Now that developer Bizarre Creations has been closed for some time, much of the behind the scenes story is starting to come out. A number of players from Bizarre have told their story in an article in Edge magazine. While it has been called the perfect storm of unfortunate circumstances, it would seem that does not encompass what all has been happening with the studio since its acquisition by Activision.
Apparently, after the Activision acquisition, according to Martyn Chudley, “We were no longer making ‘our’ games any longer, but instead were making games to fill slots.” While the studio did believe in the titles it was working on, the titles took a more design by committees and analysis approach, rather than the tried and true Bizarre creative method that had worked so well for the studio in the past. The culture of the studio apparently started to deteriorate following the Activision acquisition, which didn’t help matters much.
The studio was apparently given the chance to buy itself back from Activision, according to Sarah Chudley, who was the commercial manager at the time. “The problem was that the studio had grown so much that they didn’t have the skills, capabilities, or finances to look over 200 people,” according to Chudley. In the end, without a third party coming in to assume control, it was wisest for everyone to walk away.
Read more here.
Culture deteriorated after Activision acquisition
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David Stellmack
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