Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick revealed in a podcast that the acquisition of Bizarre Creations, a UK-based studio known for Xbox driving games, was a costly mistake. He cited it as a "bad acquisition" that cost the company $80 million and was written off just two years later. Kotick discussed the studio's operations and how its failure violated Activision's principles. He contrasted Activision's acquisition strategy with EA's, which aimed to integrate acquisitions into its brand. Bizarre Creations was eventually closed in 2011 after failed acquisition attempts.
They had a good guy, who was running the day-to-day. It was $80 million, and we wrote it off two years later.
Everything about it violated all our principles. That guy was an expensive lesson.
Bizarre was acquired by Activision in September 2007, and closed in 2011, after efforts to find a buyer for it fell through.
Activision preferred to let them retain their original identities.
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