Bizarre fell into 'making games to fill slots,' says ex-creative director

@Joelpk

Why? The company went under for selling out and making poor games, which they even admit. And they could have bought themselves back, but didn't want to bother. You're more broken up about it than they are.

@i77ogical

I no way were Project Gotham and Geometry Wars poor games. They are the reasons why I am upset to see Bizarre go down.

@(Unverified)

Project Gotham released 2001
Geometry Wars released 2005


It's 2011.

@i77ogical yea its probably just a coincidence they started making bad games after they were bought by Activision, who never forces people to make games against their will or limit creative freedom in anyway

@(Unverified)
Blood Stone wasn't too bad either

@i77ogical

PGR 2 - 2003
PGR 3 - 2005
PGR 4 - 2007

but all this goes to show what Activision does to developers. hires them to put out crap to "fill" slots, then when they don't sell well, they dump them.

"Bizarre fell into 'making games to fill slots,' says ex-creative director"

Am I the only one reading the headline? Bizarre itself says it was making lousy games. Bizarre itself said it wasn't worth saving the company and buying it back? The company died from self-inflicted wounds. It happens. The employees have moved on. Grab a tissue. It will all work out fine.

@(Unverified)

You should be more upset that Bizarre hasn't had an original idea in six years.

@i77ogical 2010 Blur, one of the best racing games of the year.

@jmr1986

"NPD says racer sold just 31k units in its first five days in US; Numbers likely to cost Bizarre $40m in bonuses."

How was it so great when nobody bought it? Ah, I get it. No one understood its greatness. Another way to say it flopped.

@i77ogical There are plenty of good games that people just don't buy. The market isn't the deciding factor.

People loved Alan Wake, but it was a financial disaster. There are plenty of other factors that decide how well a game sells besides quality. Alan Wake has the misfortune of coming at the same time as one of the biggest games of the year came out.

Blur had the misfortune of being a game for a genre that had lost a lot of popularity. That's hardly the game's fault though, and more the market.

Their shooters were fairly well received, but for the most part were not marketed because they weren't another Call of Duty game, which is what Activision likes to save up their money for.

So yeah. There are many factors besides the games quality that decides how well it does. Not that the quality was in question by the majority of people to begin with.

@i77ogical millions of people bought Just Dance, i guess by what you are saying, it is one of the best games of this generation

@omgJOHN

I admire your effort to apologize for Bizarre's output, but quality sells.

I played, or read multiple reviews, for every recent Bizarre game released. The reviews were not even good, but passable, at best.

Hope you really don't believe you can give a "good effort" in this life, and expect to be successful. You have to outperform these days, just to perform. It's obvious that Bizarre sold to Activision, so they could have a big brother to protect them from the marketplace, but Activision wanted stellar results and Bizarrre didn't deliver.

It's better for everyone to respect the standard, and miss it, than to lower the standard so you can crawl over it. Bizarre did their best, given the situation, but to say their games were very good the last 5-6 years helps no one. And I love GeoWars2, by the way. And PGR2 I still have also.

@omgJOHN Ah jeez. I wrote that like a stupid person. I was in a bit of a rush, so I apologize for horrible, HORRIBLE grammar.
Next time I'll be sure to re-read before commenting.
(same goes for my comment below)

@phatman516

Ah, here is the guy with the extreme arguments. So, Blur sells hardly any copies so it obviously has to be a critical darling?

Blur can sell nothing and be a mediocre game. Just Dance can sell millions and be a mediocre game. Both can be true. You're also mixing casual games-- which are bought by families who don't care about artistry--with AAA titles, which BIzarre was tasked with creating. Bizarre couldn't do it.

@omgJOHN

I thought your post was well-written. But then, I'm the guy with all the white space over my posts, so don't listen to me. ;)

@Grimcicle

Read my reply to phatman516. Sorry you're so offended, btw.

@i77ogical So according to your fail logic the COD series are the best games ever made??... If a game doesn't sell well doesn't means the game is bad. 2010 Games like Vanquish, Alan Wake and Enslaved are big examples of that.

@i77ogical
I'm not trying to apologize for Bizarre. I'm simply trying to get you to understand that sales numbers are not directly related to game quality. There are many factors going for and against each game released that determine how well a game sells.

