Activision Nearly Bought Out Rare In 2002

Here’s an interesting tidbit of news that was a very long time coming. Apparently, Rare (of Goldeneye and Perfect Dark fame) was very nearly bought out by Activision.

Way back in 2002, Nintendo ran short of cash to fund Rare, which had earlier produced some of the Nintendo 64’s most iconic titles like Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark. Rare had to seek out buyers to keep itself afloat, and both Activision and Microsoft took an interest.

Ed Fries, credited with co-creating the Xbox, and former vice president of Microsoft’s game publishing division, spoke to IGN about the incident.

“So we put in a bid and then Activision outbid us, and it looked like we were going to lose the deal, and then at the very last minute Robbie [Bach, Xbox Head] increased our bid and we won the deal,” he said.

What would a world a world with an Activision-owned Rare have looked like? Here’s a scary thought to keep you up at night: Year after year of annual Goldeneye rehashes until the brand got so tired that people started liking  Battlefield instead.