Sierra developers are said to be upset and nervous, according to chatter, as they will soon have to re-pitch their creations to their new bosses at Activision.

VU Games' Sierra label have a number of games in the works, at various studios, but they will need to re-justify these creations in the wake of the VU merger - which is expected to be formalised later this year with the creation of Activision Blizzard.

"Development teams on all of Vivendi's games now have to essentially pitch their projects to Activision executives," says Variety's The Cut Scene blog.

"Until the merger is technically complete, work proceeds as usual, but once it's over, Activision will start making some decisions. And it seems very unlikely that everything at Sierra will keep going as it has been. Just like when a new executive team takes over at a film studio, some projects in get killed and others get changed as the new folks in charge start establishing their own tastes and corporate priorities."

2008 releases will be unchanged, so Prototype, Ghostbusters, and all of Blizzard's current productions are safe - but 2009 could be another matter we're told. "Activision obviously made the deal to get its hands on the biggest MMO, and really the biggest game, in the industry. Everything else is basically an afterthought. Which leaves all of those making the afterthoughts in an uncertain position. It's all in Activision's hands now. Which leaves some nervous developers at Sierra," concludes the blog update.

By Luke Guttridge