Mortal Online is reaching the final days to make its launch date of September 09 November ’09 December ’09 January ’10 February ’10 March 2010, and depending on who you ask, the game is either ready to go gold, spinning in its grave, dead in its grave, or pre-alpha build (thanks to the random internet trolls specialists who have never regularly see pre-closed beta builds of MMOs.). Either way, Mortal Online is quickly falling into a desperate situation. The longer Star Vault goes without launching the title, the less funding the company receives, and money does not come easily for indie companies of any caliber.
Henrik Nystrom has an announcement to make, and he is making it on Monday, when MMO Fallout will certainly be ready to hear what he has to say. According to a forum post, Mortal Online’s status, update, release, and more will be discussed. What do you think he will talk about? Is there another delay coming or will Star Vault go cold turkey on not making people pay to play, and launch?
I would also like to respond to someone who emailed in asking me to comment on which title will fall first, Alganon or Mortal Online, and my answer is: For shame. This is MMO Fallout, where the question is not “who will fail” but “whose stories will get Omali more hits,” and I am afraid to say that that rank goes to Conan’s breasts and, for some odd reason, people looking to hack Aion accounts (I can see your search terms, people).
More on Mortal Online as it appears…more specifically, this Monday.
Gary Whiting? Who is Dale Grobois? Why is CME getting evicted? A company with no employees, no game, and massive debt, the Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment saga continues on MMO Fallout.
/Just like two fully loaded buses.
I don’t want to say that Stargate Worlds is a lost cause, but I’ve seen this before, many times. Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment is not so much on the path to reinvention as much as it is at the fork in the road that can only be crossed under certain conditions. One of the following will happen:
Hitting the pavement without a parachute: Stargate Resistance is either delayed to oblivion or launches to a less than stellar performance. Considering these losses, Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment either closes for good, is acquired by another company, or continues the same path it has been on for the past two years: perpetual delay.
Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment posted a letter to their shareholders today, which is likely to cause the same reaction as picking up your phone and seeing “Mercy Hospital” on the Caller-ID, that managed to take a bleak situation, murder it, and replace it with an even more depressing painting. In the ongoing in-company battle between Whiting vs just about everyone else, it appears Gary Whiting has decided to appoint a new president to Cheyenne Mountain, Dale Grobois. CME would like to remind everyone that Mr. Grobois does not speak on behalf of the company, and should not be spoken to over financial matters.
Speaking of finances, Cheyenne has managed to appoint a receiver, a person who keeps watch on the company’s finances to make sure certain people (why do you keep pointing in Mr. Whiting’s direction?) don’t get access to the company coffers. It is also important to note that Gary Whiting is the individual, allegedly, who filed the Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The receiver is currently evaluating whether or not CME should go ahead with bankruptcy procedures.
Meanwhile, everyone loves statistics. Here are a few from the open letter:
creditor debt: $2.0 million with possibly more.
Payroll owed: $1.1 million.
Federal and state taxes owed: $3.0 million.
Total cost of complaints: $10.1 million
Total in bank account to pay off the above: $10 thousand
So what does this mean, other than that I have 3/5ths the cash of Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment (technically I beat them out by 14.2 million, but who seriously counts debt?)?
With regard to actual operations, game development has ceased.
Currently, neither CME nor CMG have any employees.
Hmm…In order to keep Stargate Resistance from shutting down barely a month after launch, CME was forced to enter into a joint venture agreement with Fresh Start Studios (ironically), where the game has been operating since, funded by CME.
Meanwhile, Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment is set to be evicted from their building come March 31st, due to an inability to pay rent. I think it’s safe to say now that we’ve reached option 3 in my three options of Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, to a point where they are not coming back, ever. What does baffle me about this is the tolerance or low expectations of MGM, owners of the Stargate license. Either MGM is not paying attention, at all, or they firmly believe that Cheyenne, in all of their continuing downward spiral, is somehow the only choice for a Stargate MMO. Or they don’t care anymore.
MMO Fallout 