The International House of Mojo

It's old news that Activision and Vivendi, two of the biggest publishers out there, have begun the process of merging together into an uber empire of hugeness. The effect that this has had on Double Fine's Brütal Legend, itself a Vivendi funded game (under their Sierra banner) has been irritating but minimal: the merger has caused some stalls (that have apparently caused rocker King Diamond to be told that he will be "gotten back to" with regard to voiceover work for the game), and inevitably delays.

But today, Gamespot reports that several of Vivendi's in-development games are being re-evaluated as a direct result of the merger, with a few of their projects apparently set to be axed in an effort to "streamline" Vivendi. As a high profile game, Gamespot of course notes that the publisher's press release on the matter made no mention of Double Fine's upcoming heavy metal action/adventure. A few months earlier, Activision Blizzard executives had required some games on Vivendi's slate to be re-pitched by its developers for re-evaluation. At the time, Tim responded to the situation with the following encouraging words:

I'm sure Activision is reviewing all the games--that only makes sense," said Double Fine boss Tim Schafer. "But I haven't been asked to go anywhere or pitch anything special. Anyway, like you said, Brütal Legend speaks for itself! Anyone messes with our game, Ronnie James Dio will put a hex on them.

And really before you get too worried it should be said that this news, like the merger in general, will probably end up having no negative effect on the development or existence of Brütal Legend, but still, my heart can't take this. After all the drama and grief Schafer fans had to go through with Psychonauts (which itself was a victim of Microsoft's own "re-evaluations"), you'd think the gods would cut us a break.