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    Bizarre Creations

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    Bizarre Creations was a mid-sized video game developer, based in Liverpool, UK, and a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard. Established in 1994, the company is known for such franchises as Formula 1, Fur Fighters, Geometry Wars, and Project Gotham Racing.

    Activision Is 'Exploring Its Options' Regarding The Future Of Bizarre Creations

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    BradNicholson

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    Edited By BradNicholson
    Bizarre Creations, the developer behind Project Gotham Racing, Blur, Geometry Wars, and the latest James Bond game, sub-titled Bloodstone, has been closed by Activision, according to a NeoGAF thread and our own confidential sources. 
     
    According to a source, Bizarre Creations will be going through a "90-day consultation period, statutory redundancy." The NeoGAF thread on this subject states that all 200 or so staff at the studio have been made redundant. Bizarre employees have known about today's closure for just about three hours.
     
    A press release about this is said to be forthcoming.  
     

    No Caption Provided

    UPDATE:Joystiq has a bit of clarification on the "90-day consultation, statutory redundancy" thing. Bizarre is sorta in the process of closing. This 90-day period gives notice to employees that a company is going to be shuttered or sold or downsized.  
     
    UPDATE 2: Shacknews and other websites have received the following boilerplate from Activision regarding this. Just to be extra clear, our sources believed Bizarre was toast at the time we reported this. It appears now, though, that the studio isn't closing immediately as was feared. It's possible that within this 90-day period someone can buy Bizarre and save the jobs that were supposedly made redundant.
     

    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.    

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    BradNicholson

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    #1  Edited By BradNicholson
    Bizarre Creations, the developer behind Project Gotham Racing, Blur, Geometry Wars, and the latest James Bond game, sub-titled Bloodstone, has been closed by Activision, according to a NeoGAF thread and our own confidential sources. 
     
    According to a source, Bizarre Creations will be going through a "90-day consultation period, statutory redundancy." The NeoGAF thread on this subject states that all 200 or so staff at the studio have been made redundant. Bizarre employees have known about today's closure for just about three hours.
     
    A press release about this is said to be forthcoming.  
     

    No Caption Provided

    UPDATE:Joystiq has a bit of clarification on the "90-day consultation, statutory redundancy" thing. Bizarre is sorta in the process of closing. This 90-day period gives notice to employees that a company is going to be shuttered or sold or downsized.  
     
    UPDATE 2: Shacknews and other websites have received the following boilerplate from Activision regarding this. Just to be extra clear, our sources believed Bizarre was toast at the time we reported this. It appears now, though, that the studio isn't closing immediately as was feared. It's possible that within this 90-day period someone can buy Bizarre and save the jobs that were supposedly made redundant.
     

    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.    

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    Addict

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    #2  Edited By Addict

    That sucks, I enjoyed PGR alot, but usually when you are making movie licensed games you can't be in great shape. 

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    HereAllDay

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    #3  Edited By HereAllDay

    FU ACTIVISION!

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    Krakn3Dfx

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    #4  Edited By Krakn3Dfx

    Indeed.

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    chilibean_3

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    #5  Edited By chilibean_3

    Whoa. What?

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    cronoman66

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    #6  Edited By cronoman66

    this flat out sucks Bizarre has been a great developer over the years

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    General_D23

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    #7  Edited By General_D23

    What?!!! NO! Goddammit.

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    Fruitcocoa

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    #8  Edited By Fruitcocoa

    Sad, sad news! :( 

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    Althox

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    #9  Edited By Althox

    F****rs...

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    coaxmetal

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    #10  Edited By coaxmetal

    Damn. Hope they get picked up by someone. Closing a studio is brutal.

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    skippyscissors

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    #11  Edited By skippyscissors

    Oh no!!

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    TheMasterDS

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    #12  Edited By TheMasterDS

    Wow, really? Did Blur not sell really well? Bloodstone, sure, being a shitty  licensed shooter, but Blur should've gotten some sales, even if the Multiplayer was the only good part of that game. That's a real shame.

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    Mrskidders

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    #13  Edited By Mrskidders

    Oh well, as long as their redundancy package includes copies of Geometry Wars then they will have something to do whilst they sit around in their underwear.

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    AtomicEdge

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    #14  Edited By AtomicEdge

    What load of crap! Love that studio! Does Activision own the rights to Geometry Wars?

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    SalukiJeff

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    #15  Edited By SalukiJeff

    Thats a real Bummer!!!

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    swabbleflange

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    #16  Edited By swabbleflange

    Way to drive a nail into the coffin of one of the few remaining game series I care about (Geometry Wars). I'm pretty sure that Activision won't let the game go with its creators, and will probably let it quietly fade into memory.

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    Daveyo520

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    #17  Edited By Daveyo520

    :(

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    RobotHamster

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    #18  Edited By RobotHamster

    Thats pretty sad, I hope they could bounce back soon.

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    TheHT

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    #19  Edited By TheHT

    What the fuck Activision? What the fuck?

