Brutal Legend, Ghostbusters, More Dropped by Activision?

RC Cola · Jul 28, 2008

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/brutallegend/news.html?sid=6195113

Publisher passes on a slew of Vivendi Games' in-development titles; 50 Cent, World in Conflict: Soviet Assault, Wet also affected.

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.
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http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/activision-cans-ghostbusters-game

Activision cans Ghostbusters game

Activision 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.
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The titles seem a bit too definitive given the evidence, but they may be on to something.

If this is true, I'm guessing Ghostbusters and (hopefully) Brutal Legend will be picked up by another publisher. Not sure about the other games.

ScriboErgoSum · Jul 28, 2008

I really hope Brutal Legend gets picked up by somebody. Tim Schafer puts out the best games, but they always underperform in sales. Psychonauts was my favorite game of the last generation, and Full Throttle and Grim Fandango are among my all-time favorites. I've been looking forward to Brutal Legend for quite some time.

Definitely keeping my fingers crossed.

The_Yoyo · Jul 28, 2008

is this the same ghostbusters game that I played at comic-con this past weekend? weird i thought it was a pretty cool game (not sure if I would buy it) but there were a lot of positive feedback from the people around the booth playing it.

duwende · Jul 28, 2008

The_Yoyo said:

is this the same ghostbusters game that I played at comic-con this past weekend? weird i thought it was a pretty cool game (not sure if I would buy it) but there were a lot of positive feedback from the people around the booth playing it.
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lol i was at comic con last week too, and that ghostbusters game looked AWESOME. same with the street fighter 4 arcade

DaDakota · Jul 28, 2008

GhostBusters is being developed here in Austin by a good friends company...Red Fly Studios....I hope they get picked up.

DD

RC Cola · Jul 29, 2008

The_Yoyo said:

is this the same ghostbusters game that I played at comic-con this past weekend? weird i thought it was a pretty cool game (not sure if I would buy it) but there were a lot of positive feedback from the people around the booth playing it.
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Yes.

DaDakota said:

GhostBusters is being developed here in Austin by a good friends company...Red Fly Studios....I hope they get picked up.

DD
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IIRC, they're making the Wii/PS2 versions right? I've only seen stuff for the PC/360/PS3 version, but given the praise it has received, how far along in development it is (basically done), and the IP, I don't see why it wouldn't be picked up. Seems like better odds than most of the games listed anyway...unless Activision controls the rights and won't give it away very easily for some stupid reason.

Coach AI · Jul 29, 2008

noooo not Brutal Legends.

Someone better pick that up. Despite how it fell apart at the end, Psychonauts was a great game.

RC Cola · Jul 29, 2008

According to the Double Fine blog (hover over the image):
http://www.doublefine.com/news.php
Brutal Legend is fine...or at least that is what they want us to believe.

Red Fly Studios seems confident that Ghostbusters will be published as well:
http://www.edge-online.com/news/ghostbusters-will-be-published

Jeff Mills, director of production at Austin, Tex.-based Red Fly (developer of the Wii, PS2 and DS versions of Ghostbusters) confirmed in a phone interview Tuesday that Activision will not be publishing Ghostbusters.

Not all hope is lost, however. Asked if Sierra would still publish the game if Activision Blizzard sells off the label, Mills said, "That's all up in the air right now," adding, "It will be published by someone."
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More at the link.

Coach AI · Jul 29, 2008

Ghostbusters, it would seem, has the potential to sell pretty well. I would think someone would hold on to that.

Good news (hopefully) about BL. I should have checked TS's blog. Usually pretty entertaining.

tinman · Jul 29, 2008

duwende said:

lol i was at comic con last week too, and that ghostbusters game looked AWESOME. same with the street fighter 4 arcade
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you hear that Cola?

on top of that, gametrailers said Resident Evil 5 was the game of the E3..

Capcom is the best japanese gaming company.. PERIOD

DaDakota · Jul 29, 2008

RC,

I spoke to the head of Red Fly today (Jeff's boss) in email, actually last night and today, he said they are 2 weeks away from Gold Master and thinks it will be picked up by another publisher.....

DD

RC Cola · Jul 29, 2008

That's good to hear. Hopefully this won't have too much of a negative impact on the game and the developer(s).

I am a little worried about the other games though. Maybe not so much 50 Cent, but I was interested in the Riddick remake and any additional World in Conflict games (think they were even talking about closing down that studio?). The XBLA stuff could have been interesting.

JD2010 · Jul 29, 2008

RC Cola said:

That's good to hear. Hopefully this won't have too much of a negative impact on the game and the developer(s).

I am a little worried about the other games though. Maybe not so much 50 Cent, but I was interested in the Riddick remake and any additional World in Conflict games (think they were even talking about closing down that studio?). The XBLA stuff could have been interesting.
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EVERYONE GET OUT OF THIS THREAD.

WE JUST GOT RON ARTEST..!!!!

SamFisher · Jul 29, 2008

The first chronicles of riddick game for xbox was really cool. Oh yeah - Ron Artest should be in it because he is also awesome.

