Random Thoughts
I know that things have been quiet lately. The holidays are coming soon and there will be a rush of games coming out; one of them could be that TFB game we’ve been so curious about for so long.
Last week, I discovered that Budcat Creations was closed down by Activision Blizzard on November 16. Some of their recent include Band Hero, various Guitar Hero games and Blast Works. After this announcement, there was rumor that Budcat was still active. However, from what I have read, their contract has ended with Activision.
On the same day, Activision announced that in 90 days, they will make a decision their contract with Bizarre Creations. Some of their recent games include James Bond 007: Blood Stone, Geometry Wars, Project Gotham Racing, Blur and The Club. Activision can choose to sell, restructure, layoff and close. Activision has stated that Blood Stone and Blur were not commercially successful. Bizarre is still open at the time of this posting.
Both of the above events are sad to hear. I apologize if I sound repetitive, but this is another case of “video game politics”; as a gamer, it shocks me that 2 studios are in great risk and at the same time, I am ignorant of the marketing and business side of this industry. I wish everyone in these 2 studios the best of luck.
I remember CEO of Silicon Knights, Denis Dyack said in an interview that with the hundreds of games released each year, it’s not possible to play all of them, review all of them and still make make profit from all of them. Dyack states, “There’s too much product and the only that’s going to change is through consolidation: Fewer and better games.” Silicon Knights is currently working on X-Men: Destiny with Activision.
Links
Denis Dyack Interview
