Activision acquires Bizarre Creations @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on September 26, 2007

News: Project Gotham Racing developer gets gobbled up by Activision.

With Project Gotham Racing 4 just days from release, Activision has announced they've acquired the game's developer, Bizarre Creations. The company, which also created the Xbox Live Arcade classic Geometry Wars and is currently working on The Club for Sega, will become a wholly owned subsidary of Activision.

According to Activision, the 160 person company will now immediately begin work on two new titles. No concrete details were released on these games, but Activision described them as "AAA titles." Owing to Bizarre's history, one of the titles has been confirmed as an original racing game, not connected to Project Gotham (which is presumably owned by Microsoft).

But it should be noted that the first game to come out of the deal will not be released until 2009 at the earliest.

Executives for both companies are very pleased with the deal:

"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."

Martyn Chudley, Managing Director of Bizarre Creations, said, "Our goal at Bizarre Creations has always been to do all we can to nurture our creative and passionate teams, who excel at and enjoy what they do. Activision's independent studio model will continue giving us creative freedom to build exciting new brands. Their financial support and marketing prowess will also enable us to build upon the commercial success that we currently enjoy, and take the company - and our games - to an even higher level."

We'll have more on Bizarre Creations next move soon.