Bizarre given more dev time for Blur

Activision Blizzard has officially delayed its upcoming racer Blur, with the racer now scheduled for release some time in 2010.

Blur is Bizarre Creation’s first title since it was acquired by Activision, leaving behind both its affiliation with Microsoft and the rights to the Project Gotham Racing series.

High stakes are at play for the commercial success of Blur.

Develop revealed back in July that Bizarre Creations’ upcoming racer is at the centre of a crucial $40 million payout deal between the Liverpool-based studio and its owning company Activision.

“We are committed to making Blur a great new racing franchise, and we are very encouraged by the game’s design,” Activision president and CEO Mike Griffith said in a statement.

“The additional time will allow the studio to fully optimize the vision they set out to create for Blur including a distinctive and groundbreaking multiplayer mode that will appeal to a broad audience.”

The move – which falls in line with recent predictions from Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot – could put even more pressure on the increasingly crowded 2010 release schedule.