Trion Worlds Tells Court: Company Disbanded, All Employees Terminated


(Update 10/31/18): Files from a case management conference held on 10/26 have been published. It looks like the council will continue discussing a plan of action moving forward. A CMC has been scheduled for November 19, and we will post an updated piece should anything important be confirmed.

The new document has been uploaded to the Google Drive folder linked at the end of the article.

“The situation was discussed in general among counsel and the Court, and it was agreed that counsel would continue to discuss the situation to keep up to date and formulate plan of action for this case under the circumstances. Defense counsel agreed to seek approval of the Defendant client to provide information about the subject transactions to Plaintiffs’ counsel under confidentiality order. It was agreed to defer setting of class certification, and discovery plan until the next CMC.”

Original Story: One week ago, we learned that Trion Worlds had been acquired by Gamigo with at least 75% of the staff laid off. MMO Fallout has come across a document filed with the San Mateo County Court on October 26 describing that Trion Worlds has disbanded, all of its employees have been terminated, and its directors are gone.

Defendant’s counsel reporter that Trion Worlds has suddenly disbanded this week. All assets and
property were assigned to Trion Worlds (ABC) LLC, and they proceeded to sell the assets and intellectual
property to others, particularly Gamigo, a Germany-based game publisher. All of the employees of Trion
have been terminated effective October 22, 2018, i.e. immediately upon the announcement, and its
directors and officers are gone and the company will be dissolved.

In another case management conference statement filed October 25, Trion’s lawyers noted that they themselves were not aware of the transfer or dissolution until October 18.

Defense counsel first became aware on October 18, 2018 of the transfer of assets of TWI to take place on October 22, 2018 and the corporate dissolution of TWI to follow shortly thereafter. Defense counsel has been actively investigating and assessing since that time the status of TWI-ABC with respect to the claims presented in this action.

Lawyers for the former Trion Worlds have requested a 14 day continuance in order to allow the defense to advise the court and plaintiffs on the impact of the dissolution.

As always, MMO Fallout has made the dockets available via Google Drive at the link below.

(Source: Google Drive)

Gamigo Buys Trion Worlds, Immediately Fires Most Of Company


Trion Worlds has been purchased by MMO publisher Gamigo, a story that might come off as a little more positive if it weren’t for the fact that they also sealed the deal by firing most of the company’s staff. According to a statement obtained by Gamasutra from an inside source, only 25 employees are remaining of the over 200 that Trion had previously employed.

“A source speaking to Gamasutra, however, has indicated that those layoffs may have affected the vast majority of the studio. According to that source, only 25 or so employees were given the opportunity to continue on with the studio.”

The Trion Worlds team has posted the following statement to the press and their community:

Greetings — We can confirm that there has been a transaction involving Trion Worlds and its games.

While many of the names and faces you’ve come to know in our studios will remain on through this transition, others will not be making the journey. To those who are leaving us, we are forever grateful for your incredible work and contributions over the years.

We’d like to assure our communities that the games will continue on in capable hands moving forward, as everyone involved is aiming to make this transition as smooth as possible for you. We will have more information to reveal as soon as we possibly can.

From the bottom of all of our hearts, we thank you for your time and dedication to our games and hope that you’ve enjoyed the experience as much as we have. From spending time with you in game, to seeing you at conventions, to talking with you on livestreams and forums, it’s been our pleasure to be a part of this exceptional community with you since our first launch more than seven years ago.
Please know that you have our deepest gratitude. As for our games, we hope you continue to enjoy playing them far into the future!

The Trion Worlds Team

Jagged Alliance Online To Sunset November 30


 

Jagged Alliance Online: Reloaded is the latest victim of online-only games, as developer/publisher Cliffhanger Productions announced last week that the servers will come down in November. Initially launched into open beta way back in 2012, developed by Cliffhanger Productions and published at the time by Gamigo. In 2015, the game was rebooted on Steam, now self-published by Cliffhanger, for a base asking price.

“It is with great regret, that we have to announce the servers for JAO will be closing by end of November and the game will cease to exist. We kept the game running for as long as we could – for a long time now it cost us more than we earned- but unfortunately we don’t have the means to continue to do so any more.”

Cliffhanger Productions is currently advertising its next title set for launch this fall: Jagged Alliance: Rage! Rage is a spinoff set 20 years after the first Jagged Alliance. As for Jagged Alliance Online, the game has been sitting at single digit average player counts for well over two years now.

(Source: Steam)

Fiesta Online €10k Contest


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Gamigo is celebrating twenty million level ups with a competition in Fiesta Online. Taking place on the new global server, players are tasked with leveling a character up to 100 by June 22nd. All characters who successfully level up will be entered into a draw for €5 thousand and a massive fan package. Cash prizes are also available for first and second place runner ups. In addition, €500, 50,000 Talers, and an in-game costume will be awarded for side-contests.

