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Rumors began to swirl last night concerning the imminent closing of Bizarre Creations (Blur, Geometry Wars, Project Gotham Racing, James Bond 007: Blood Stone). Apparently, the company has been put on 90 day notice.

Today, it also came to light that Budcat (best known for their PS2 porting work of various Guitar Hero titles) is also getting shutdown along with several quality assurance positions in the Activision organization.

Several gaming news sources have reported on the cutbacks, but ShackNews was given direct statements from Activision concerning the closings.

On the Budcat Closure:

"We [Activision] continue to streamline our music development resources to ensure that they are aligned against our slate and strategic goals. As a result, we are implementing a targeted reduction in jobs in our Quality Assurance team in California and closing our Budcat studio in Iowa. Budcat has been a great partner to Activision and has created a lasting impact on the Guitar Hero franchise."

On the Cutbacks:

"Approximately 88 positions, or approximately 1% of our global workforce, will be impacted by these reductions. We are working to redirect those employees that are impacted to other parts of the company where possible, as well as offering them outplacement counseling services."

On the Bizarre Creations Closure:

"Over the past three years since our purchase of Bizarre Creations, the fundamentals of the racing genre have changed significantly. Although we made a substantial investment in creating a new IP, Blur, it did not find a commercial audience. Bizarre is a very talented team of developers, however, because of the broader economic factors impacting the market, we are exploring our options regarding the future of the studio, including a potential sale of the business."

Sources: ShackNews, Giant Bomb, develop.

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