Interplay shut down? Rumors are fun.

[schild]

Here

[geldonyetich]

I think I've heard rumors of Interplay having issues weeks ago.

Here we go.   Their landlord was apparently knocking rudely at their door asking for rent 4/9/04.

[Kyper]

...the disparity between its cash balance of $1.2 million and working-capital deficit of $14.8 million...

Ouch.  And the bosses are nowhere to be found.

[Krakrok]

So when is the auction where we can pick up their IP at firesale prices.

[Alluvian]

So where do the rights to all their game licenses go?  Are they sold off?  Who gets fallout?

[daveNYC]

EA.

[Stormwaltz]

I dearly hope that the rights for FreeSpace revert to Volition. I still want my FS3.

[SirBruce]

Who the hell floats these guys $15M?  If Playnet could do that, WW2 Online could have had a half-dozen sequels by now.

Bruce

Edit: Looks like it was Vivendi:
http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7028

[Tebonas]

Well, long long ago Interplay made a bunch of really good games, brand names to endure the ages. They are part of PC game history. A strong brand name. Playnet made WW2 Online and....

Does that answer your question Bruce?

[ajax34i]

Freespace 3 would rock.  I wanna see how the story ends, dammit.

Loved both games' intro movies too.

[daveNYC]

How would one find out what is being done with the IP?

[SirBruce]

Well, long long ago Interplay made a bunch of really good games, brand names to endure the ages. They are part of PC game history. A strong brand name. Playnet made WW2 Online and....

Does that answer your question Bruce?

Not really.  How many of the people at Interplay now are the same people as back then?

[Tebonas]

You don't want to pretend name recognition of individual people does count more than company names? Not yet, not in the mass market (some noteable expections nonwithstanding, I don't think Bryan Fargo is one of those exceptions).

Its "Interplay - By gamers, for gamers" with a collection of real classics vs. "Yay, we made a game that might be fun for some people" Playnet. There were times games were sold only because the name Interplay was on the box, or at least favourably considered. You really want to claim the same about Playnet?

[HaemishM]

Who the hell floats these guys $15M?

The same kind of dumb motherfuckers who float the Phantom venture capital. But seeing as how these idiots fucked up their relationships with Bioware AND Black Isle, I don't have much sympathy.

['ST]

The best coverage for this is at http://www.nma-fallout.com where you'll find hardcore Fallout fans who've played watchdog on Interplay for a long time.  There was a lot of buzz about Fallout 3 development last summer, but then Interplay seemingly decided to abandon everything that might make them money.

This has been long-coming, though.  Herve Caen, a French businessman, has been CEO at Interplay for a couple of years, as I understand it.  He also owns Interplay's parent company, Titus, which bought Interplay very cheaply.  Any rights would presumably go to Titus; however, that is run by the same bungling asshole who ran Interplay into a hole.  Titus is hemmorhaging money and will probably die as well.

Vivendi cut a deal with Interplay that netted some money for the flagging company but, it seems, the upshot is that Vivendi may have the most right to Interplay's IP as a result (if Titus folds).

The Interplay drama has been going on for a long time.  Promising games halted/sold cheaply, and then, more recently, not paying rent or filing SEC reports and taking insurance money out of employee paychecks even after their benefits were revoked by Interplay's insurance company.  It's a mess, but most people up on what was happening with the company expected its demise.

I still want Fallout 3.

[Morfiend]

Who the hell floats these guys $15M?  If Playnet could do that, WW2 Online could have had a half-dozen sequels by now.

Bruce

Edit: Looks like it was Vivendi:
http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7028

Wow, WW2OL6... Can I preorder?

[cevik]

Wow, WW2OL6... Can I preorder?

Yes.

Paypal $20.00 to cevikd@hotmail.com.

[schild]

Well, Slashdot finally put it up, even though I submitted the news to them over 24 hours ago.

Meh.

[Sky]

The only image that comes to mind when the name Interplay is mentioned is Descent to Undermountain.

[HaemishM]

That's funny, the image I always get is from the days before they sunk to the suck, the original Star Trek adventure game that had the original Kirk cast.

[Furiously]

Click on Spock - click on Vulcan Nerve Pinch... Worked every time!

[Riggswolfe]

Interplay, I remember the good old days

Freespace 1&2, Baldur's Gate 1&2 (the real games not the console action games), Icewind Dale 1&2, Fallout 1&2. Hell even their console titles were moderately entertaining.

