In unfortunate news, this Friday will be a truly sad day for race fans. According to the report, Bizarre Creations will close it’s doors Friday, February 18th 2011, which will end more then twenty years of development. The closure was not unexpected however, as the studio was on notice since November that a shutdown was possible. In January, their fears were confirmed when parent company Activision announced they could not find a buyer for the studio.
Blizarre Creations first become known in 1996 with it’s Formula One game for Playstation. In 2000, the studio released Metropolis Street Racer for the Sega Dreamcast. However, most know the studio for it’s work on Microsoft’s Xbox platforms, which developed the popular Project Gotham Racing series which is one of my favorites. Blizarre was also behind the very popular arcade game Geometry Wars, which was released on many platforms such as Xbox 360 and PC as well as a spin-off on DS and Wii.
In 2007, Bizarre Creations was bought by Activision, for whom it developed two games: last year’s Blur and James Bond 007: Blood Stone. Neither title was a breakout hit, so as part of a round of cost-cutting late last year, Activision made the decision to close the studio–which, at its peak, employed around 200 people. I am sorry for everyone that lost their jobs and best of luck finding a new one so I can have my racing games!
