News

By: Joe Topolnisky Sep 26, 2007

Activision Acquires Bizarre Creations

Doing a little wheeling and dealing today, Activision has announced that they've acquired UK-based video game developer Bizarre Creations. Best known for their work on the Project Gotham Racing franchise, Bizarre will finish up development on their current projects before moving onto two new AAA titles for Activision. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Here's a little snippet from the press release:

"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, Inc. "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."

Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc., added, "Bizarre Creations will play an important role in our growth strategy as we develop an original new intellectual property for this important racing segment, expand our portfolio in other genres and utilize their proprietary technology for cross platform development."

Also, Bizarre has released a statement on their website this afternoon, explaining why they chose to sell the company and what it means for their current and future projects. Here's a blurb:

Both of our two main game teams are about to start work on two new AAA titles for Activision. 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!

What about the now? Firstly, Geometry Wars will remain unaffected; we'll continue to expand and advance the series just as we were going to do before. The Club will still be released with SEGA, Geometry Wars Galaxies will still be released with Sierra, and PGR4 will continue to be supported after its launch in October. No massive changes here then...