However, most of those titles I mentioned were done by Black Isle or Bioware. I figured Interplay was being run by morons when they killed off Black Isle.

I too was once one of those who bought games because I trusted interplay. A sad day indeed.

[Sky]

See, I never trusted Interplay. I trust Bioware and Black Isle.

Publishing houses are systematically destroying the gaming industry, same as they did with the music industry, except not so many people seem to think EA or Vivendi are evil incarnate just yet.

Give it time. I guess people don't care until it's knocking on their own door, right? I mean, nobody gave a shit about the recording industry until they got litigious, and the recording industry has been screwing everyone for years.

It's just business, american style, aka how hard can you screw the consumer before they bite back. Answer? Really fucking hard.

[Alluvian]

I don't know if I would be as rough as sky.  It seems like the game publishing houses are being made to pay for their crimes of stupidity.  Giants can be seen tumbling almost on a yearly basis.  Even still living giants like EA have suffered for their crimes against online gaming.  Their online EA.com sucked tons of money out of them and then fell off like a leperous limb.  Some potentially good games suffered or died in the process (TGFKAUO2, the freelancer mmog, the battletech mmo, motor city online, earth and beyond, sims online...) but the whole clusterfuck bit EA pretty damn hard.

Interplay has been a fuckup for a long time and now they are paying the piper.  Sierra was huge and has shriveled to nothing. Justice is getting served at least to a portion of these publishers.  Other publishers are coming up and doing good things as well.  NCSoft went for the CoH gamble, they seem to be treating garriot right for a second try at a first impression, they are trying out a freaking car wars mmog even.  Some pretty non-standard stuff getting funding.

I don't see this like the RIAA until all the giant shit publishers band together and form an organization like the RIAA.  I don't see it happening at this time.

What I do see is a cyclical pattern.  New publisher shows up, the smart ones fund the right games and promote the right dev houses.  They thrive and become BIG.  Then the original passion leaks out of them.  The original staff moves on, the suits take over, and then the publisher begins the long decent into bankruptcy preceeded by many many stupid moves and dismantling of many good dev houses.  But so far there still seem to be new publishers coming out that don't suck that will be the future dying giants once their glory days have passed.

[Sky]

Heh. Why do you think I don't discuss music piracy any more? :)

[Rodent]

Here's hoping Activision gets the Interplay IP's, so Troika can make me a Fallout 3.

If that fails, well Vivendi och Ubisoft would be alot better then EA.

[Tebonas]

Bards Tale and Wasteland.

You people make it sound like Interplay always was a worthless publisher. Once ago they WERE the Black Isle of that time.

[Rodent]

True enough, they've made some good games, why else would people still be upset with them heh, it's not like people get riled up over Dreamcatcher.

[geldonyetich]

I guess that clinches it for Interplay.

[schild]

I guess that clinches it for Interplay.

Jesus, any company that negligent shouldn't be allowed to exist. Lame.

[Roac]

No, the company should be allowed to exist.  But the executives need to have their assets liquidated and be forced to work in some third world country factory to make up for it.

[Mi_Tes]

It is a shame to see bad business decisions / management screw over employees and a name.  As a project manager, you have the responsibility for everyone under you and if you aren't able to make the tough decisions or see the big picture, you sure as hell don't deserve to be there.

[HaemishM]

Still, some of the Interplay staffers at the office on Friday held out a more genuine sense of hope than their employer. "The reason I stick around is that I’m a diehard loyalist and I love the people I work with," IS manager Steve Jobes told the Register. "If there is any sliver of hope that Interplay may someday turn around I want to be there to see it."

Geez, that just makes baby Jesus sad. I've worked in places where we've gone unpaid (or had pay delayed by a few days because there was no money in the bank) for months at a time, and it was ridiculous. To hold this kind of loyalty is only going to bite this guy in the ass. Company's like this have NO loyalty to good employees, only to getting what they can out of the dead husk before the door's get forcibly closed.

They owe back taxes, employee wages, fines and a shitton of rent, not to mention unpaid royalties.

What a bunch of clueless fucksticks.

[Furiously]

Did I read that wrong or do they have 1.2 Mil in cash reserves and are still not paying their employees?

[schild]

That's what it read like to me.