Realtime Worlds ‘pet b-project’ first to be snaffled by a buyer, Develop can reveal
An anonymous American company has completed the purchase of Project Myworld from collapsed studio Realtime Worlds, Develop can reveal.
The move has permanently split Realtime Worlds into at least two segments – with numerous potential buyers eyeing up scattered portions of the company that are still deemed profitable.
Develop has yet to determine how the Project MyWorld purchase will affect the 23 developers currently working on the game.
It is still a possibility that the new US owner will only buy Project Myworld’s IP and game build. It is understood that the project is not too far from passing final milestones, and remaining Dundee-bound staff could yet be hired, perhaps temporarily, to finish the job.
Equally possible is that a new spin off studio will rise from Realtime Worlds’ ashes under American ownership, though it is also feasible that the developer’s US satellite studio will be bought as part of the Myworld deal.
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In any case, what remains up for purchase is the All Points Bulletin (APB) IP, a $100 million-plus project that – after nearly five years in development – suffered “lackluster sales” and failed to provide a significant return for its creators.
The sudden interest in Myworld had come as a surprise for administrators Begbies Traynor, and the business rescue firm went on to re-hire 23 of the project’s staff.
“As a smaller entity MyWorld is attracting considerable interest from potential buyers and 23 members of the team who had been working on the project clearly add value to it as a standalone business,” said joint administrator Ken Pattullo.
Days after Realtime Worlds’ collapse, Begbies Traynor predicated selling the business on the star-IP status of APB, having released data suggesting the game has 130,000 registered users who play the title four hours each day on average. Yet interest in that property has not been as significant as Myworld’s, at least for now.
It was previously speculated that Realtime Worlds bosses Ian Hetherington and Dave Jones were trying to buy Project MyWorld out of administration. News of a US buyer appear to discount the pair as the mystery buyer.
Good news for the MyWorld project as it is awesome.
I would not bet against the purchase being a non-traditional gaming company as well!
I'm conflicted. Might be great news for the team, but less so for the UK.
Well on the face of it this certainly does sound like good news. If however the acquiring firm are simply interested in the IP, and intend to ship development and support of the completed title to another region, then we're back at square one and Dundee and the UK games industry will take yet another hit.
I for one am reserving judgement on this one folks, but fingers crossed.
RTW was effectively US owned anyway, so it all comes down to whether or not the new owners want to run development a little closer to home.
I originally posted something on GAMESbrief suggesting that Dave and Ian were looking at MyWorld. I was subsequently corrected that it was just Ian.
And now it looks as if an American buyer might pick it up. Although, as Nick says, RTW was funded almost entirely out of the US, so this doesn't necessarily change the domicile.
I don't think there's an "IP" to pay for here ... "Google Earth with minigames"? No need to pay money to go make that.
And I don't think unfinished code is worth much without the people who understand it inside out.
So I'd bet on them keeping the team. They are definitely worth investing in :)
Well thats nice, maybe now they can pay the wages the APB team were due >8[
"It is understood that the project is not too far from passing final milestones" - not even close!
It's a long way from being close to a releasable product. Probably at least 9 months to a year would be needed to make it something people would want to use, and to have a few games built into it.
At the moment it's just a tech demo with some smoke and mirrors making it look like more than it is.
