Former 'Blood Stone' staff open new studio

25-Mar-2011 • Gaming

Following video game publisher Activision's decision to close Liverpool-based Bizarre Creations --the development studio behind Geometry Wars, Blur and the Project Gotham Racing series-- former employees have banded together to form new development studios in the North West of England. The latest to rise from Bizarre's ashes is Hogrocket, formed by Geometry Wars creator Stephen Cakebread, senior level designer on 007: Blood Stone Peter Collier and Bizarre's former Studio Communications Director Ben Ward - reports the Telegraph.

Hogrocket will initially be targeting iOS devices as well as PC and Mac. Development of their unannounced first game is already underway.

Hogrocket is the second studio formed by erstwhile Bizarre employees, with senior manager Pete Wallace forming Lucid Games.

Bizarre Creations was acquired by Activision in 2007 and released the highly acclaimed XBLA shoot 'em up Geometry Wars 2: Retro Evolved and the equally well-received arcade racer Blur under the publisher. However, poor sales of Blur and James Bond title Blood Stone --Bizarre's final title-- led Activision to consider the studio's future, culminating in their closure on 18 February 2011.