Activision Blizzard, the Industry and "Dead Wood" Shuffle

F.E.A.R 2 goes to Warners

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Activision Blizzard, the Industry and "Dead Wood" Shuffle
UPDATE: Warner Bros has confirmed to SPOnG that the UK release of F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin will come in the same week as the US launch, hitting UK shelves on Friday, February 13th.


The culling of unwanted franchises and IPs within the Activision/Blizzard family could be a risky business for the newly merged company with what it sees as dead wood properties being picked up as fuel by the competition. First up, Warner Bros has bought up the rights to the F.E.A.R. name from Activision Blizzard. That means that Monolith's Warner-published Project Origin will be a 'spiritual' successor to the first F.E.A.R. no more as the game will now carry the appropriate branding.

Furthermore, the newly titled F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin has been given a US release date of February 10th. No European release date has popped up, but SPOnG has contacted Warner Bros for more details.

The F.E.A.R. name is one of the spoils of a widespread culling of Vivendi games and franchises following its recent merger with Activision.

Many properties remain in limbo, however. The fates of the likes of Ghostbusters,World in Conflict: Soviet Assault and the Bourne rights are still unknown. The F.E.A.R. rights were a more straightforward target for acquisition than other properties as there was no game carrying that name in production - not that Vivendi had announced, at least.

Monolith created the first F.E.A.R. title for Vivendi for a 2005 release. When the studio was bought by Warner Bros it was left having to develop a sequel that took place in the same universe but couldn't feature the name, which was still owned by Vivendi.

You can find out more about F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin over on SPOnG's dedicated game page.

Source: Project Origin Community

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