The game industry suffered a major loss earlier this year when Activision made good on a closure recommendation issued to "Geometry Wars" and "Project Gotham Racing" developer Bizarre Creations. Attempts were made to sell the flagging studio, but it was ultimately shuttered when no buyers stepped forward. It turns out that the Bizarre bosses were even given the chance to buy the company, though they ultimately turned it down.
"Without going into details, yes, there was [an opportunity]," former Bizarre creative director Martyn Chudley told Edge in an interview. "I generally thought there was far greater potential for the security and well-being of the company if a third party could come in."
Bizarre commercial manager and Martyn's wife, Sarah, added, "In any case, Bizarre had grown even more since Activision took over, and just didn't have the skills, capability or finances to look after over 200 people. Martyn and I were always small-company people, which is why we stepped aside when we realised it needed big-company skills to manage."
Martyn pegs at least part of Bizarre's decline to the studio's changing role at Activision after being taken over by the publisher. The corporate culture there remained intact for a time, but eventually the team there started to feel pressures from their owner.
"We weren’t an independent studio making 'our' games anymore – we were making games to fill slots," Martyn said. "Although we did all believe in them, they were more the products of committees and analysts. The culture we’d worked on for so long gradually eroded just enough so that it wasn’t 'ours' anymore."