While it may be tempting to think developing games is possibly one of the best jobs in the world it is worthwhile to remember that virtually all development houses are one bad game away from shutting down.
And even more worrisome is that most of these places are completely at the whim of the gamers and even if they create a solid exciting game like Blur they could still go bankrupt.
Blur was released a couple of months back to generally good reviews (Nick gave it a 8.9) and while it wasn’t a GT5 or Burnout Paradise City it was still a bucket load of fun and well worth adding to your collection.
Unfortunately for Bizarre (the developers) though it wasn’t a retail smash hit and thanks to the title having to be delayed for massive bug fixing the end result at retail doesn’t appear to have been enough to stave of bankruptcy.
Activision have just released a statement saying
“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.â€
And according to Neogaf all 200 staff members have been given notice of redundancy which is UK talk for “You’re goneâ€â€¦
It’s a sad end to a thrilling story and hopefully someone will see a benefit in buying out Bizarre and creating a Blur styled FPS with zombies… it’s a guaranteed smash hit.
Source: Shacknews
Last Updated: November 17, 2010
lans
November 17, 2010 at 08:38
Hey Sony Have one on the House!!!!
Make Blur the new Wipeout devs!
LordKhaan
November 17, 2010 at 08:52
“Unfortunately for Bizarre (the developers) though it wasn’t a retail smash hit and thanks to the title having to be delayed for massive bug fixing” – That im afraid is the reason for the failure of this title imo. Blizard just doesnt seem to be able to get a game out there that isnt rattled by massive amounts of bugs/glitches/problems of some sort.
Perhaps they need to relook how they do things and realize the name they are making for themselves from a gamers perspective “Ill buy this game 6 months down the line, cause Id rather wait for all the bug fixes before I even attempt to play”
Plenty of examples out of their studios
starcraft II – 1st day release there was a bug patch
Fo3- took them up to the 3rd DLC to get rid of bugs and even then there were still fixes that needed to be done.
FoNV- Still waiting for patches. Modders have taken up this role luckly on PC with OVER 70 fixes out for freezes and/or just bad programming.
Diablo III- Im scared to know the amount of bugs that are going to happen with this…
Fox1
November 17, 2010 at 09:23
Noooooo! Blur sucks but PGR is utter perfection of the highest degree. Please by Bizarre back MS before Sony get’s their hands on them :pouty:
Bobby Kotick for Dummies
November 17, 2010 at 10:45
I guess they didn’t get the memo, only Call of Duty games are profitable.
Bobby Kotick for Dummies
November 17, 2010 at 10:57
Blur is a decent game, but it launched against red dead redemption and that was suicide. It’s a pity that the whole developing studio has to suffer for management’s lapse in judgement.