Company News Latest rumor: Interplay loses BG rights?

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Baldur's Gate; Interplay

According to <A href="http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6447">this news item</a> on <A href="http://www.nma-fallout.com">No Mutants Allowed</a>, <A href="Http://www.interplay.com">Interplay</a> may have lost the license to their <i>Baldur's Gate</i> franchise - all of it, including that new console game they sacrificed <i>Baldur's Gate 3</i> for the PC to make. Basically, all the <i>Baldur's Gate</i> games are now missing from their website. They're not in <A href="http://www.interplay.com/games/index.asp">Interplay's Big List O'Games</a>. It's all gone from that site. Review links and everything. All bye bye.
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So, basically, if that's what happenned, the <i>DUMBEST MOVE IN GAMING HISTORY</i>, giving up the rights to publish BG3, <i>JUST GOT DUMBER</i>. Which begs the question, will <b>Darth Molitor</b> still have a check waiting for him on the 14th?
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Thanks, <b>Briosafreak</b>!
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<b><i>EDIT:</i></b> It seems that <i>all</i> of the Infinity Engine games were pulled from that list. So, as it stands now, <A href="Http://www.blackisle.com">Black Isle Studios</a> made <A href="Http://www.interplay.com/fallout2">Fallout 2</a> in 1998, and <A href="http://lionheart.blackisle.com">Lionheart</a> in 2003. Everything else is <b>gone</b>.
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[Whipporowill]

Let the shafting commence!

 

[Spazmo]

Let me be the first to say HA! HA HA HA! HAHAHAHAHA!

Also, anyone notice that without all the BG/IWD titles and bundles and reissues and whatnot that list has gotten about half as long?

 

[Briosafreak]

Thanks toWinterwind for the scoop.

 

[Psilon]

Yeah. Funny that Fallout and Descent, both by developers who really hate Interplay nowadays, make up the majority of the remaining titles.

Besides, why would you really want to list stuff like "Fallout 1/Fallout 2 Dual Jewel?" It's like the seven thousand versions of the Lord of the Rings movies, except with even less packaging and additional content.

 

[Transcendent One]

Yes yes FRESH IPLY NEWS TO FEAST MY EYES ON!!!

And I just have to say to ths HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!!!!!!!!

So I wonder, who will now be distributing BG and IWD games? Atari?

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Just imagine if IPLY hadn't pissed off everyone that ever worked for the company, it still might be a good'un, and we might not be cursing the name and pissing on the ashes.

 

[Briosafreak]

So I wonder, who will now be distributing BG and IWD games? Atari?

Yeah, it`s already beeing prepared, but who is developing it? Obsidian? You should do a new poll on that.

 

[DIPthong]

Mmmmm Interplay...I love the sweet sweet taste of your demise...yes...delicious...

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I think he means who will sell those Infinity Engine games now.

 

[Transcendent One]

Yes, SP is correct. I personally could hardly care less for who develops any new installments to the series.

 

[Briosafreak]

Has to be Atari, right?

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

It's kind of funny reading that Raging Bull forum on Lycos.. Take this for example:

http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boar ... Y&read=832

Orion, if I had any disposable income right now I probably would get some more Interplay stock, now that it is down so low (I like high risk/high reward stocks), but I need the money too much to get that risky with it. Almost all of my money is tied up in the stock market, and I'm only working part time right now. I took the money from the 320,000 shares of Interplay that I sold and bought into Priceline, which is a good safe stock with lots of upside potential. I expect it to double within the next two years, unlike Interplay they have huge cash reserves from when they went public. I picked a few winners three years ago, Nividia (which more than quadrupled with their deal with Microsoft), Netzero (when they announced their merger with Juno), and Priceline (which became profitable last year), which allowed me to take some of that money out to gamble with Interplay, to try to hit it big. I still have almost 600,000 shares that I will not sell of Interplay, no matter what. I'm still rooting for Interplay along with most of the people on this board. If Interplay hits, then I'll take out some money to buy a house, I'm renting right now and could really use that money. Come on Herve, pull it together!

On another note, there have been some minor changes to the Interplay website. They no longer list any upcoming games and they removed some of the reviews of their other games that were on their home page. (I wonder what that might mean)

I don't think this guy understands what I think is going on here. Atari and Vivendi are putting the screws to Interplay. Vivendi's been doing it for a while now. Atari just laid the whammy on them by ripping their rights to distribute D&D games, including their most recently released Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2.

Interplay's crippled for cash right now. Other gaming companies know this. They're trying to drive Interplay in to bankrupcy. After all, there are several bills that a company has that must be backed up by the boardmembers' wallets. By pulling the D&D license away from Interplay, they've effectively reduce Interplay's pool of games they can sell by close to HALF. Interplay can't sell their newest console game, nor can they sell all those IWD box set, BG box sets, BG jewel cases, and so on. They just lost a source of revenue.

All the big companies have to wait for is Interplay's coffers to run dry. That trick with Avalon won't work more than once, I think, so those coffers are paper thin. Once those coffers go, it's up to Herve's wallet to cover certain things. Either that or he's got to liquidate and take the company to bankrupcy.

