Activision Blizzard being bumholes

[Keyofx]

Brutal Legend, Ghostbusters, more dropped by Activision

Publisher passes on a slew of Vivendi Games' in-development titles; 50 Cent, World in Conflict: Soviet Assault, Wet also affected.

 

Earlier today, Activision Publishing announced a streamlining of its Vivendi Games operations, saying it would be bringing into the fold five of that company's franchises: Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Ice Age, Prototype, and one unannounced game.

 

An Activision representative later confirmed for GameSpot that those would be the only Vivendi Games franchises coming out of the publisher. That leaves a number of high-profile projects in limbo, including Double Fine Productions' Brutal Legend, as well as Wet, Ghostbusters, Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, World at Conflict: Soviet Assault, 50 Cent Blood on the Sand, Zombie Wranglers, Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust, as well as several Xbox Live Arcade titles.

 

"The only franchises that Activision Publishing will release are based on Crash Bandicoot, Ice Age and Spyro, as well as Prototype and one other game that has not yet been announced," the representative said. "We are reviewing our options regarding those titles that we will not be publishing."

 

Activision Blizzard has other publishing arms like Blizzard Entertainment and Activision Value that were not covered by the press release and could be among the options being reviewed. As of press time, representatives from those companies did not return requests for comment.

 

A scheduled Comic Con International panel on the Ghostbusters game was abruptly cancelled last week, with no explanation given to attendees. However, the game was on the show floor in playable form.

 

Activision Blizzard 'streamlining' Vivendi

Prototype, Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, and Ice Age survive the big merger; Massive Entertainment and Swordfish Studios under the microscope.

 

You can't make the world's largest third-party omelette without breaking a few eggs. In the wake of the merger with Vivendi Games, Activision Publishing today announced that it is streamlining the subsumed company's operations.

 

As part of the drive for increased efficiency, Activision will "realign" staff at Radical Entertainment (Prototype, Crash of the Titans) and High Moon Studios (The Bourne Conspiracy, Darkwatch). As for their sister subsidiaries Massive Entertainment (World in Conflict, Ground Control) and Swordfish Studios (50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, Cold Winter), Activision is "exploring options," including the sale or closing of the outfits.

 

The future is similarly uncertain for Sierra Online (Assault Heroes 2) and Vivendi Games Mobile (Prison Break, Cake Mania 2). The publisher deemed them "non-strategic business units" and said it is exploring the possibility of closing or selling them as well.

 

"We are focused on improving efficiency across the combined organization and are concentrating on businesses where we have leadership positions that are aligned with Activision Publishing's long-term corporate objectives," Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith said in a statement.

 

As for the Vivendi properties that are definitely sticking around, Activision said it is adding Spyro the Dragon, Crash Bandicoot, and Ice Age to its stable of popular brands. It will also bring in two new intellectual properties Vivendi had been working on: Radical Games' Prototype, and one as-yet unannounced title.

 

"We have conducted a thorough review of Vivendi Games' brand portfolio and are retaining those franchises and titles that are a strong fit with our long-term product strategy," Griffith said. "We are reviewing our options regarding those titles that we will not be publishing."

 

The press release makes no mention of other anticipated Vivendi titles like Double Fine Productions' Brutal Legend or Terminal Reality's Ghostbusters. Activision representatives did not immediately respond to GameSpot's requests for comment on the status of these and other Vivendi projects.

 

Back in March, Variety reported that Vivendi developers were having to re-pitch their games to the incoming Activision management. At the time, Double Fine head Tim Schafer said he hadn't been asked to go anywhere or pitch anything special.

 

[uPDATE]: An Activision Publishing representative confirmed for GameSpot that it will not be publishing Vivendi titles beyond the scope of the five announced franchises. That leaves a number of high-profile projects in limbo, including Brutal Legend, Ghostbusters, Wet, Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, World at Conflict: Soviet Assault, 50 Cent Blood on the Sand, Zombie Wranglers, Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust, as well as several Xbox Live Arcade titles.

[Keyofx]

WTF :\

 

Swordfish, High Moon, Massive, Double Fine..

 

Those are good developers..

 

Shades of EA's messing about with Westwood and Bullfrog all over this :/

 

Quick, everyone buy The Bourne Conspiracy. lol.

[Singh]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :cry5: :cry5:

 

 

Not the World in Conflict Expansion! Cancel anything else, please, but not Soviet Assault!! I've been looking forward to it for AGES! and now they've CANCELLED IT?!! :cry5:

 

ACTIVISION WILL BURN! IT MUST BURN TO THE GROUND FOR THIS SIN!

[Keyofx]

I wasn't expecting people to take the news this well. lol

[KnackChap]

NO BRUTAL LEGEND??

 

Vadernooooooo.jpg

[XephY]

StarCraft 2. Wrath of the Lich King. Diablo 3. 'nuff said.

[SchizoidFreud]

Sierra: Ghostbusters 'absolutely not cancelled'

 

Yesterday's news that Activision Blizzard was only holding onto a select few Vivendi/Sierra properties going forward didn't look good for those awaiting the seemingly triumphant return of Ghostbusters. We contacted Sierra about the game's absence from Blizzavision's "to keep" list, and whether said omission spelled doom for the Ecto-1 crew. Good news, everyone: the game's not giving up the ghost.

 

A spokesperson for Sierra confirmed that, "First and foremost, the game is absolutely not canceled." But does it have a publisher? "[sierra] is reviewing its options regarding those titles that it will not be publishing," we were told.

 

While not explicitly stated, it definitely sounds like Sierra has begun the process of shopping its remaining titles around to other publishers. These include Double Fine's hotly anticipated heavy metal adventure Brütal Legend. We're still awaiting word on its fate, but can't imagine Tim Schafer and crew letting a little publisher scuffle stop the rock.

[KnackChap]

http://weblogs.variety.com/the_cut_s...-legend-d.html

 

:

Brutal Legend definitely coming out, new release plan to be announced soon

 

Rounding out my posts on the trio of high profile Sierra titles that Activision Blizzard decided not to publish is "Brutal Legend" (for "Ghostbusters" and the Bourne games, click here and here, respectively).

 

My information from reporting today is that developer Double Fine, which owns the rights to its metal rock actioner starring Jack Black and thus doesn't have to just sit back and worry about what Activision Blizzard will do, is very close to sealing a new deal to release the game. I don't know who it will be, but I understand that it may not be a traditional publisher. It could be a more "unique" arrangement. (Sorry to be vague, but even getting this much info was quite a chore.)

 

Many people I spoke to were worried that other partners might feel the way Activision Blizzard apparently does and not want to take a risk on an original property from a developer whose last game, "Psychonauts," didn't sell well (even if that was largely publisher Majesco's fault and the game got great reviews). A risk is a risk and videogaming is a risk-averse industry. So this is good news for anyone who likes originality.

 

Of course, closing the deal and then setting up a new marketing plan means that keeping the current release date could be tough. So don't be surprised to see "Brutal Legend" slip into 2009. But the most important fact for gamers psyched about this awesome looking game is that it's not dead. It looks like we'll be playing it within a year.