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Activision have confirmed long-running rumours that
their second 007 videogame will be a racing title...
Update: Release delayed |
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Activision Confirm Racing Game
4th December 2008 / 11th February 2009
Update 11/02/09
Activision have stated that the planned release of their second
James Bond licenced videogame will be delayed from its original
release schedule of September 2009 to early 2010. On the company's
Calendar Year 2008 Results conference
call conference today, Activision reasoned that the title was
shifted to avoid clashing with the launch of "Call of Duty:
Modern Warfare 2". According to the call,
sales of "Quantum of Solace: The Game" were negatively affected
by
launching
alongside "Call of Duty: World at War" - both shooters using
the same game engine technology.
Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision
Publishin, said: "We made a strategic decision to move our
next James Bond release from late 2009 to 2010 to benefit from
a better
launch window and avoiding having to compete with the large holiday
lineup and going head-to-head with Call of Duty, both of which
negatively impacted the performance of this title this holiday.
The movement will have an added benefit in staggering the completions
of our racing title and the next Bond, both in development at
Bizarre Creations. This will allow the studio to give each title
the time and attention it deserves for finish and polish, again
learning from last year’s experience as they had
to simultaneously finish Call of Duty World at War and James Bond,
which we believe plummeted the opportunity for Bond this past
holiday."
04/12/08 -
Activision today confirmed long-running
rumours that a second James Bond title will focus on driving
and racing.
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Although the 007 videogame licensee officially
confirmed the development of a second
James Bond game back in November 2007, details were
few and far between. The announcement follows the release
of their debut title "Quantum
of Solace" a month ago.
As MI6
predicted last year, the second game from Activision
will centre around racing and driving. The game was developed
in parallel to Treyarch's "Quantum" at wholly
owned studio Bizarre Creations. The group is best known
for
producing
the successful Project Gotham Racing series. |
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The original game, not tied to a movie storyline,
is due September 2009.
Platforms are yet to be confirmed. "Quantum
of Solace" was
released widely, but Bizarre Creations produced the Project Gotham
Racing titles for Xbox exclusively. MI6 understands that the
Bond title is likely to be released on PS3 and PC also in addition
to the the Xbox 360.
Last year, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has said
that the company was committed to revitalizing the James Bond
brand - "one
of the greatest videogame franchises of all time" - and
said that the second game development was having "great
resources" given to it.
Further hints to what was in the pipeline were given last year. "We
believe in brands and franchises not individual titles, so we'll
be working with Bizarre to develop a great concept and brand
in racing, as well as working with their second team, which is
very talented in the action genre. This team will most probably
be working on a property that Activision already owns," said
Activision's EVP, Robin Kaminsky. That title is now confirmed
as the 007 racing game.
Past Non-Shooters
Previous videogame licensee Electronic Arts flirted with different
ways to use the James Bond licence, including the critically-slammed "Goldeneye:
Rogue Agent" in 2004 where players took control of a
villain. EA also tested out the driving genre with "007
Racing" in
2000, which was also met with poor reviews. MI6 can reveal that
a sequel was in the pipeline but was canned mid-way through production.
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