Bizzare Creations

[Christopher Bratt]

Just found out that local game developers Bizzare Creations (based in Liverpool) are probably going to close after struggling to find a new buyer.

These are the guys that made the PGR series, Geometry Wars and more recently Blur! :<

Not only does it suck for gamers but also 200 talented individuals are going to be out of a job.

I didn't realize Blur had done badly, especially after reading some really good reviews...

Thoughts?

[Paul Clark]

They turned me down for a job, is my first thought. I shouldn't have mentioned rubber-banding.

Blur gave too much away with their beta/demo, I think. You compare it to split second, which had one race, on one track, in one car (possibly) and so if you enjoyed that you would want to buy the game. The average gamer could get their fill of the game from the amount Blur put up on XBox.
Plus there was the fact it was astoundingly average. I never really got into it, as it seemed to be a much less fun Mario Kart that had shinier graphics.And withthat it had to compete with Split/Second and Modnation coming up at the same time, and both looking pretty good.

Then there was the James Bond game...Which I think Martin can fill you in on how enjoyable that was.

I think them closing was inevitable, they had hopped around publishers a bit if I recall as PGR was a Microsoft entity (who then stiffed them to focus on promoting Forza), The Club was a Sega deal (who the developer parted ways with shortly after) ,then after hopping about like that they released two commercial flops for Activision. Disapointed that a big UK studio is closing, but not shocked. I guess you're just going to have to cling onto Sony Liverpool as your local game dev. Could be worse, I think the closest to me is the Hydrophobic Dark Energy Digital, who I'm also dubious about their future due to XBLA sales, but I hear they are funded by a private investor so I guess they have less risks than signing on with Activision.

The motto of "only as good as your last game" is becoming ever truer as the UK industry frays at the edges with lots of talent, funding and startups heading to places like Canada. Realtime Worlds, Rebellion, Bizarre, Monumental haven't done too well. Lots of places are shrinking. Not looking good. Keep an eye out for Bodycount by Codemasters, if that doesn't meet sales expectations we could be seeing a huge downsizing there too.

I think I went and depressed myself with that, I should stop typing.

[Bobby Hunter]

I enjoyed the Blur demo enough to buy the game, but after a couple of weeks with it something went wrong. All of a sudden I wasn't able to connect to the online multiplayer, even though my PS3's internet connection was fine. I had no problems with any other games or even with Blur up until that point. I tried to look up solutions to the problem, but there wasn't anything anywhere. There were a bunch of people on Activision forums and stuff complaining about having that issue too, but nobody addressed their concerns. I ended up selling the game.

It's sad to hear that Bizarre is closing. It's always sad when good (or pretty good) developers have to shut down.

[Mark_ferguson77]

I have no idea about that mate.
No interest in Liverpool & such stuff.

[Nepovez]

I think that*this information is*the best.