Bizarre Creations says goodbye with farewell video

What a sad video :(


Such a waste of an incredibly talented studio. I hope everyone there goes on to find work - in an ideal world another studio would rise from Bizarre's ashes, but one certainly could not and sustain that level of employees without some serious financial backing. Best wishes all. A sad day for videogames development.

Posted:2 years ago

Horrible, horrible news. I had some of my most memorable best gaming moments associated with Bizarre Creations - the first one of which came with my Dreamcast and MSR. From there, the PGR franchise was a viable alternative to the humdrum, stoic nature of Gran Turismo - each iteration of PGR only got better and better. PGR1 persuaded an Xbox purchase, PGR2 gave new meaning to playing a console online, PGR3 made me part with cash for a 360 and PGR4 expanded on what was already a great franchise.

Blur did it for me though - I think something clicked and I realised what a great game it is. There's a definite challenge on the default difficulty, but I wimped out and lowered it and realised it was a wholly different experience. There's plenty of nods to the PGRs of the past, but it still had a very Bizarre quality about it. Online is sublime and the presentation is super-slick. These days, fewer and fewer games have that personal touch - a recognisable personality. I think Bizarre-developed games had that trait in spades. Blur didn't deserve to be marketed the way it did - there was no real thought regarding release dates and that contributed to poor sales.

Any studio closure is a horrible thing, of which I was once a victim of. The fact that Bizarre were brilliantly consistent with their output and genuinely pushed boundries in some cases, I think that's what makes the closure such an injustice. The games industry is a much more different place now - studios which have heritage, history and a proven track record aren't safe from the shareholders; they don't give a damn about livelihoods affected. The industry I love seems to be diminishing by the week and that scares the bejesus out of me.

The real tragedy is the team which made up Bizarre will no doubt be split up and scattered throughout different development studios. Two decades of team building... suddenly gone.

Best of luck to those affected.

Posted:2 years ago

I'm so pissed because these are somf of the nicest guys I'd ever met at press events. ALWAYS proud of their work, always easy to chat with and they made some of the best console racing games ever. To treat a dev studio as storied as this as a TV show that underperformed in the ratings is a damn shame, period.

These guys deserved better for everything they've done in this industry, not to be kicked out the door like a drunken uncle on the holidays.

Best of luck where you all land - stay in touch with even better games and other projects.

Posted:2 years ago

please come back as a renamed studio...great collection of people, great content providers....this is our new industry....be great, get canned. Go Liverpool.

Posted:2 years ago

I'm not a game designer, i'm just someone who enjoys playing the fruits of their efforts, and this makes me incredibly sad. I've played many of their games, had many moments of enjoyment because of them. I see all the stuff going down in the industry, and how much it's changing. There's a lot of exciting stuff happening...but there's stuff like this going down, too. This is just sad.

To everyone who might be reading this who worked at Bizarre...thank you so much for all of your efforts. You've helped bring many moments of happiness to someone who has struggled with major depressive disorder his entire life. I appreciate it more than words can say. I wish them all the best of luck. Amazing talent and decades-long experience should not go to waste.

Posted:2 years ago

Farewell Bizarre, may Blur remain the only game I collected all trophies for at home.

Hope all the people find something maybe at Sony Liverpool who does racing games or open a new studio.

Posted:2 years ago

I have very fond memories of recording F1 and F1 97 for these guys with Murray Walker and Martin Brundle in London, and then missing the motorway turn in Liverpool to go for a meal with Murray and the lads...ending up stuck on the M62....ah well.... Best of luck guys!

Posted:2 years ago

So good, so sad.

Posted:2 years ago

This is awful. :(

Good luck to everyone there, hope you guys can find a way to climb back up!

Posted:2 years ago

Well - from one who has recently been downsized too to Bizarre staff... all the very best.... its a shame.

Posted:2 years ago

Really sad. I remember doing stuff with them on Metropolis Street Racer on the SEGA Dreamcast too (What an incredible game!). *sigh.. Those were the good ol' days.

I still can't believe they are gone, especially when they are one of the elite developers out there and certainly one that the UK can be proud of. Good luck to everyone from the Bizarre team. If its possible, please bring the old team back together and open up a new studio.

Posted:2 years ago