bizarre-creations posts

The shutdown of UK-based game developer Bizarre Creations earlier this year sent hundreds of talented game creators out in the world. Today three of them announced the launch of a new game studio with the terrific name (and logo) Hogrocket.

The studio currently consists of Ben Ward, Peter Collier and most notably Stephen Cakebread, the creator of the cult hit arcade action game Geometry Wars (other freelancers will be brought in as well). At the moment Hogrocket will be making games for the PC and Mac (along with iPhone and iPad titles). Ward states on his blog site that the team is currently prototyping its first game but details have not yet been revealed.

It's not exactly a shock to learn that new game developers are now being formed after a fairly large one was shut down. In the latest case former team members of the now closed UK-based Bizarre Creations have announced plans to form the new development studio Lucid Games.

In a press release announing the launch of the new studio, it claims that it is already "talking to several publishers regarding potential projects" but specifics were not announced. Lucid Games is also starting to recruit new team members to join the studio in the North West of England. It will also be attending next week's Game Developers Conference.

Today is officially the last day of operations for UK-based developer Bizarre Creations, according to the Develop web site. The developer of such PC games as The Club, Blur and James Bond 007 Blood Stone got notice from its owner Activision that it would be either sold or shut down back in November. Earlier this year Activision announced that it could not find a buyer for the developer which meant that over 200 people are now looking for new jobs.

A now former member of Bizarre Creations has created a video showcasing the developer's games but in a very touching and sad way. You can check out the trailer after the jump:

[Via VG247.com]

The UK-based game developer Bizarre Creations seems to have run out of options and time. After its owner Activision revealed last November it was considering selling or shutting down the studio, Develop reports that the publisher has now recommended that the studio be closed.

According to the report, Activision said it had " a lot of leads but no interested parties" who wanted to purchase the studio which was formed in 1994. Activision bought the studio in 2007 and in 2010 it finally released its first games for the publisher; the racing title Blur and the movie-based action game James Bond 007 Blood Stone. Neither game sold well, however. The shut down of Bizarre, barring a last minute sale, means that about 200 people will lose their jobs.

On Tuesday it wasn't looking good for the future of UK developer Bizarre Creations. Its owner Activision admitted that it was looking into several options "regarding the future of the studio" behind this year's racing game Blur and the just released action game James Bond 007 Blood Storm. Today Develop reports things are looking up at the developer.

According to what unnamed sources have told the web site Develop that "there's multiple parties interested in buying us." One of those buyers could be Microsoft who had sales success with Bizarre Creations with three entries in the Project Gotham Racing series for Microsoft's Xbox console division.

Bizarre Creations, the UK-based developer which released its latest game, James Bond 007 Blood Stone, just two weeks ago, could be closing down. According to several sources including VG247.com and Giant Bomb the decision was made today by the studio's owner Activision to close the studio. 200 employees are reportedly affected by this decision.

Formed in 1994 the developer worked on games for a variety of publishers, including Sega and Microsoft, before being bought by Activision in 2007. However its first game for Activision, the racing game Blur, did not sell well when it was released last May. Activision is reportedly close to issuing a press release concerning Bizarre Creations' status later today.

[Via Joystiq]

Update: Joystiq has an official comment from Activision on the situation stating, " ... because of the broader economic factors impacting the market, we are exploring our options regarding the future of the studio, including a potential sale of the business." Bizarre Creations is not officially shut down but is under a UK-required 90 day "consultation period" where its employees have been told the studio could be shut down, sold or downsized when that time period is completed.

James Bond 007: Blood Stone is now out in stores, and those that want to experience the latest Bond adventure can pick it up. Naturally, this means that there's a launch trailer from Activision and Bizarre Creations, and it's a fairly good summary of all the different mechanics that are at play. Shooting, driving, and hand-to-hand combat are all featured as one would expect, with a liberal dosage of cheesy action vignettes. This is truly a James Bond game, and it looks to be a successor to the movies. At least in visuals, anyhow.

Download HD James Bond 007: Blood Stone Launch Trailer
Check out all James Bond 007: Blood Stone downloads

When developer Bizarre Creations got the call to make James Bond 007 Blood Stone from its owner-publisher Activision it wanted to make the game have all of the aspects of a classic James Bond movie. In this newest behind-the-scenes video the team at Bizarre Creations talks about those aspects of the game.

They include having tons of exotic locales like Siberia, Greece, Bangkok and more. They also talk about Bond being able to drive the class Aston Martin DB5 "with modifications" car that was first introduced in the movie Goldfinger. There's also a brief chat with singer Joss Stone who lends her voice to one of the characters in the game and sings the game's theme song. The title is due out for the PC later this week.

Download the James Bond 007 Blood Stone "Classic Bond" Trailer at Big Download

After a boatload of new PC games were released last week, things slow down a lot for the first week of November. Indeed there's only one major PC game that's scheduled to be released in the next seven days to retail stores with another due for digital download release. The rest of the month is also looking pretty sparse for new game releases.

James Bond 007 Blood Stone - After releasing Blur back in May, developer Bizarre Creations releases its second game for publisher Activision with this latest game featuring the world's most famous fictional secret agent. This new and all original story features third person shooting and hands-to-hand combat, some driving sequences and Daniel Craig's voice and likeness as 007.

As mentioned in this trailer, Bizarre Creations is known for their racing games. Specifically, their most well known games include Blur, Project Gotham Racing, and Formula One. Naturally, they are applying this expertise to the realm of the James Bond franchise with Blood Stone, and the result is very stunning. Visually, anyway. While no real specifics were mentioned, the gist of the developer's comments here are that they want to reproduce the knuckle-biting car chases of the James Bond movies, with all the last-minute braking and action such an endeavor entails.

Download HD James Bond 007: Blood Stone 'Driving & Vehicles' Trailer
Check out all James Bond 007: Blood Stone downloads