Eurogamer

Liverpool developer Bizarre Creations closes today - and it's said goodbye with a touching video showcasing its superb portfolio of games.

Video "Farewell Bizarre...it's been an absolute pleasure!", below, was put together by Bizarre's video editor Eamon Urtone. It references many of Bizarre's games, including Project Gotham Racing 4, Geometry Wars and The Club.

"Dedicated to all the talented guys & girls at Bizarre Creations," reads the video's subheading.

Bizarre began life in 1994. In November 2010 owner Activision announced its intent to offload the developer, citing poor sales of its excellent Blur racer.

"Bizarre is a very talented team of developers, however, 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," said a statement released at that time.

However, no buyer came forward and last month its imminent termination was confirmed.

Activision exec Coddy Johnson explained that the publisher had "explored a lot of leads - pretty much anyone you can imagine in the industry. But unfortunately, so far we've not been able to find any interested parties. So we've made as a last resort, a recommendation to the team for closure."

At the end of the video: "1994-2011"

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-02-18-bizarre-says-goodbye-with-farewell-video

It's sad whenever a developer closes down. It just puts more emphasis on being lucky with your game, and having the right staff. It's a highly competitive environment, coupled with the fact that many very talented coders just got laid off in an already hostile job market

Their output was great. Activisions the one at fault here. Bizzare are one of the most talented racing developers out there and they've been shut down because their skills don't cover COD map packs. I just hope that one day, Activision just has a clearance sale of some of their studios, so that the other great developers like Raven, Neversoft and High Moon could at least have a chance of being sold off to a competent publisher. 

My first Playstation game was Formula one (1996) and was made by Bizarre Creations

Yeah my first xbox 360 game was PGR 3 as well. Wonder why MS didn't buy them...they could have had their own first party devs.

"Microsoft, please take these employees and give them jobs, they make awesome games, make them 360 exclusive if you have to. Oh, and from the bottom of my heart, fuck Activision. They're a cancerous locust plague."

That comment explains my feelings on the matter quite well. A shame that they had to close, great studios are hard to come by and I did play the PGR3 and 4 and enjoyed them immensely. Video was very well done too.

i dont get why MS didn't buy the studio?? 

MS needs more studios, even if they made Kinect titles. 

Maybe it's cheaper to create a new one from scratch, hiring all those guys, than buying it from actiblizzard.

you are right. 

This is a sad........ SAD day

All the PGR titles were excellent, and Blur is a good racer too (especially online)

But the game i would like to thank bizarre for the most was on my Beloved Dreamcast, and this game is STILL in my top 3 racers of all time..........  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_Street_Racer

Thankyou Bizarre, you will be sorely missed.