JD2010 · Jul 29, 2008

RC Cola said:

Yes.

IIRC, they're making the Wii/PS2 versions right? I've only seen stuff for the PC/360/PS3 version, but given the praise it has received, how far along in development it is (basically done), and the IP, I don't see why it wouldn't be picked up. Seems like better odds than most of the games listed anyway...unless Activision controls the rights and won't give it away very easily for some stupid reason.
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Yo RC, how do you feel about the Artest trade?
It's been a while since ive seen you post about something non video game related

ScriboErgoSum · Jul 29, 2008

JD2010 said:

Yo RC, how do you feel about the Artest trade?
It's been a while since ive seen you post about something non video game related
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Leave him alone. He's playing with his new Rockets team (now that he traded Artest to them) on NBA 2K8.

RC Cola · Jul 29, 2008

JD2010 said:

Yo RC, how do you feel about the Artest trade?
It's been a while since ive seen you post about something non video game related
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I feel about the same as most other fans. I wasn't that big on getting Artest, but since we didn't really give up much, I certainly am excited by the deal. I was looking forward to seeing Greene as a Rocket, but the Rockets would have been lucky if he even ended up as good as Artest (and that would have been years from now most likely).

ScriboErgoSum said:

Leave him alone. He's playing with his new Rockets team (now that he traded Artest to them) on NBA 2K8.
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I tried to make the trade, but the AI GM for the Kings laughed at this deal and it didn't go through.

Actually, I don't even have NBA 2K8.

ScriboErgoSum · Jul 31, 2008

http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=26518112&sid=6195236&action=convert&om_clk=latestnews&tag=latestnews;title;1

WOOHOO!!! Looks like Double Fine has found a publisher for Brutal Legend.

GameSpot.com said:

Earlier this week, a slate of Vivendi Games upcoming projects were left in the lurch as a result of the company's merger with Activision. While it committed to releasing Prototype, Ice Age, and new Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot games, Activision Publishing passed on a slew of Vivendi projects, including Ghostbusters, 50 Cent Blood in the Sand, World in Conflict: Soviet Assault, and Double Fine Productions' Brutal Legend.

Currently Activision is exploring its options regarding what to do with the games it won't be releasing, options which presumably include selling the projects to other publishers. While nothing has been confirmed yet, Variety is reporting that Brutal Legend is "very close" to finding a new publisher.

Without actually citing any source for the information, the trade publication is reporting that Double Fine has found a likely partner to help put the game out. The deal is said to be a "more 'unique' arrangement" with a partner who isn't a traditional game publisher.

That would be in line with a post on the news section of Double Fine's own Web site. When users put the mouse cursor over a picture of a dead weevil found in Double Fine founder Tim Schafer's oatmeal, a pop-up block of text states, "Brutal Legend is fine."

This is not the first time Double Fine has found itself in such a situation. The studio's first game, Psychonauts, was unveiled by Microsoft as an Xbox exclusive in 2002. The company dropped it two years later, leaving the project without a publisher for months. The game was eventually picked up by Majesco Games and ported to the PC and the PlayStation 2. While it finally made it to shelves in 2005, it was a financial disappointment, and part of the reason Majesco retreated from AAA game publishing to become a casual and handheld specialist.
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ScriboErgoSum · Jul 31, 2008

More info from Variety.com: http://weblogs.variety.com/the_cut_scene/2008/07/brutal-legend-d.html

Variety.com said:

Rounding out my posts on the trio of high profile Sierra titles that Activision Blizzard decided not to publish is "Brutal Legend" (for "Ghostbusters" and the Bourne games, click here and here, respectively).

My information from reporting today is that developer Double Fine,Brutallegend which owns the rights to its metal rock actioner starring Jack Black and thus doesn't have to just sit back and worry about what Activision Blizzard will do, is very close to sealing a new deal to release the game. I don't know who it will be, but I understand that it may not be a traditional publisher. It could be a more "unique" arrangement. (Sorry to be vague, but even getting this much info was quite a chore.)

Many people I spoke to were worried that other partners might feel the way Activision Blizzard apparently does and not want to take a risk on an original property from a developer whose last game, "Psychonauts," didn't sell well (even if that was largely publisher Majesco's fault and the game got great reviews). A risk is a risk and videogaming is a risk-averse industry. So this is good news for anyone who likes originality.

Of course, closing the deal and then setting up a new marketing plan means that keeping the current release date could be tough. So don't be surprised to see "Brutal Legend" slip into 2009. But the most important fact for gamers psyched about this awesome looking game is that it's not dead. It looks like we'll be playing it within a year.
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The_Yoyo · Jul 31, 2008

duwende said:

lol i was at comic con last week too, and that ghostbusters game looked AWESOME. same with the street fighter 4 arcade
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did you play in any of the SF4 tournaments? I played on thursday I did ok, but didnt get too far. SF4 is great cant wait to see a console version out soon, though honestly I would hit up arcades to play it if they even exist anymore, there is nothing like having a joystick and the button layout in front of you like that.

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