|
Added by Gauss on 18.08.2012 |
Onlive confirms it.
|
That's right, the Cloud gaming firm reportedly filed for 'bankruptcy'. The company has confirmed it. Some sources said the service will 'probably' continue, but the company as it stands, won't.
|
 |
 |
Total Likes : 0 |
Total dislikes : 0 |
|
|
|
|
|
Several sources are reporting that cloud gaming firm OnLive has laid off all its staff and "will no longer exist" as it stands by the end of this Friday.
Here's a little background of how this story started:
It started with a tweet from InXile Entertainment's Brian Fargo, who bluntly stated that: “Just received an email that OnLive is closed as of today!”
This was followed by a report from Mashable based on “a source close to the situation” who claimed that “The company called an all hands meeting at 10am PDT, at which the entire staff was fired. Some staffers may be rehired as the company transitions to its next unknown iteration.”
The source added that: “Many employees blame the failure of the company squarely on the CEO — who refused to sell the company many times. There is speculation that the future company may simply be pure intellectual property play. OnLive reportedly has lots of patents covering cloud-distributed content, especially in 3D graphics.”
|
When asked for an official comment, Onlive itself initially 'denied' the reports.
OnLive's director of corporate communications Brian Jaquet has responded to questioning over the firm's reported closure, saying, "We don't respond to rumors, but of course not."
Jaquet has also told Mashable, "no comment on the news other than to say, the OnLive service is not shutting down". Jaquet refers specifically to the OnLive service however, and doesn't confirm or deny the layoffs.
|
NOW, however, all indicates that the company itself is hitting some very hard times.
Kotaku is reporting that they filed for a "form of Bankruptcy":
This morning, an all-hands meeting was called at 10 a.m. this morning where CEO Steve Perlman said that OnLive would be filing for an alternative to bankruptcy called an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors, or ABC, in the state of California—a status that affords financially troubled companies a level of protection from creditors.
|
Here are the details of the "ABC" that Onlive filed today.
According to the same source, the OnLive service will "probably" continue, but "the company as it stands now would cease to exist" and "no one would be employed by OnLive".
"A subset of employees would be brought on to the company created from the remains of OnLive," Kotaku was told.
|
Additionally, Gamasutra reported that all OnLive staff have lost their jobs, with some being re-hired for a new company formed out a pre-packaged closure.
Here's the e-mail reportedly sent to staff, published by Fargo:
"I wanted to send a note that by the end of the day today, OnLive as an entity will no longer exist. Unfortunately, my job and everyone else's was included. A new company will be formed and the management of the company will be in contact with you about the current initiatives in place, including the titles that will remain on the service.”
|
And finally, Senior correspondent at IDG News Service Martyn Williams said via Twitter:
"In the last 20mins have seen three people walk out of #OnLive with leaving boxes. Still unclear what's happening inside [pic]." [pic2]
|
OnLive insisted the reports were not true, telling Forbes: “No, let me be clear. We are not going out of business.”
But, definitely, something BIG is going on. We will know for sure in the upcoming days.
What do you think?
UPDATE!
Engadget reports that the reason of the layoffs (at least 50 percent of the staff) is that the company is being purchased by an unknown party.
The move apparently comes as OnLive is being purchased by an unknown party. Those being kept on have reportedly received offer letters from the new company. Why the sudden move? The source believes it may have something to do with the company's massive operating costs, which we're told are around $5 million a month. Certainly those concerns line up with a story dug up by Kotaku highlighting the company's plans to file for Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors as a result of the company's troubled financial situation.
|
UPDATE 2!
It has been CONFIRMED that OnLive was officially sold to a new company, but will continue its service.
Here's their official statement:
We can now confirm that the assets of OnLive, Inc. have been acquired into a newly-formed company and is backed by substantial funding, and which will continue to operate the OnLive Game and Desktop services, as well as support all of OnLive's apps and devices, as well as game, productivity and enterprise partnerships. The new company is hiring a large percentage of OnLive, Inc.'s staff across all departments and plans to continue to hire substantially more people, including additional OnLive employees. All previously announced products and services, including those in the works, will continue and there is no expected interruption of any OnLive services.
We apologize that we were unable to comment on this transaction until it completed, and were limited to reporting on news related to OnLive's businesses. Now that the transaction is complete, we are able to make this statement.
|
Maxconsole:
General and underground news for real gamers
|
 |
|
Click to enlarge to original size
|
|
MCV UK
OnLive denies reports of closure job losses
Click here to visit link
|
|
Kotaku
Onlive filing for bankruptcy new company to take its place
Click here to visit link
|
|
Discuss this in our forums |
|
Click here to discuss about this news in the forums
|
| |
|
|
|
