Tim Schafer's Brutal Legend, World in Conflict Expansion, Ghostbusters, Riddick Dark Athena and others cancelled
This sucks. This sucks so god damn bad I don't even know what to say...
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/activision-cans-ghostbusters-game
Activision cans Ghostbusters gameActivision Blizzard has submitted its latest release schedule with no mention of forthcoming title from Terminal Reality, Ghostbusters, or Double Fine's Brutal Legend.
Additionally the company plans to "realign" staff at High Moon Studios and Radical Entertainment, while Massive Entertainment and Swordfish Studios are both under consideration for sale or closure.
The future is similarly bleak for Vivendi Games Mobile and Sierra Online, both of which have been designated as "non-strategic business units", with Activision publishing CEO Mike Griffith extolling an efficiency drive.
"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," he said 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."
Currently Prototype, Crash Bandicoot and Ice Age have solid release dates following earlier rumoured cuts involved in the merger between Activision and Vivendi Games.
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/brutallegend/news.html?sid=619511...
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.
Tim Schafer is jinxed, I swear to god. If another publisher doesn't swoop in and rescue Brutal Legend I am going to flip the f*ck out.
GOD DAMN IT
My days of not taking you seriously have certainly come to a middle.
Whoa!
My Gamercard
I thought BL was finished?
Gamer Tag: Rantyr
Brutal Legend is going to be awesome! Someone has to pick it up.
The only other real loss I see is the World in Conflict expansion...
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
Holy cow! 0.0 It's like a gaming apocalypse.
Was looking forward to Ghostbusters and the Riddick game.
kuddles wrote:
MechaSlinky wrote:Activision you fail so f*cking hard. This with the crap that the Guitar Hero franchise has become in the last 3 titles just leads me to believe they really don't know what the hell their audience wants.
Man, Brutal Legend was like 1 of 2 games I was actually looking forward to. =/
edit: They really can't let Brutal Legend die, can they? I mean it has Jack Black and Lemmy, there's no way it won't be released, somehow, right?
edit 2: I really thought this was a joke...
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
double post
Xbox 360 Live Tag: Lothar71 PSN - Lothars
"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"
Mex refering to Actresses:
Make no mistake, I'd hit them all so hard that my pelvis would have to be classified as a deadly weapon, I just don't think they're all
So did I, It sucks I was looking forward to Ghostbusters, brutal legend and Dark Athena.
thought thinking about it, I am really dissapointed as well about the WiC expansion but such is life, I really hope that another publisher picks up some of these games
Xbox 360 Live Tag: Lothar71 PSN - Lothars
"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"
Mex refering to Actresses:
Make no mistake, I'd hit them all so hard that my pelvis would have to be classified as a deadly weapon, I just don't think they're all
I wouldn't fire off the red alert quite yet on this... The titles are in "limbo", not "canceled". Big difference. Also, got some insider info that this story isn't quite accurate. Looks like there's a lot of speculation in those articles. Ghostbusters in particular is very far along in its development cycle, has been previewed quite well and is projected to do quite well for a tightly budgeted license game. Worst case scenario, they are released from their publishing contracts and they move on to a different publisher. More than likely, though, I bet we see Acti-Blizzard split into a 3 silo organization with Blizzard doing their own thing, Activision running the AAA titles and a Vivendi Publishing or other offshoot for the lesser priority titles.
Also there's this. They aren't "canceled" yet...
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19611
Gamertag: RiverRatMatt
Witchlight Cycle: Sithis of the Thelis'Thale Clan, Dragonborn Paladin of Moradin
Yup, it's safe to say that ActiBlizz will try to sell them to some other party. That will help them recoup some of the costs, which wouldn't be the case if they fully killed the projects. The question is whether there are any other publishers that are willing to sign them. And if they're the right ones. (Kotick et al may not be too eager to hand over a project to EA, even if they don't consider it profitable enough.)
I find it hard to believe that they would be canceling Ghostbusters considering the amount of money that seems to have gone into the game and it dropping in a few months.
Hopefully we get some clarification on the issue soon.
A Mind Without Purpose Will Walk In Dark Places
"I may be out of ammo but I ain't out of chainsaw B*TCHES!" - Sinister's warcry for Gears of War
Damn it! I hope someone pick those games up... Why is that only the games that that I don't care about gets kept!? Not only kids play games damn it!?
