Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Interplay Forced to Liquidate (France)

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the end-has-come-for-thee dept.

genrader writes "Voodoo Extreme is reporting that Interplay has had judicial liquidation take place. If you've been reading the gaming news, a lot has been going on with Interplay financially, it seems all this finally caught up to them. Interplay has formerly published very well known games like Icewind Dale, the Baldur's Gate series, and Descent. Farewell, Interplay." Update: 01/06 02:57 GMT by H : This affects just the company in France; sorry for the confusion.

9 of 219 comments (clear)

  1. Still Alive? by fembots · · Score: 5, Informative

    There is an update in that article which clearly stated "I mailed you earlier about Interplay probably being dead, it turns out they're still alive (sorry about that), Titus have been liquidated but it only affects companies based in France, which doesn't include Interplay."

    Was the article submitted and checked before the update, or is Interplay still considered dead regardless?

    --
    Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
  2. Good Riddance by tonsofpcs · · Score: 2, Informative

    Interplay never supported their products well anyway.

    --
    Video Production Support
  3. End of an Era by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    So many games over the past several years to come from their halls.
    A few the poster didn't mention:

    Alone in the dark series,
    Fallout,
    Planescape Torment,
    Kingpin: Life of crime,
    Carmageddon,
    Giants: Citizen Kabuto,
    Sacrifice,
    Dungeon Master,
    MDK,
    etc

  4. Re:a better link than the write-up by bbkingadrock · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/05/news_61157 37.html

  5. From the archives of Interplay by Hawerchuk+was+money · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm not sure how wide the popular appeal of the game was, but an Interplay game I found realy cool was the Star Trek: 25th Anniversary game.

    It was a puzzle game that wasn't the most slick game of all time, but it featured much of the original cast as voice actors which gave the game an incredible appeal. Does anyone else have an sleeper Interplay games that they thought was pretty decent?

  6. Parent is correct... children are wrong. by BalorTFL · · Score: 2, Informative

    Despite the many people who will probably try to correct you on this issue, stick to your guns. While Blizzard (then known as Silicon&Synapse) did indeed develop Lost Vikings, the game was published by Interplay.

  7. Top 10 Interplay games by mantle_etching · · Score: 2, Informative

    Even though this article is now irrelevant and my post is off-topic here is a refresher on some Interplay games. They also had the Star Trek license for a while and made that ST:25th Anniversary adventure/puzzle type game that someone else already mentioned.

    These results are culled from GameRankings.com

    1. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn PC
    2. Baldur's Gate
    3. Fallout
    4. FreeSpace 2
    5. Planescape: Torment
    6. Realms of the Haunting
    7. Alone in the Dark
    8. Icewind Dale: The Ultimate Collection
    9. Sacrifice
    10. Carmageddon

    Maybe Interplay will pull an Activision in 10 years and be rescued by a game of Tony Hawk Pro Skater stature.

  8. Interplay Investors by MiceHead · · Score: 2, Informative
    I believe that Interplay lost its IPLY ticker symbol sometime around December, 2002, and was downgraded(?) to IPLY.OB. Given the way things are going, it's clear why we're hearing plenty of liquidation rumors, even if they're still hanging in there. I have been following their stock for some time; here's a depressing scene:

    (Year - Price)
    Q1, 2000 - ~$3.75
    Q1, 2001 - ~$2.75
    Q1, 2002 - ~$0.60
    Q1, 2003 - ~$0.07 (Then changed to IPLY.OB)
    Q1, 2004 - ~$0.10
    Q1, 2005 - ~$0.01

    The price, as of today, was 1.6 cents per share, (which is actually a nice purchase, if they pull out of their rut). Contrary to what the /. post says, they haven't liquidated yet. However:

    LOS ANGELES, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Video game company Interplay Entertainment Corp. (IPLYE.OB: Quote, Profile, Research) did not pay most of its employees for the four months through mid-November, has no cash reserves left and cannot meet its obligations, the company said in a quarterly report to regulators on Wednesday.
    I suppose they could raise capital by issuing more stock -- only 1,000,000,000 shares, and they could have a cool $16M! (Okay, maybe not.)

    I'm not sure what IP assets they have left to liquidate, but such sales may breathe new life into properties that have not been celebrated since (say) 2002.
    ____________________________
    Inago Rage - Fight, fly, and create your own arenas in this first-person shooter.
    --
    We're indie. We're working on our 14th game.
  9. It`s Titus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Titus was liquidated, together with three French subsidiaries, this only affects Interplay in the sense that the 67% stake of Titus will move hands.

    Just check
    http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/05/new s_61157 37.html

    and the comments at
    http://www.nma-fallout.com/

    Brios