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Given the gamut of videogame racing titles either fighting for pride of place on retail shelves or seeking to hog the pre-release spotlight, third-party publishing giant Activision/Blizzard has surprised very few industry watchers by opting to delay Blur.
Drifting into 2010, and away from the competition. Image: Activision.
Originally expected to burn retail rubber this coming November, Activision’s latest entrant to the already well-populated racing genre – which is being developed by Project Gotham Racing’s renowned Bizarre Creations – has now been pushed back until some time in 2010.
According to Mike Griffith, president and CEO of Activision Publishing, the company remains “committed to making Blur a great new racing franchise,” and is “very encouraged by the game’s design.”
In announcing the game’s delay, Griffith was also keen to point out that the extra time allocated to its development will enable Bizarre Creations “to fully optimise the vision they set out to create for Blur including a distinctive and groundbreaking multiplayer mode that will appeal to a broad audience.”
While the decision to move Blur out of a release window already occupied by Activision’s flagship title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and its much talked about music-rhythm game DJ Hero, may well be to grant the developer more hands-on time, other tempting racing releases might have had an influence too.
Specifically, fans of mobile racing are presently feasting on racing heavyweight Gran Turismo on Sony’s PlayStation Portable, while Activision’s arch rival Electronic Arts has raised more than a few critical and consumer eyebrows with Need for Speed: Shift, a shock return to form for the publisher’s once-untouchable series.
Although the stopgap between the recent releases of those games and Blur’s initial November launch may seem wide enough to allow players to refresh their appetites for breakneck speed, Activision could also be looking to play safe with Blur rather than risk the possibility of racing overload.
Whatever date Activision ultimately slaps on Blur, you can safely bet it won’t be lighting up its videogame tyres anywhere near Polyphony Digital's long-awaited PlayStation 3 exclusive Gran Turismo 5.
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