Many gamers have expressed outrage in response to Activision's decision to shut down Bizarre Creations but according to Wilson, the fact that the whole studio had known about the publishers plans since November of last year helped him come to terms with it. The ourpouring of support from the game community also helped.

"Now I can feel more philosophical about it, it was upsetting when it was announced back in November. As there was a three month consultation where a buyer was sought it's been more of a slow realisation over the weeks that followed that the studio was likely to close."

Activision's final recommendation last month also let Wilson and his fellow Bizarre compatriots look for other job opportunities in the interim. As Wilson tells it, Activision was gracious enough to give Bizarre's employees time to look for other jobs.

"When it was announced that Activision was looking to sell or close the studio the majority of people started looking around, obviously still hoping that a buyer could be found," he said. "This wasn't clandestine at all, while the situation with the studio was unclear Activision allowed us time off to go for interviews and training."

This confirms Activision Worldwide Studios COO Coddy Johnson's words during the announcement: "We of course care about this team. We're offering the studio as many resources as possible, including counselling, external placement services and external career fairs."

Wilson is among those Bizarre employees who have fortunately found a new company to move on to. He is currently acting as the chief games designer at the Sheffield-based development stuido, Sumo Digital. While Wilson remained coy about Sumo Digital's current projects, he assured gamers that they are shooting to deliver "85 per cent plus rated games that reach a wide audience."

"As you'd expect I can't confirm or deny anything about the projects on the go at Sumo right now, but what I can say is the games Sumo are working on are some of the most exciting projects in the industry and a big reason why I joined Sumo over other studios."

Via [Eurogamer]

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