Blur, the upcoming combat racer from Bizarre Creations, features licensed automobiles. How'd the Project Gotham Racing developer snag them?
According to Bizarre, it's choice of vehicles helped — meaning, there aren't Ferraris or Lamborghinis. "If someone doesn't want to do what we want to do then we just won't put it in the game," says Bizarre Creations' Gareth Wilson. "There have been a couple of big manufacturers, can't tell you who, that have gone you can't set the cars on fire, and we've gone, OK we won't use your cars then."
This flexible take-it-or-leave-it approach seems to have given Bizarre more confidence at the bargaining table. "Also other games have kicked the door down for us as well, like GRID and DiRT," he added. "We had one thing with a manufacturer where they didn't want smoke coming out of the car, and we just said yeah but you're in GRID, and GRID does smoke. And they went, oh yeah."
Future ground that Bizarre hopes is broken: Flames coming out of a licensed car while moving. After that? Explosions!
Bizarre Creations' Gareth Wilson Interview [Eurogamer]