Does the Prototype delay involve Activision?

It's worth remembering, folks, that when Sierra says it's delaying the release of "Prototype" until 2009, it's not going to be the publisher actually releasing the game. It wasn't even going to be if the game came out on schedule this fall That's Activision, which is going to merge with Sierra parent company Vivendi Games sometime next month, at which points its management will be in charge.

Officially, they're still two separate companies, but as I've previously reported, Activision management is already taking a look at Sierra's entire development slate and big changes and cuts are expected to happen post-merger. After all, Activision made the deal to get its hands on Blizzard and "World of Warcraft," not Sierra. And it's not like everyone at Sierra is dedicated to future of their business these days, as Martin Tremblay's decision to bolt for Warner Bros. showed.

I don't claim to have any specific insight into what's going on with "Prototype." It could just be that Radical needs more time to get the game into releaseable form. Or it could be that Activision execs have taken a look at the game and had a lot of "notes." But if it's Sierra, and not Activision, that really and truly is deciding that the game should come out next year, it's worth remembering that it's a new management team led by Bobby Kotick that will actually be making that decision.

(Check out my initial impressions of "Prototype" from GDC here.)