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
According to Kotaku (can't believe I actually wrote that) those games aren't canceled, per say. They just aren't going to be published by Activistion. So I suppose another publisher could snap them up and put them out, if they want to. Not a great sign, by any means, but not exactly canceled.
I guess we'll have to wait and see, though I doubt the most promising titles will languish for too long.
Benticore
Out
Sola Virtus Nobilitat
I was really suprised to hear about Ghostbusters being caught in that limbo. It's been getting a ton of buzz lately, out of previews and comic-con.
And wasn't the first Riddick game a run-away success, why can the follow-up? I'm saddened and confused. At least there's hope of the games still getting picked up by others.
I hate you soo much Phil Collins!
Pharacon wrote:
PSN = AmazingZoidberg
Ghostbusters seems to be too far into development not to get published by somebody but, Brutal Legend, (deep breath) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Poor Schafer.
"The light at the end of the tunnel is just the light of an oncoming train." - Robert Lowell
"Boy exchange is a fun pain in the ass." - LiquidMantis
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Yet another chainsaw moment in gaming history. Funny how Sierra is involved again.....
Perhaps Sierra is also cursed as well....
Prototype? Ice Age? Crash? Spyro? These get picked up over titles that people are genuinely excited about? One is an untested IP that no one seems to care about, one is based on a movie license well past its prime, and two are kids games that haven't sold well since the PS1 era.
All hail the new Activision Blizzard: Boldly plotting a course into the "$4.99 or less" bargain bin... of the future.
Everything can be debated, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's debatable.
--Chuck Klosterman, Fargo Rock City
Suckie console games FTW!!!
I would be very angry is World in Conflict gets caught in this. That series needs more attention than it's getting.
Thanks for standin' still Wanker!
-XBox Gamertag: Tempest Blaze (Without the Y)
Ghostbusters AND Riddick AND Brutal Legend?
Mother.
f*ckers.
Letters to the Internet
Your tag seems appropriate for this thread.
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Um... because Riddick didn't actually sell that well? Not sure what your "run-away success" comment is based on. The game got great review scores, but didn't leave its mark in the sales charts.
You gotta stay positive, right?
Letters to the Internet
I'm surprised about Ghostbusters. It had received a lot of press time recently, though it was jockeying with Gears of War 2 announcements and was planned to go up against GoW's actual release date. (bad planning I thought) I wasnt interested in it, but from the footage etc, I had the impression it was practically done and that, to me, implied most of the money had been spent. Lost opportunity here I think.
Brutal Legend was looking interesting. I just watched School of Rock last weekend with my sons, which although unrelated, was almost PR itself for a Brutal Legend type release.
I never understood the re-release of an updated Riddick. The XBOX version really seemed to push beyond the limits of the hardware, in a good way, and if it had ever been made BC, I think it still would've looked stellar on the 360. Maybe the re-release would've opened un-tapped multi-platform audiences.
Xbox Live: Irongut | Playstation ID: Irongut_GWJ
Agreed. I personally blame all of the GH whores out there. You probably bought GH: Aerosmith didn't you? For shame!
But seriously though, I don't really understand this move at all.
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I was never actually interested in Bruuuutal Legend, but I'm pretty surprised it got the ax. Ghostbusters too, especially since they finally started showing it and people are psyched.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Spore
And now I hate Activision. The list of likables is shrinking.
Syldar wrote:
If there was a GH:Metallica, I wonder if you would have to play at the expert level at the start then work your way through the years to the easy mode - just like the real band did!
I was really looking forward to another Riddick game!
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I'm going to ask a friend about Ghostbusters. Apparently they are/were almost finished.
McChuck wrote:
I thought it was just going to be the same Riddick game, just nextgen transmogrified.
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It is... + with extra content.
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Agreed, and the new Riddick game is really just a high-res port with an added chapter's worth of content. So I can see why the publisher wouldn't exactly be ecstatic about its prospects.
It's a shame, because Riddick is a f*cking awesome game.
edit: a bunch of people beat me to it. Curses!
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baggachipz: Who cares about Japan, let them have their silly pointless dog games and countless re-hashes of anime-based dragon princess super lucky crapitty crap.