Bizzare Creations is a game developer based in Liverpool, England established back in 1994, some of there best know franchises include Formula 1, Fur Fighters, Geometry Wars, The Club, and Project Gotham Racing. In 2007 they joined forces with Activision their finial creations are Blur and James Bond 007: Blood Stone. Now Bizarre won't be closing their doors immediately the have a 90-day consultation period which is
required in the UK before closing a business, it also serves as a 90-day notice to the employees that the company is closing or sold. Activision released a statement earlier in the day about the closing or possible selling of Bizarre.
Activision's statement:
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.
These types of closings have become common place in the past few years with Activision here is a list of studios that have closed recently:
Sierra Entertainment: Closed 2008
Shaba Games: Closed 2009
Luxoflux: Closed 2010
RedOctane: Closed 2010
Underground Development: Closed 2010
Budcat Creations: Closed 2010
I will leave you with a farewell video that the good people over Bizarre created to say good-bye to gamers everywhere.
Sources:
Giant Bomb,
VG247,
NeoGAF
