will still release its visceral shooter The Club as an indie for publisher Sega this February for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The upcoming Project Gotham Racing 4 will be the studio's final game for Microsoft.
While it's always somewhat disheartening to see once independent developers sapped up like this, in some ways it's inevitable, especially given the high costs associated with console game development. Still, according to a blog post on Bizarre Creations' website, Activision's ownership will be "hands off," leaving creative control in the studio's capable hands, for now at least. In addition, the post adds that the company will have "absolutely no redundancies," no doubt causing a sigh of relief from those in the trenches.
