Two Worlds II - Release Threatened by Legal Action

Originally Posted by Daroou
Yeah why would a creditor not want them to release the game? Silly. They should open source the game if they find they find their hands are tied.

Well think from the other side, if you know that whatever happens the money will go to someone else, why would you put much of an effort in releasing the game?

I will be scratching this one from my list for now. I don't want to get a game that got pushed out the door half cooked and no chance of a patch coming out. Guess I will wait and see how it all plays out first, both in game and in support aspects as well.

Originally Posted by Elwro
The Polish branch of Topware is dead, too. Wasn't Reality Pump a part of that?

What? Who says Topware is dead?

Originally Posted by Gorath
What? Who says Topware is dead?

There have been several companies called TopWare in the past: It started in Mannheim, Germany as a CD-Pressing-Plant, who in 1995 spun off a Game Publisher and that founded a Polish development studio. That family of companies actually went belly up and was bought by a company called Zuxxez Entertainment, which retired the name TopWare and split the Polish development team into Toontraxx and Reality Pump Studios. In 2005 Zuxxez assigned the TopWare name to a newly founded Nevada-based publishing company. The German and Polish TopWare branches sure are dead.

Yes, Topware is only a brand owned by Zuxxez nowadays. I still don't see the point behind Elwro's post yet. The old Topware died years ago. Only Zuxxez is responsible for Two Worlds 2.

It looks like 40,000 units of the game from the warehouse were already seized by the ballifs and auctioned off for £50,000. WTF? Why would the Ballifs do something like that, they could have easily gotten £1.2 Million if they had any brains.


http://www.gamerzines.com/ps3/news/t…se-threat.html
"According to GamesIndustry.biz, bailiffs recently seized and auctioned 40,000 units of stock from SouthPeak's warehouse, generating over £50,000 towards the $3.4m allegedly owed to now-defunct German publisher CDV Interactive Software."

Originally Posted by Eisberg
It looks like 40,000 units of the game from the warehouse were already seized by the ballifs and auctioned off for £50,000. WTF? Why would the Ballifs do something like that, they could have easily gotten £1.2 Million if they had any brains.


http://www.gamerzines.com/ps3/news/t…se-threat.html
"According to GamesIndustry.biz, bailiffs recently seized and auctioned 40,000 units of stock from SouthPeak's warehouse, generating over £50,000 towards the $3.4m allegedly owed to now-defunct German publisher CDV Interactive Software."

Stock of other games.
Southpeak do Publish Other games.
There wouldn't be any TWII Units anyway the games not finished…

Publishers seem to be a big problem nowadays. Developers should try to cut out the middleman, the publishers, and just release their games as digital downloads. Publishers roles as distributors are diminishing. I guess you would still publishers for advertising to get people interested but maybe you could to this by word of mouth, forums, Youtube etc. Funding your first game would be pretty hard when you don't have any money in your coffers to pay salaries but if you could get over that first hurdle then use the money that you made off of your first game to fund your next one which would hopefully be a bigger success than your first one. And so on. You probably couldn't make games with AAA budgets but maybe you could focus more on games for a market that's seriously lacking in today's business climate: 2D isometric RPGs, painted backgrounds, lots of character creation choices, tactical turn based combat, explore some new IP/world perhaps? Skip the VO (save money, make it easier to update), non-linear open world exploration. etc.

End of rant.

Originally Posted by Eisberg
they could have easily gotten £1.2 Million if they had any brains.

Perhaps they don't understand a thing in gaming ? Even in gaming business ?
Perhaps they treat them like everyday wares ?

Originally Posted by Lemonhead
Publishers seem to be a big problem nowadays. Developers should try to cut out the middleman, the publishers, and just release their games as digital downloads.

I very much agree with you - although this would hurt my gaming habits since I only buy CDs & DVDs.

But in fact shutting the "middle tier" out would generate better revenues for the developers directly, I'd agree.

Lar from Larian Studios adressed a similar topic in his latest "status update".

The problem doesn't go away of you go digital. You cannot simply put your game on a platform, you need the platform holder's permission. In that context a DDL platform is similar to a console platform, with the difference that you don't need permission before you start working on your game.

Putting a game on Steam is pretty damn hard if you are no well known publisher or one of the top 5% devs. A small indie doesn't even get an answer from them, in most cases. It's an exception if Steam assigns resources to negotiate with them.

Originally Posted by Daroou
Yeah why would a creditor not want them to release the game? Silly. They should open source the game if they find they find their hands are tied.

If you're cash-starved then money now is worth many times potential money in the future, which has the chance of not amounting to much or anything at all.

What about GOG ?

Originally Posted by Eisberg
It looks like 40,000 units of the game from the warehouse were already seized by the ballifs and auctioned off for £50,000. WTF? Why would the Ballifs do something like that, they could have easily gotten £1.2 Million if they had any brains.

In addition to the correction a few posts down … don't forget that the bailiffs can probably only take Southpeak's piece of the cake. CDV has no legal dispute with Zuxxez/Topware. So the whole thing is not trivial. Which is another argument for letting them sell the stuff first. Then use a court order and a pocket calculator to divide the loot.

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
What about GOG ?

What about "What about GOG?"?

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
What about GOG ?

They're a (re)publisher. Who are all evil apparently.

Originally Posted by kalniel
If you're cash-starved then money now is worth many times potential money in the future, which has the chance of not amounting to much or anything at all.

CDV isn't starving for cash. They're dead, and their empty shell lead by the liquidator can wait for a long time for the money to come in … plus interest since the day the money was due. His job is getting all the money he can. He will not stop as long as there is something to collect.

Originally Posted by Gorath
and their empty shell lead by the liquidator can wait for a long time for the money to come in …

Really? Most creditors want and need their money ASAP, especially in the current climate.

Originally Posted by kalniel
Really? Most creditors want and need their money ASAP, especially in the current climate.

Well, that's one level beyond. The liquidator is assigned as temporary boss of the bankrupt company, not for their creditors. Of course the money is used to pay the creditors in the legally correct order.

Originally Posted by Gorath
The liquidator is assigned as temporary boss of the bankrupt company, not for their creditors.

Maybe different over there then. In good ole blighty an administrator would control the company, and their purpose would be to act on behalf of the creditors. Sometimes (often) that involves keeping a company running if it makes it more likely that a buyer for the whole thing will be found, which would give a greater return for the creditors than just the assets, but the experts make the call on that sort of thing from a lot of experience.

It's not that different here.

It's not the same to "generally try to find the most money for the creditors" and to "act on behalf of the creditors".

On topic:
Seeing how the law suit, etc. is running, maybe Southpeak would be well advised to negotiate a deal. Offer them 50 Cent on the dollar right now and see what they say. From an outside perspective it looks as if Southpeak will have to pay 100% plus interest plus legal costs otherwise.