Ghostbusters, Brutal Legend, More in Danger as Activision Blizzard Streamlines Vivendi Portfolio

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Update 2: Developer Double Fine has chimed in on the fate of Brutal Legend, stating that the Jack Black-starring action-adventure title "is fine."

Update: Sierra has assured that Ghosbusters "will not be cancelled", but offered no further details on the title or any of the others believed to be on the chopping block.

Original Story: In the wake of the recently completed Activision Blizzard merger, the company has revealed that only five franchises from Vivendi Games' Sierra portfolio will be making the transition to the newly-formed company's publishing operations.

Endangered titles Brutal Legend (Left) and Ghostbusters (Right).

The titles and franchises confirmed to make the leap include Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Ice Age, Radical Entertainment's Prototype and a yet unannounced title. Those remaining titles formerly slated for publishing deals with Vivendi Games, however, could now be without publishers.

"The only [Vivendi] 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," an Activision Blizzard representative told GameSpot. "We are reviewing our options regarding those titles that we will not be publishing."

The remaining Vivendi Games portfolio includes Double Fine's Brutal Legend, Terminal Reality's and Red Fly's Ghostbusters, A2M's Wet, Starbreeze Studios' Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, Massive's World in Conflict: Soviet Assault and Swordfish's 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, among others.

While a majority of those projects stem from independent developers, Activision Blizzard is "exploring options" for internal studios Swordfish Studios and Massive Entertainment, including possible sale or closure.

Though the news appears grim, these titles could theoretically be published under Activision Blizzard's other publishing arms. However, no official word has yet come from the company.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 28, 2008 9:53 PM

    Oh HELL no.

    Someone (Telltale?) save at least Brutal Legend and Ghostbusters. :-(

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      July 28, 2008 10:01 PM

      Seriously. Jesus Christ, what are they doing over there?!

    • reply
      July 28, 2008 10:16 PM

      sadly we're not a publisher (if you look at our retail stuff it's all published by the Adventure Company), and Brutal Legend is not really the style of game we make, though a lot of dudes who work at Telltale worked with Tim in the past. If Double-Fine decides to bust out digital distribution and we have the infrastructure in place (and as of right now we do not) I'm sure we'd at least consider selling it on our site but other than that there's not much we can do :( Sucks too.

      • reply
        July 29, 2008 11:22 AM

        (of course I don't really know what secret magic we have, so that's just what I think about it)

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