Tag Archives: skate

Microsoft has announced its to acquire BigPark Inc, a company comprised of industry vets Wil Mozell, Erik Kiss, Hanno Lemke and Don Mattrick who created or had large roles in both Distinctive Software and EA Canada.

BigPark’s founding team has over 80 years of collective experience in the game industry, having produced or overseen titles Need for Speed, FIFA Soccer, Skate, NHL Hockey, NBA Street, and SSX.

The acquisition will meld the developers into Microsoft Game Studios, where the team will continue development on its exclusive Xbox 360 game.

“We are delighted by the opportunity to welcome the BigPark team into Microsoft Game Studios,” said Microsoft Games GM Phil Spencer.

“The team is composed of some of the most experienced and creative minds working in the industry today. The combination of the BigPark and Microsoft Game Studios talent pools will be an accelerant for growth and innovation. We believe BigPark has tremendous potential to create new properties and innovative gaming experiences for our platforms, one of which we’re looking forward to showcasing at the E3 Expo in June.”

Full thing below.

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After earlier reports outlining EA’s plans to fire 400 and close nine studios, it seems the first outfit to be axed is Need for Speed developer Black Box.

According to IGN, many of the studio’s staff are being relocated to EA’s Burnaby facility in British Columbia.

Apparently the closure will not be immediate, meaning SKATE 2′s development should remain unhindered. Full thing through the link.

By Mike Bowden

According to Joystiq, IGN’s pulled its second EA-related story this week, this time a piece saying Skate was on its way to Wii and DS.

The US site also removed a story on Wednesday related to the Pandemic Batman game no one’s supposed to know about.

You can’t beat the internet, EA. Not even sure why you’re trying.

In last night’s investor conference call, which followed the announcement of record financials for Activision’s third quarter, company execs confirmed that a new Tony Hawk game would release in this financial year and would be revamped over the now tried and tested forumula beaten to death in its nine-game history.

The game, obviously, is likely to release this Christmas. While no details were forthcoming about what we can expect to see in terms of changes to the franchise, Activision admitted it had taken a kicking from EA’s SKATE, which outsold it last Christmas by 2:1.

The company said that it had done a “significant amount of consumer research and testing to find out what consumers want from the brand,” and as a result has “confirmed the brand is still very relevant and highly appealing,” but admitted “we need to step up innovation.”

EA CEO Jon Riccitiello claimed that SKATE outsold Activision’s Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground since release, giving a clear indication that the end may finally be in site for Bony Tony’s game-related career. That said, SKATE did release on three extra platforms to Proving Ground (Wii, DS and PS2), so maybe there’s life in the old dog yet. We’ve met Tony Hawk. He’s great. So in our mind he’ll live forever, whatever happens.