Bizarre fell into 'making games to fill slots,' says ex-creative director
Members of defunct developer Bizarre Creations recently provided Edge with more insight into what eventually led to the studio's shuttering. The general impression, beyond former design manager Gareth Wilson's reiteration of a "perfect storm of unfortunate circumstances," is that Bizarre's independent culture began to deteriorate following the Activision acquisition.
"We weren't an independent studio making 'our' games anymore," said former creative director Martyn Chudley. "We were making games to fill slots. Although we did all believe in them, they were more the products of committees and analysts. The culture we'd worked on for so long gradually eroded just enough so that it wasn't 'ours' anymore."
Chudley also claimed that the studio was given the opportunity to buy itself back, but as commercial manager Sarah Chudley explained it, the studio had grown considerably since the Activision takeover and "we just didn't have the skills, capability or finances to look after over 200 people." Without a third party coming in to assume control, it seemed wiser for everyone to walk away.
