Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher. It published James Bond video games from 2008 to 2012.
History[]
In May of 2006 Activision announced it had acquired exclusive rights from MGM Interactive to develop and publish James Bond games from September 2007 to 2014. The rights were previously owned by Electronic Arts, but the company claimed it was moving away from licensed properties.[1] Activision's first game was a tie-in to the 2008 film Quantum of Solace. James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace, which also included elements from the 2006 film Casino Royale, was released on 31 October 2008. The game received mixed reviews, with the PlayStation 2 version receiving the best reviews.[2]
At E3 2010, Nintendo officially revealed GoldenEye 007, a Wii-exclusive remake of the critically acclaimed 1997 game. The game updated the story of the movie, with a script by Bruce Feirstein and the current Bond actor Daniel Craig as 007,[3] it received positive reviews. A month later, a leaked media release suggested that Activision had hired Bizarre Creations to work on James Bond 007: Blood Stone, an original Bond experience written by Bruce Feirstein. Both games were released on November 2010. In December 2010, a video (later backed up by Activision) and some screenshots from a new Bond game were leaked, identified as developed by Raven Software. This new game was thought to be set for release in 2011, but Activision never commented on any connection or status of that apparent title. In 2011, Activision ported the new GoldenEye 007 to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. Entitled GoldenEye 007: Reloaded, it presents an HD remastering of the original Nintendo Wii shooter from the previous year.
On 19 April 2012, Activision announced plans for a new game titled 007 Legends to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the James Bond film franchise.[4] Developed by Eurocom, the game was described as a "greatest hits compilation";[4] retelling six film narratives with an overarching storyline to connect them together. Activision announced that the gameplay mechanics would return to the first-person shooter after Blood Stone experimented with the third-person perspective suggesting that this had been the case due to the mixed reviews the game in question had received.[4] On 21 May 2012, Activision released the first trailer for 007: Legends. Thereafter, the missions were revealed to be based upon the films Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Moonraker, Licence to Kill, and Die Another Day. On 9 November 2012, Activision added the last mission to the game, released as a downloadable content, which was based on Skyfall. The game received negative reviews from several reviewers. Eurocom has since closed down.[5][6]
On 4 January 2013, online stores quietly removed online copies and pages for James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace, James Bond 007: Blood Stone, and 007 Legends, as Activision lost the James Bond license.
On 20 February 2013, Activision announced that it would be backing away from licensed games.[7]
Games published[]
- James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace
- James Bond 007: Blood Stone
- GoldenEye 007 / GoldenEye 007: Reloaded
- 007 Legends
References[]
- ↑ Activision Acquires Bond Video Game License. Retrieved on 3 May 2006.
- ↑ Quantum of Solace reviews - Metacritic. Retrieved on 30 January 2014.
- ↑ Earwaker, Kiran (8 October 2010). GoldenEye 007 - Hands On Preview. TVG Media Ltd.. Retrieved on 10 November 2010.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Williams, Owen. "Activision Announces 007 Legends", Empire, 19 April 2012. Retrieved on 19 April 2012.
- ↑ http://au.ign.com/videos/2012/10/16/007-legends-video-review
- ↑ http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-12-07-james-bond-developer-eurocom-makes-remaining-staff-redundant-ceases-trading
- ↑ Totilo, Stephen. "Activision Lays off About 30 People, Saying There Will Be Fewer Licensed Games This Year", Kotaku, 19 February 2013. Retrieved on 29 February 2015.