So, why the hell would Vivendi or Atari buy the whole company when they can kick the legs out from under the already limping Interplay and then buy up the IPs they want? IF they buy Interplay, they inherit lots of Interplay's problems, like the debt. If they buy liquidated assets, they can get what they want and get it cheaper.

Herve's not going to go down with this ship, and Atari just put a large hole in it's already leaky side. Herve will bail, and Atari and Vivendi will share the salvage rights.

 

[Transcendent One]

Well Atari owns the D&D license right now, so I thought it would be logical for the BG and IWD licenses to go to them.

Anyways, it's just so ironic how the only thing that can save IPLY now is a decent Fallout 3/Baldur's Gate 3, the second of which they have fucked in favor of "biggar m0n3y!11!!" in games which they have now lost. Sorry, I just can't stop laughing at that

I think IPLY should take the award for dumbest decisions in video game history. Gold medal and huge cookie for them

 

[Sarkile]

I don't think another game could save Interplay at this point. Especially with Herve at the reins.

 

[Seven]

To recap, Iply lost the rights to distribute its all ready out DnD titles because of royalty issues, right? Before this they gave a way their PC rights, and now they've lost their console rights? Whatever will they do....

 

[Transcendent One]

Nah, I think that hundreds of thousands of fanboys would've bought BG3 simply because of name recognition.

 

[plin]

I think (hope) if they do survive for a while, they (hopefully) will indeed focus on fallout 3. Because they don't have anything else (hopefully). I just wonder how many game designers they acually have left besides sean k whatever.

They still have Fallout:BOshit out there, and console kiddies will pick up anything these days, so there is some money. There was a lawsuit of a deveoper or something that never paid back interplay.

You know, rather than them dying and holding on to the fallout liscense and no one getting it, I would rather see them make that their sole product, and focus all their money(that they might have in the future) and whatever talent they have on it. Who knows, maybe FO3 could be quality? We can't read the future, all we can do is make half-assed judgments on it. But you know, life is full of possibilities, and it's spontaneous as fuck, so who knows.

And heh, I doubt they are 'console only' now, now they are 'keep me the fuck alive only'.

so whatever, I'm hoping they crawl with what little life they have and with a miracle finish FO3. I doubt it will happen, but whatever, it would be nice.

edit: added a few 'hopefully' s

 

[Spazmo]

Don't count on FOBOS bringing in any money. It's only sold about 19,000 copies so far. Looks like bitching about something on the Internet really does work!

 

[plin]

Don't count on FOBOS bringing in any money. It's only sold about 19,000 copies so far. Looks like bitching about something on the Internet really does work!

Where'd you read that it sold only 19,000 copies?
And yeah, I do believe in the influence of the internet, even if it did or not effect FO:BOS.
Besides, realistically, I'm only counting on a miracle. But it's not like I need FO3, I'd just be nice.

 

[Sarkile]

I doubt a Fallout 3 made by Interplay as it is now would be a game you would want to play.

 

[plin]

I'm hoping ------ I doubt it will happen -------- it would be nice.

edit: added a few 'hopefully' s

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Where'd you read that it sold only 19,000 copies?

Killian just got that number from a source of his.. That's 19,000 for both the XBox and PS/2. Keep in mind they shipped 200,000 units of the game, so Interplay will never see another dime off that game.

 

[WaltC]

I thought I read awhile back that Interplay was selling its BG license to Bioware, or did I totally misread whatever it is that I recall reading?...

Also, I think the idea of Atari and Vivendi "putting the screws" to Interplay is laughable, really. If Vivendi and Atari pick and fund the same kinds of losing propositions that Interplay has run with for years, they'll end up sharing the same fate, without question. I mean, when you put the screws to yourself, no one else is required to do that, are they? It's pretty simple, I think: you fund good games people want enough to buy in quantity and you'll succeed--you don't and you won't. Cut & dried. Doesn't matter what you publish, be it books or software.

My only beef with Interplay is that they've totally failed to produce decent products for awhile, and other than that I have no angst with them at all. I hate to see it when companies screw themselves, but the fact is that it happens in every economic sector that exists. There are good company managers and poor ones, and I doubt that will ever cease to be the case. What I look for and expect in a healthy, vigorous company on the way up is a recognition of the fact that their company has no "right" to exist as a profitable enterprise, and a clear recognition that success is earned, not finagled with empty marketing rhetoric and endless "restructuring" plans designed to do nothing more than suck the life blood from the wallets of gullible investors.

JUst my two cents...

 

[Voss]

What makes that list even funnier... click on some of the titles/ categories. Over a third of those games are Out of Print.

And for the biggest chuckle, click on 'Coming Soon' under the games menu.

And yes, they dumped a game in production for 1 more BG:DA game. Cunning...

Hey, Herve! Cancelling three games in a row is FUCKING MORONIC. Work out a plan before hand, jackass. If you really wanted to switch to console only, ya shoulda done it after TORN, not after starting, funding and then dumping two more games. Oh, and by the way- a half-assed piece of crap like Lionheart isn't a good test case for why PC games are bad investments.
Idiot. A little fucking foresight goes a long way.