Activision have confirmed long-running rumours that their second 007 videogame will be a racing title... Update: Release delayed

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."

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04/12/08 - Activision today confirmed long-running rumours that a second James Bond title will focus on driving and racing.

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.

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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