Activision has revealed to Develop that is has not received any interest from potential buyers for Bizarre Creations. The publisher has recommended the studio close its doors, and Bizarre has “indicated it will accept recommendation.”
Housing approximately 200 staff, the Liverpool-based studio was responsible for the Geometry Wars and Project Gotham series under Microsoft, before moving to Activision where it developed Blur and the poorly-received 007: Blood Stone.
Coddy Johnson, Activision Worldwide Studios’ chief operating officer, said the publisher had “looked at all options” before recommending to close the group. “I want to be clear, our first choice was to try and keep this group together and find a buyer for the studio. This decision comes after a few months of exhausted examination of a number of different options across the board.”
Johnson added, “We of course care about this team. We’re offering the studio as many resources as possible, including counselling, external placement services and external career fairs.”
In November, Bizarre was put in a 90 day consultation period, meaning Activision had the option to close the studio or sell it to another group.
