It's been a busy day for Activision Blizzard. Earlier in the day, the company told IndustryGamers that it's evaluating its options with regards to racing studio Bizarre Creations, and now the publisher has confirmed to us that it's had to shut down its Budcat studio in Iowa. Activision purchased Budcat about two years ago. The studio has worked mostly on the PS2 and Wii versions of the Guitar Hero and Band Hero games.
Budcat in the past has also worked on a variety of projects with EA, Activision, and Majesco, such as titles in the Madden, NASCAR and Medal of Honor franchises.
In addition to the unfortunate closure of Budcat, Activision said today that it's had to lay off some folks in the QA department. Here's the official statement we received:
"We continue to streamline our music development resources to ensure that they are aligned against our slate and strategic goals. As a result, we are implementing a targeted reduction in jobs in our Quality Assurance team in California and closing our Budcat studio in Iowa. Budcat has been a great partner to Activision and has created a lasting impact on the Guitar Hero franchise.
"Approximately 88 positions, or approximately 1% of our global workforce, will be impacted by these reductions. We are working to redirect those employees that are impacted to other parts of the company where possible, as well as offering them outplacement counseling services."
