Transformers: Devastation PS3

As reported by our sister site Time Extension earlier in the week, the whereabouts of hard drives containing the all-powerful source code for a number of Transformer games was initially in dispute, with both Activision and Hasbro representatives pointing the finger at the other. Some of the games in question were pretty good, too, and our story today concerns Transformers: War for Cybertron, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark, and Transformers: Devastation.

Die-hard Hasbro enthusiasts have been holding out hope the Activision buyout might mean these games could live again on Xbox Game Pass. In an interview with Transformers World, a Hasbro representative made some frankly legendary comments in response to a question asking if Activision might re-release these games, stating:

"Sadly, apparently, Activision’s not sure what hard drives they’re on in their building. When a company eats a company that eats a company, things get lost, and that’s very frustrating. Hope is that now that the deal is moving forward with Microsoft and Xbox they’ll go through all of the archives and every hard drive to find it all because it’s an easy Game Pass add. We want those games back up for people to have a chance to play."

Word got out, and sites started picking up the news. Then, in a dramatic escalation from the anonymous to the highly visible, outspoken Activision Blizzard exec Lulu Cheng Meservey fired back on X, writing: "These headlines are wrong. We have the code; it's not lost and never was."

Hasbro representative #1's day was likely already ruined at this point, but it likely got worse when the company distanced itself from the original statement. Another Hasbro representative contacted Axios' Stephen Totilo, who was told, "To clarify, comments that suggest Transformers games have been lost were made in error. We apologize to Activision and regret any confusion. They’ve been great partners, and we look forward to future opportunities to work together."

We imagine tense words were exchanged between everyone involved's respective PR agencies. Did you expect to find Transformers at the centre of a battle of corporate words? Who wants to bet someone at Hasbro, after frantic searching, found the dust-covered drive behind the break-room sofa? Get lost in the comments section below.

[source timeextension.com, via gamesradar.com, twitter.com]