Just when you thought Activision wasdone kicking ass, they tell us that they just brought U.K. developer Bizarre Creations into their fold.
The American game publisher has just about every type of game in their line up, including shooters, huge Hollywood licenses, and even the most popular skateboarding game. And then, with their recent acquisition of RedOctane, they gained some “star power” with theGuitar Heroseries, taking them to thetop of the third partydeveloper’s heap. They’ve been missing a good racing game up until now, but consider that covered with the addition of Bizarre Creations to the team.
You know Bizarre Creations for their Xbox/Xbox 360 racing seriesProject Gotham Racing. They also created the Xbox Live Arcade titleGeometry Warsand is currently working on a third-person action game calledThe Club, for SEGA.
Robert Kotick, Chairman and CEO of Activision, Inc. says, “Bizarre Creations is the leading independent developer with a proven track record in developing highly successful and influential original properties, especially in the racing field. They’re one of the most innovative and creative studios in the industry, and we are very excited to welcome this talented creative team to Activision.”
Bizarre Creations will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision, and they expect that we’ll see their first from Bizarre Creations in 2009.
Activision Enters $1.4 Billion Racing Genre Market, Representing Morethan 10% of Worldwide Video Game Market
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jun 25, 2025 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Activision, Inc.(Nasdaq:ATVI) today announced that it has acquired U.K.-based video gamedeveloper Bizarre Creations, one of the world’s premier video gamedevelopers and a leader in the racing category, a $1.4 billion marketthat is the fourth most popular video game genre and represents morethan 10% of the total video game market worldwide.
This acquisition represents the latest step in Activision’s ongoingstrategy to enter new genres. Last year, Activision entered the musicrhythm genre through its acquisition of RedOctane’s Guitar Herofranchise, which is one of the fastest growing franchises in the videogame industry.
With more than 10 years’ experience in the racing genre, BizarreCreations is the developer of the innovative multi-million unitfranchise Project Gotham Racing, a critically-acclaimed series for theXbox(R) and Xbox 360(R). The Project Gotham Racing franchise currentlyhas an average game rating of 89%, according to GameRankings.com and hassold more than 4.5 million units in North America and Europe, accordingto The NPD Group, Charttrack and Gfk.
Bizarre Creations is currently finishing development on thehighly-anticipated third-person action game, The Club, for SEGA, whichis due to be released early 2008. They are also the creators of thetop-selling arcade game series Geometry Wars on Xbox Live Arcade(R).
Bizarre Creations and its games have won numerous industry awardsincluding: Best Racing Game for Project Gotham Racing 2 from theprestigious British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA); theIndustry Grand Prix Award from Develop; MCV’s UK Development Team 2006award; Best Racing/Driving Game from IGN; Game of the Year from OXM andGamespy for Project Gotham Racing 3; and IGN’s Best XBLA Game forGeometry Wars: Retro Evolved.
“Activision continues to grow and drive greater value for ourshareholders by broadening our portfolio and entering new gamingcategories with strong global appeal,” said Robert Kotick, Chairman andCEO of Activision, Inc. “Bizarre Creations is the leading independentdeveloper with a proven track record in developing highly successful andinfluential original properties, especially in the racing field. Theyare one of the most innovative and creative studios in the industry, andwe are very excited to welcome this talented creative team toActivision.”
Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc., added,“Bizarre Creations will play an important role in our growth strategy aswe develop an original new intellectual property for this importantracing segment, expand our portfolio in other genres and utilize theirproprietary technology for cross platform development.”
Martyn Chudley, Managing Director of Bizarre Creations, said, “Our goalat Bizarre Creations has always been to do all we can to nurture ourcreative and passionate teams, who excel at and enjoy what they do.Activision’s independent studio model will continue giving us creativefreedom to build exciting new brands. Their financial support andmarketing prowess will also enable us to build upon the commercialsuccess that we currently enjoy, and take the company – and our games –to an even higher level.”
Under the terms of the acquisition, Bizarre Creations will become awholly owned subsidiary of Activision and the company’s management teamand employees continue with the company as their teams start to developtwo new AAA titles alongside their current projects. The 160-persondevelopment studio is located in Liverpool, England. Financial terms ofthe agreement were not disclosed. Activision expects that its first gamefrom Bizarre Creations will be released after fiscal year 2009.
About Bizarre Creations
Bizarre Creations is an independent developer, based in Liverpool, UK.Established in 1994, the company is famed for such high profilefranchises as Formula 1, Fur Fighters, Geometry Wars, Project GothamRacing and The Club. Bizarre prides itself on providing high-qualitynext-generation gaming experiences that excel in gameplay, graphics,audio and technology. Find them on the web atwww.bizarrecreations.com.