It can be things like marketing, timing, community buzz, whether or not it's a sequel or attached to a pre-existing IP.

Things that are tied with something that existed before are generally posed to sell better because the IP already exists in a known quantity with consumers. That's part of the reason why Call of Duty sells so well every year, because gamers know what to expect from it. Games that are released at around the same time as big AAA titles generally don't fare as well.

Of course, this goes without saying, there are always exceptions.

Blur had an uphill battle with consumers because no one had heard about it before, and nobody but the hardcore gamers knew who Bizarre Creations was. Combine that with the fact that the racing genre was in decline already, and right around the same time another very similar racing game was released, and you got a formula for less than stellar sales. There's not much Bizarre could have done about that.

That is, of course, just one example. As mentioned there is Alan Wake, which was excellent but did poorly in stores. The first Dead Space was an amazing experience, but did not meet expectations for sales. Rock Band 3 has been heralded as the best in the series, but has tanked financially.
I could probably list more, but that would require some more research and I'm sort of at work.

@jmr1986

Because you choose to like niche games doesn't mean anything.

Bizarre was given James Bond--hardly a niche property, and hardly a cheap one to secure--and told, sell a lot of units.

Some non-sellers are good, but Bizarre's games weren't good. So why keep arguing in the abstract, when you can look at the games Bizarre put out? I'm just saying what happened.

If you're so broken up about it, why don't you write a post to all the gamers who were too stupid to buy your favorite Bizarre creations.

@omgJOHN

You have turned what I've said into a point that you yourself are trying to make. That is your problem, not mine, I'm afraid. You can read what I posted, take a step back, and see where you've done this.

Bizarre had several years to figure out what to do. It wasn't about one game doing poorly, based on some random market fluctuation. It was a track record of mediocrity, which Bizarre admits to itself. Why can't you?

@i77ogical i never said Blur was a great game, but the way you wrote your comment made it seem like Blur didn't sell well BECAUSE it was a great game. I was just making a point that reviews don't really have as much a factor as people think in sales. ex. Just Dance and Homefront (or on the reverse side of things Alan Wake Brutal Legend)

@phatman516

In the end, gamers here are crying that a developer that hasn't been relevant for over half a decade is closing. Why that is sad I don't know.

You can skew opinions on what review scores mean, but as a whole, good games sell at least a good amount, and great games usually sell good-to-great amount of copies. All the excuse making, and the finding the 1-in-1,000 example that doesn't fit this formula is just broken logic. Making excuses for failure is never going to make people successful.

@i77ogical The reason why it is sad is because it is a developer that has given us good games previously just because thay have not been relavent does not take away from there past greatness. i personally enjoyed Blood stone,I am sad to see them shut down

@SpartacusMagnus
Exactly! I mean what did they expect? This is what happens to sell-outs people!!! Learn from this!

@SpartacusMagnus
Agreed. Not sure how people still don't get this. Maybe someone got blinded by too many $$$?

@SpartacusMagnus

I would agree - but, of course, this depends on the circumstances surrounding the companies' terms. That - or you're so financially desperate that you can't help but say 'yes'.

There have been a few developers that have flourished under another's control (e.g. Naughty Dog). You just have to look at the fine print before you sign on the dotted line.

@SpartacusMagnus

You're right, but things are not always cut-and-dry. I'm not certain if this hold true with Bizzare Creations, but I can tell you this many companies need the capitol to create the games they invision and they need a finacial backer to make these dreams happen. Millions of dollar do not fall out of the sky and in many cases companies have to look to other means to fun projects. Also, many companies are publicly traded and can be sold off by the shareholders to a company like Activision regardless of the feelings of the management in charge of the company.

@Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell

addendum to Protip:

Don't sell out to Activision, unless you own the company and they give you a big fat check in exchange for ruining your company. Then please do sell out to Activision.

@(Unverified)

There's a reason Microsoft didn't order another a 5th. It didn't sell.

Will the nostalgia never end?

@Urethra Alfredo - I like filling all the slots and still go down... that's why she keeps me around....


P.S. That also rhymes!

@MSUHitman

Nobody stole that license from EA. EA let it go and nobody had it, allowing the Big Mutha Truckers team to acquire it... Activision doesn't own the license nor do they own the Big Mutha Truckers team. They just published the game.