“20 million level-ups and the first global server — if that isn’t a reason to celebrate, I don’t know what is. With this world-class event, we want to thank all Fiesta players around the globe, and also challenge all future players to a tournament.”
-Jens Knauber (Game Director)

Check out more details at the link below.

(Source: Gamigo Press Release)

Heroes In The Sky Shutting Down


 

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Gamigo has announced that their air combat MMO Heroes in the Sky will be shut down on December 3rd. Gamigo customers should have received a notice from the publisher with details on how they can transfer their accounts to the new host, GameUs.

We regret having to inform you that the service of Heroes in the Sky on the gamigo website will shut down on December 3rd, 2013. The Cash Shop will already be shut down on November 29th, 2013. From that date on, it will be impossible for players to make new purchases.

(Source: Gamigo Email)

Jagged Alliance Online Now On Steam


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As previously announced, Jagged Alliance Online is now available for download and play on Steam. The free to play MMO was originally launched on browsers via Gamigo’s game portal, and is expanding its visibility to the Steam community. The game weighs in at a rather light two gigabytes of storage space and recommends a 2.4ghz processor and at least four gigabytes of ram. As with the browser version, Jagged Alliance Online is always online and naturally requires a constant internet connection.

While the original game is free, Steam is offering 10% off until June 12th on two DLC packs. Each pack costs $29.99 ($26.99 on sale) and contains 80 new contracts, extra rewards, achievements, prestige contracts, an exclusive mercenary and $150,000 in cash. Check it out at the link below.

(Source: Steam)

Grimlands Cancels Kickstarter, But Has Funding


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Grimlands has had a rocky life, and the game hasn’t even been released yet! Those of you who read our coverage of games still in development will know that Grimlands had its development shuttered by Gamigo, who are in the process of transitioning to solely publishing games rather than attempting to develop them in-house. The folks at DRAGO Entertainment in Poland decided that they were going to see the game to release regardless of Gamigo’s funding, and started up a Kickstarter to raise the $650 grand required.

Well the bad news is that the Kickstarter has been cancelled. The good news is that the Kickstarter was cancelled because DRAGO managed to secure offers for funding from several outside investors. The crew are in talks to get Grimlands fully funded and out the door. Sorry folks, no free Humvee.

(Source: Kickstarter)

Gamigo Shutting Down Grimlands Development


grimlands3

Gamigo’s upcoming MMO shooter Grimlands has announced that it is setting development. In a news post on the game’s website today, Gamigo has revealed that Grimlands is the unfortunate victim of a shift in company focus, with less priority placed on high-risk and in-house developed projects, and putting more focus on publishing games. The announcement in its entirety:

The intensified focus on publishing and distribution and reduction of high-risk development projects has been pushed further forward. With this in mind the decision has been made not to proceed with the development of the MMORPG, Grimlands. The game still requires substantial additional funds to be brought to completion. Even other games in the “development pipeline” are to be critically assessed anew according to opportunities and risks.

With luck, Grimlands might be picked up by another developer and brought to completion.

 

RealU Lays Off Most Staff, Gamigo Seeks New Developer


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Otherland is an upcoming MMO based on the book series of the same name, written by Tad Williams. The game is being developed by RealU, and published by Gamigo. At least it was, recent rumors that RealU has laid off most of its staff were confirmed by a Community Manager over at the Otherland official forums:

Unfortunately we have to confirm that the rumors are true and RealU, the developer of Otherland, has laid off most of its staff. RealU is a subsidiary of German publisher dtp, which by itself is currently in insolvency, and gamigo had and has very limited influence on this decision. We are disappointed by this development and very sorry for the development team.

As for Otherland itself, Gamigo hasn’t given up the ghost yet.

As for the Otherland game: we are still holding the exclusive publishing rights for Europe and North America and we are currently looking into opportunities to finish the title at another location. Please understand that for legal reasons we are unable to comment further on this matter.

Gamigo will keep us updated if they do manage to find a new location.

(Source: Otherland)

Gamigo Absorbs Outspark, Continues Running Fiesta Online


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Outspark was established in 2006 in San Francisco, California, and is most well known for the publishing of several anime-style MMORPGS imported from Korea. The game Secrets of the Solstice was shut down without any explanation or notice. Their other MMO, a Maplestory style game called Wind Slayer, was shut down in August 2011. Sadly, things have not been looking up for the MMO publisher, and Outspark has closed its doors to the public, and its remaining library along with it. Outspark’s snowboard racing game, Project Powder, has been shut down effective immediately, and players will not be compensated for any SparkCash on their accounts.

Outspark’s other MMO, Fiesta Online, has been spared a quick death. Players will be happy to learn that services for Fiesta have been transferred to Gamigo. Players will be able to log in as usual with their normal Outspark accounts, and all SparkCash has been transferred over at a 1:1 rate to credits. For more details, read the FAQ linked below.

As part of the transfer, a substantial portion of the Outspark team has joined Gamigo.

(Source: FAQ)