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    awesomeusername

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    #20  Edited By awesomeusername
    @sharma55 said:
    " FU ACTIVISION! "
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    TomTheRealist

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    #21  Edited By TomTheRealist

    If true, this is awful. 
    Big condolences to the 200 or so staff. 

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    Winternet

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    #22  Edited By Winternet

    Now that's some shitty news.

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    Kyreo

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    #23  Edited By Kyreo

    I can't think of anything positive that could come out of all of the developers closing down.  

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    KaosAngel

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    #24  Edited By KaosAngel

    Another bites the dust.

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    Rabid619

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    #25  Edited By Rabid619

    Damn, that sucks. I really liked PGR and lost many many hours to Geometry Wars. Hopefully they can continue those series somewhere else. 
     
    A world without more Geometry Wars is not a world I want to live in!

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    raiz265

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    #26  Edited By raiz265

    Kotick'd

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    skadbob

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    #27  Edited By skadbob

    Woah... this is terrible, terrible news.

    Who's going to make Geometry Wars 3?!

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    KarlHungus

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    #28  Edited By KarlHungus

    Hey guys is Bloodstone ready? Good, lets get it shipped out. OK, the scores aren't the greatest, but they are not bad. Alright guys, good job today and also... you are all fucking fired get the fuck out of this building.
    NOW!!!
     
    I'm sure that whole ordeal went over terribly. fucking activision...

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    callumbay

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    #29  Edited By callumbay

    That was unexpected, this is really sad news, I really loved Geometry Wars and Blur :(

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    Pinworm45

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    #30  Edited By Pinworm45

    WAIT WHAT? NO MORE GEOMETRY WARS?!

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    killroycantkill

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    #31  Edited By killroycantkill

    Uhhh, wait what! No more Project Gotham, no more Geometry Wars! Dude... That's weird. Maybe Blood Stone pushed them over the edge?  
     
    There was some talent in that studio, I hope they all find new places to work... That's messed up I didn't see this coming at all.
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    Kontrapunkt

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    #32  Edited By Kontrapunkt

    Well, that's self interest for you :(
     
    RIP Bizarre Creations.

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    Volkodlak

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    #33  Edited By Volkodlak

    So, yeah Activision... this is why people hate you.

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    wafflestomp

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    #34  Edited By wafflestomp

    BOOOOO!!!!

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    JohnPaulVann

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    #35  Edited By JohnPaulVann

    Blur was a mistake. In this business you f*ck up once and it's over. That being the case, I've always loved BC. Tonight, in remembrance of the studio, I'm going to play the hell out of PGR1--the studio's finest game.

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    Cwaff

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    #36  Edited By Cwaff

    Real shame... best of luck to all those involved!

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    GreatDane

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    #37  Edited By GreatDane

    WTF??  
     
    No more geometry wars and PGR? 

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    BombaLuigi

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    #38  Edited By BombaLuigi

    holy fuck, so no geometry wars 3 i guess? sad panda is sad...

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    Driadon

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    #39  Edited By Driadon
    @Killroycantkill: Not Forza, that's a different group. No Gotham Project Racing, however.
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    Sambambo

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    #40  Edited By Sambambo
    @Killroycantkill said:
    " Uhhh, wait what! No more Forza, no more Geometry Wars! Dude... That's weird. Maybe Blood Stone pushed them over the edge?   There was some talent in that studio, I hope they all find new places to work... That's messed up I didn't see this coming at all. "
    Forza is Turn 10. I think you may be thinking of Project Gotham Racing.
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    Vaancor

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    #41  Edited By Vaancor

    Damn it! First Harmonix now this, is it national can well loved developers month!?

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    NowSayPillow

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    #42  Edited By NowSayPillow

    Goddamned it, Activision. While I'm sure this made perfect sense from a business stand-point it still seems like a total dick-move.

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    SavUK

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    #43  Edited By SavUK

    Such a shame. UK game development is shrinking ever smaller. Picked up Blur a few days ago, really enjoying it. Tried linking my account today but can't log into the site, this probably explains it.  

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    RampageAssassin

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    #44  Edited By RampageAssassin

    Very bad news for the industry. Screw you Activision !!

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    _Phara0h_

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    #46  Edited By _Phara0h_
    @Killroycantkill said:
    " Uhhh, wait what! No more Forza,
    Forza is NOT developed by Bizarre......
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    gunharp

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    #47  Edited By gunharp
    @Addict said:

    " That sucks, I enjoyed PGR alot, but usually when you are making movie licensed games you can't be in great shape.  "

    Agreed, but oddly enough 7 studios is still around. 
     
    Also to everybody bemoaning that there is no more PGR, that is a product owned by Microsoft. So when Activision (before the Acti-Blizzard merger etc.) picked up Bizarre in 2007 there was never going to be more PGR.
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    mattbodega

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    #48  Edited By mattbodega

    I guess not every Activision-owned company can be be cajoled into making Black Ops map packs, huh?

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    Afroman269

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    #49  Edited By Afroman269
    @Pinworm45 said:
    " WAIT WHAT? NO MORE GEOMETRY WARS?! "
    and fuck Activision........cocksuckers....
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    SkullcrusherMountain

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    Wonder how Bungie feels about this.

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