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Why Robin Makes Batman Better Speaking last week with Kikizo, Microsoft’s Shane Kim has been asked about the future of the Project Gotham Racing series, now that creator Bizarre have up and left. His response should help out any 360 racing fans who are yet to put 2+2 together:
…you know, we have a great internal racing studio in Turn 10, the creators of Forza Motorsport. And our goal is to roll the studio so that they can do more creative execution within the racing space. So you can imagine a future where they would develop a new version of Project Gotham Racing.
Think by this stage we’ve all stopped imagining it, and are just assuming it’s already happening.
Shane Kim Interview [Kikizo]
Project Gotham Racing 4 is great. Sadly, with Bizarre now no longer able to work on the franchise, somebody’s gotta hop into their shoes, keep the dream alive. But who? Well, Microsoft aren’t short on options. Forza 2 devs Turn 10, well, they’re definitely an option, according to MGS boss Phil Spencer: We don’t have any clear set answer for how PGR5 might come to market yet, but we’re looking at a lot of different alternatives right now. Obviously Turn 10 is a strong team, and they’re really focused on Forza and it’s doing well so I wouldn’t want to distract them, but it is an option.
Interesting. Interesting. Could you live without Forza if it meant PGR was still a hoot? We could. It’d be tough, but we’d find a way to soldier on. Game On – Part 1 [Develop]
The buy out of Project Gotham Racing developer Bizarre Creations by Activision may just be the beginning of the second biggest third party publisher’s plans to add to its collective. Activision Europe boss Joerg Trouvain says that the company isn’t just interested in getting into the racing genre—some 10 percent of the market, they say—they’re targeting growth… and more growth.
It just makes sense really. Everyone who’s anyone has a dedicated racing game studio these days—Polyphony Digital, Turn 10, Sega Racing Studio, Evolution, Criterion—so Activision was just filling in holes. Don’t be too surprised to see more and more currently independent studios brought into the corporate fold; not the other way around.
Bizarre signing with Activision is good news for Bizarre: I’m sure they’ll enjoy developing games for multiple platforms, and I know they’ll enjoy the fat pay cheque the purchase would have netted them. But what do Microsoft think of the whole thing? They own the Project Gotham Racing franchise, so Bizarre jumping ship leaves big question marks over the future of the series. Microsoft have issued a short statement, which reads: Project Gotham Racing is a signature racing franchise for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE and we plan to continue the series but we have nothing further to announce.
Nice and simple. They plan to continue the series. Only thing left unclear for now is what happens to the “improvements” Bizarre were making for PGR5, who Microsoft drag in to take over the series and whether they leave things be or try and move PGR in a different direction. Which…well, now you look at it that’s a whole lot of things left unclear. What’s Next for Project Gotham Racing? [1UP]
Activision has entered the racing game… game in a big way, by purchasing the developers of one of the greatest racing series around, Project Gotham Racing. That’s right, Activision has purchased Bizarre Creations, creators of PGR as well as Geometry Wars. The Bizarre team will continue working on current projects while beginning development on two new “AAA” titles, with the first expected sometime after fiscal year 2009. Martyn Chudley, Managing Director of Bizarre Creations, said, “Our goal at Bizarre Creations has always been to do all we can to nurture our creative and passionate teams, who excel at and enjoy what they do. Activision’s independent studio model will continue giving us creative freedom to build exciting new brands.”
What this basically means is Microsoft can stop hogging all the racing goodness and let some of the other consoles take a spin. It won’t be PGR of course, but whatever it ends up being should be awesome. Bring back Metropolis Street Racer!
