Brutal Legend, Ghostbusters, more dropped by Activision

[abundant]

Brutal Legend, Ghostbusters, more dropped by Activision

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

By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpot

Posted Jul 28, 2008 7:42 pm PT

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.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/bru...tml?sid=6195113

Something big had to happen for them to drop Ghostbusters. We were going to get a demo in September, and the game was supposed to ship in October. Thank god they didn't drop Prototype too.

Edited July 29, 2008 by abundant

[tristy]

Yeah, if they dropped Prototype... needless to say, I'd be pretty well pissed off. That's my most anticipated game right now.

[Mick]

(N) For dropping Ghostbusters.

I think Dan Akyroid should just get it to be done in anime and get the crew back together for the voice evers. Ghostbusters was supposed to be the closest thing to Ghostbusters 3, and now it's gone.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

50 Cent in limbo! BAH GAWD! Think of the children!

[DMN in the House]

HEY, I actually kinda liked Bulletproof. It was mindless fun.

[abundant]

The latest release schedule from Activision Blizzard has just been submitted and there are two glaring absences: Ghostbusters and Brutal Legend. Gamesindustry.biz is reporting that they've been canceled, but let's all just take a deep breath for a moment.

Our sources have received word that Ghostbusters is still in production, so that's some good news. There's still no firm confirmation regarding Brutal Legend, but it had a pretty reasonable amount of hype going and it's hard for me to imagine it has been canned. Doesn't mean it hasn't, but I'd take this all with a very large grain of salt.

If I were forced to speculate (and I am) I'd suspect that this is just something that's been overlooked due to the complexities of the merger between Activision and Blizzard. I've heard stories of an entire studio being forgotten about in the shuffle of paper that's been going on, so failing to mention a couple of projects isn't all that surprising.

Still, I'm going to sleep a whole lot better once we hear that Brutal Legend is still in the works. I'd hate to see Tim Schafer sad.

*UPDATE*

We have a quote from the Sierra PR team regarding Ghostbusters: "It is not cancelled and will not be cancelled."

http://www.destructoid.com/rumortoid-futur...ion-97180.phtml

[JStarr]

I was quite looking forward to Brutal Legend AND Ghostbusters. They both looked good and sounded like fun, from the cover stories I read on them.

Fiddy, not so much.

[Cactus Drags]

Man, fuck Activision. I can't remember specifically why, but all I can remember reading about them so far this year has been negative press. Ghostbusters had better get released, the previews I've seen look amazing.

[Benji]

Crash has moved home again? Am I imagining things or is that about the fourth time it's moved?

[Ruki]

...never heard of Prototype, but wow, that game looks awesome.

[RoyWill Rumble]

It's rad that Prototype didn't get dropped, but if Ghostbusters is dropped, dear fucking God...

On a less important note, a friend of mine has a massive hard-on for Dan Akroyd (camped for a night outside liquor store just to meet the guy when he debuted his wine here in Toronto) and Ghostbusters, so this will crush his heart. He has heart problems, too. Ah, good times, good times.

Aside from that, if Ghostbusters is dropped, God damnit...

[abundant]

Aside from that, if Ghostbusters is dropped, God damnit...

It has been dropped. It's not canceled, yet. One of five things will happen with the game.

1) Activision opts to publish it later after further negotiations.

2) Activision pseudo-publishes the title through its value label.

3) Activision sells off the Sierra brand or otherwise spins off a new label or company to handle this stuff.

4) Activision shops individual games to individual publishers or finishes its contractual requirement with devs and allows them to do it.

5) The games are canned.

Seeing how Ghostbusters is near completion, it's doubtful that it will be canned, it's too costly to out right cancel it right now. We may not be seeing it until next year though.

[DaveKOTW]

it has to be released. I wasnt aware that activision owned Sierra anyway but the video game website is up and everything and if they've got to that stage in the advertising/newsletter side etc etc, to can it now would be nuts. One problem could be though if they decide to limit the number of consoles they release it on.

