Project Gotham Racing, which started its life as Metropolis Street Racer on the Dreamcast has been Microsoft’s other racing title. I’ve always preferred it to the boring sim-racing presented in Forza, as it struck the fine balance between sim and arcade racing perfectly. PGR 3 was a launch title for the 360, with PGR 4, released in 2007, as the last entry in the franchise. That same year Activision bought bizarre creations, the game’s developer, who went on to release arcade racer blur this year.
Microsoft, it seems, is keen to revive the series – and may just be courting developers to help them do just that.
According to develop, an inside source says that Microsoft is still deciding on which particular studio to hand development reigns to. Long-standing rumours point to Forza developer Turn-10 being tasked with the duties, but the fact that they’re still deciding suggest that it could be handed to a third-party studio.
It’s an important franchise for Microsoft; PGR 2 was the second highest selling game on that system (after Halo) and helped define the Xbox Live service. I can’t help but feel that the game just won’t seem right, without Bizarre at the helm, so Microsoft has to be really clever about who they opt to use. If they get started now, they might have it out before GT5!
Source : develop
Last Updated: November 2, 2010
AC!D
November 2, 2010 at 13:44
This is the perfect example of gamers being ignorant and a game selling more on its name than by the reputation of its developer. Let me explain. Bizzare creations created PGR for MS and the game has been a very successful franchise over the years. 2 years ago Bizarre get purchased by Activision, create a new IP called Blur and the game sells poorly. Im betting when this gets released it will sell like hot cakes just on name alone. I can imagine Bungie in two years time wondering the same thing when Halo next sell millions.