Activision Is Pulling Away From Licensed Games

Activision has announced that they will be moving away from the licensed games, meaning there will be fewer games from the James Bond, Transformers, Men in Black, and Spider-Man series. Rumor has it that James Bond will be seeing its end really soon. Activision is following the same move that Electronics Arts made back in 2008. EA Games president, Frank Gibeau, said at the time that "the days of licensed-based, 75-rated games copies are dead like the dinosaur."

Along with its move to back away from licensed games, Activision will also be laying off 30 people from its company. That's about 0.5% of the company, and those that are being let go will be offered "outplacement counseling services" to help them find a new job. Activision made it clear though that the cuts will barely affect Treyarch. The company says that there will be "minimal reduction in staff to better align our development talent against the needs of DLC development."

Like EA Games, Activision feels that the licensed-games industry isn't bringing in enough revenue to make the projects worth it. Due to the high-costs of making the movie-based games, and the decreasing demand for them, the games started becoming more trouble than they were worth. Activision will still be releasing a few licensed-based games this year, including games based on The Walking Dead, Deadpool, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I can see why companies are beginning to stray way from licensed games. The licensed games as of late aren't as amazing as games from the older generation (does anyone remember Goldeneye 007?). Even 007 Legends, which was highly anticipated, turned out to be a let down, which is why the James Bond series might be the first of the licensed games to get the axe.

[via Wired]