Maybe it will be dropped by WI or X-Box or something?

[Toe]

Ghostbusters is one of the few games I care about. It sounds like its inclusion in the press release was a mistake, from that second quote.

[abundant]

Ghostbusters is one of the few games I care about. It sounds like its inclusion in the press release was a mistake, from that second quote.

It was no mistake, Activision confirmed that Ghostbusters has been dropped, for right now. It's future is a little uncertain, but I can almost guarantee you that the game will be released, maybe not this year, maybe not by Activision, but it will be released. It'd be too costly to cancel it now.

Edited July 29, 2008 by abundant

[Reddaye]

Aside from Brutal Legend and Ghostbusters I hope Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena can get picked up by another publisher. Maybe 2K who published The Darkness, or EA who are working with Starbreeze on an unannounced game.

Let's face it, Activision just want to drop stuff to make room for another six Guitar Hero games for this year and maybe two Call of Duty titles yearly instead of one. We all need more shit Spyro and Crash games...that's just what we need.

[zero]

Big bump for this one, but I had to share this story. Activision has officially replaced EA as the most evil company in the video game world:

Double Fine Productions' Brutal Legend will tell the story of rock roadie Eddie Riggs' trip to hell, but ultimately the legend in the making may be the game's absolutely brutal path to release.

Coming off 2004's commercially disappointing Psychonauts, Double Fine founder Tim Schafer endured a "demoralizing" pitch process before finding a publisher for Brutal Legend--Vivendi Games--in 2007. However, when Vivendi Games merged with Activision, Brutal Legend was among a host of anticipated titles that the new megapublisher had declined to handle last July. That left Electronic Arts free to sign the game to its EA Partners program late last year, or so everyone thought.

According to a Variety report, Activision is threatening to file suit against EA over Brutal Legend. Sources familiar with the Call of Duty publisher's position on the matter told the Hollywood trade paper that Activision believes the EA deal is invalid. While Activision passed on Brutal Legend and had no plans to ever release the game, the company reportedly thinks it retained the publishing rights regardless.

As for EA's position on the matter, Variety quotes a source as saying, "We doubt that Activision would try to sue. That would be like a husband abandoning his family and then suing after his wife meets a better looking guy."

This mess aside, Brutal Legend is still expected on store shelves later this year.

Wow... what a bunch of dicks.

[450_Splash]

As for EA's position on the matter, Variety quotes a source as saying, "We doubt that Activision would try to sue. That would be like a husband abandoning his family and then suing after his wife meets a better looking guy."

Its a sad state of affairs when EA is the "better looking" guy

[MalaCloudy Black]

It makes me sad that this company owns Blizzard now.

[abundant]

Another bump for this one; Brutal Legend has a release date, October 13 for US and the 16th for Europe.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) and Double Fine Productions, Inc today announced that Brütal Legend™ will be available for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system and the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system on October 13 th in North America and on October 16 th in Europe. From the mind of Tim Schafer and Double Fine Productions, Brütal Legend is a 3 rd person

action game rich in combat, imagery and storytelling, delivering lighter-flicking fun sure to melt your face off.

Those ready to rock can start today by visiting the newly re-launched Brütal Legend website ( www.brutallegend.com : ), the best source online for all things Brütal Legend, from trailers to screenshots, concept art to exclusive blogs from the Double Fine studio team, epic polls and more! Over time, the site and its content will evolve and grow, so remember to check in whenever you feel the Metal Gods calling you. Sign up for exclusive updates through the Brütal Legend newsletter, or follow Brütal Legend on Twitter for intimate access and new information nearly every day.

"Wooo! Having an official release date is awesome!” said Tim Schafer, President of Double Fine Productions. “And how cool is it that EA threw down the dough to have the name of an entire month changed to Rocktober?"

http://www.pr-inside.com/double-fine...h-r1196464.htm