BVG promises innovation as it enters racing genre
Buena Vista Games' acquisition of Climax Racing will see the development team use Disney resources to create original IP and licensed titles
Publisher Buena Vista Games has revealed details of its intention to shake up the racing genre - as it acquires British developer Climax Racing with promises of fresh innovation in the market.
Speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz, both company's revealed plans to take advantage of a gap in the market that can be leveraged using the weight of parent the Walt Disney Company.
"There are a lot of racing franchises already out there but no one dominates the market," said Graham Hopper, senior VP and general manager for BVG.
"We think there's room for fresh innovation in the space and in combination with our stable of properties and our brands, we think we stand a pretty good chance of being able to make some waves in the space."
Karl Jeffrey, founder of Climax, sees the acquisition as the chance to take advantage of resources that were previously unavailable for the Racing team.
"Independent development can be tough and the acquisition means that the studio can move forward now in a much more strategic and well-resourced way - to really shine. Climax Racing makes great games, and now I can see them making absolutely break-out hit racing games, under the umbrella of Disney," he said.
While both company's cannot yet announce definite plans for their racing titles, they did reveal thoughts on current trends in the genre, with micro-transactions an area that they are watching closely.
"I don't think that anybody knows at this point, with any degree of accuracy, what it is that people really want from the next-gen. And the only way to find it out is to experiment," said Hopper.
"Nobody wants to have dumbed-down games that you have to pay extra money to be able to play and enjoy, so it's a very delicate balance that we have to manage, and it's only through experimentation that we find the right path," he added.
It's not just downloadable content that interests the team, as Jeffrey points to Climax Racing as one of the first company's to support Microsoft's vision of Xbox Live.
"When it comes to online play, Climax has been a pioneer right from the early days of the original Xbox Live - we provided one of the first four launch titles for that service," he said.
"And if you look at the latest version of the ATV titles we've worked on, it's got incredible online support - content sharing, multiplayer - we have all the tech in the studio for Disney to do whatever it wants to do in that area," revealed Jeffrey.
The full interview with Karl Jeffrey of Climax and Graham Hopper from Buena Vista Games will be published on GamesIndustry.biz later today.