Activision to cancel Ghostbusters?
Activision has cancelled the Ghostbusters game, as well as others, in favour of Spyro and Ice Age titles.
Activision Blizzard has submitted its latest release schedule today, with no date listed for games such as Ghostbusters, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, Chronicles of Riddick or Brutal Legend - all of which may face cancellation as a result of the merger between Activision and Blizzard.
One of the big questions about the merger which hadn't been publicly resolved was what would happen to games under Vivendi's Sierra label - and now we know. Activision has announced that it will be keeping five of Sierra's franchises and not the rest.
Activision Blizzard has commented that it plans to 'realign' staff at High Moon Studios (The Bourne Conspiracy) and Radical Entertainment (Prototype).
The future for other studios however is a bit more bleak - Massive Entertainment (World in Conflict), Swordfish Studios (50 Cent: Blood on the Sand and the Mobile and Online disivisions of Sierra are all being assessed for sale or closure. We are currently investigating what will happen with Double Fine Studios and Brutal Legend.
Activision has confirmed however that it will be keeping some of the games on the Sierra label - namely Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, Ice Age, Prototype, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and one other unannounced title. Joy.
"We are focused on improving efficiency across the combined organisation and are concentrating on businesses where we have leadership positions that are aligned with Activision Publishing's long-term corporate objectives," said Activision CEO Mike Griffith in a statement.
"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. We are reviewing our options regarding those titles that we will not be publishing."
"We are very excited to add such recognisable and successful brands as Crash Bandicoot, Ice Age and Spyro, which reinforce our leadership position in movie-based and family entertainment video games," added Griffith.
Disappointed? Ambivalent? Let us know what you think in the forums.
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Discuss in the forums ReplyIsn't that just simply throwing money away?
Right, let me re-allocate some cash away from these idiots.
Current movie tie-ins and established child-friendly franchises - definite market = win.
Older movie tie-ins and non-franchise titles - no definite market = fail.
You can't blame them really, they're struggling financially as it is and need some solid sellers to prop up the coffers.
But I shed a tear for GB3 :*-(
world in conflict enough highly rated wasnt a great seller.
crash and spyro have sold millions and millions of copys across every platform they were released on.
It's kinda slack considering how much money Activision has.
Oddly this is totally goes against what EA are telling us now!
"If we make the best games, they'll sell really well, and we'll be really profitable."
i'm surprised at the dropping of ghostbusters though. that would have raked in a bomb. i suspect that during development they've realised that the quality of the game is a bit mediocre (this is going by the videos we've seen so far, which show pretty standard fare gaming)
and they're definately not struggling for cash. they're HUGE.
Looks like we have another EA in the making
I was really looking forward to that. :(
Dammit.
What gives ? Is Activision mad ?
No, you're right - it was Acclaim I was thinking of.
Just had a look at their massive company value and their market share - put in that context, goodness knows why they'd cancel those games. Except they do have plenty of money to burn...
*UPDATE*
We have a quote from the Sierra PR team regarding Ghostbusters: "It is not cancelled and will not be cancelled."
Hurrah!
Me too..