Artifact Entertainment Purchased By Tulga Games 15
Late last month, Artifact Entertainment was purchased by Tulga Games, a move ending the downward spiral of the company. Artifact was the maker of the Massively Multiplayer Game Horizons, and was the victim of a cynical financial takeover at the hands of its COO James Jones. The seminal work on this sordid tale is A Story of Artifact Entertainment, on the GameMethod site. Anyuzer.com has some interesting commentary on the purchase, relating it to the recent purchase of Asheron's Call 1 & 2 by Turbine from Microsoft. "With MMOGs that have smaller subscription numbers than was projected by the publisher, they offer the perfect opportunity for a development company to become independent."
That sucks (Score:2, Informative)
Yes, but..... (Score:4, Insightful)
HOWEVER you have to remember that this article is full of quotes and memmories from DA, so of course the tune of the article is going to be in his favor.
This is only 1 side of the story, and while I'm not trying to say it isn't true, I'm mearly saying it may not be the WHOLE story.
Re:Yes, but..... (Score:2)
However, when I first read that article, I talked to some of my contacts who were actually still working with AE, and they didn't confirm the story.
Their rebuttals were just retellings of things they were told by James Jones and Steve Snow, but they did cast doubt upon the articles accuracy.
If I'm allowed a person opinion, I
Re:Yes, but..... (Score:2)
But what the story describes is NOT "not-normal". It is all too common in the "business world". To a geek's mind, it is incredible that a manager would destroy a product, and take down a creative mind, just to step up in the ranks. However, you must remember that people that aspire management jobs instead of creative jobs are basically only in it f
Happening more and more (Score:3, Informative)
Another smaller game that was saved from death is The Realm [realmserver.com]. It was purchased by a number of players and is still running today.
As I've posted before, most online games will never die. There are too many people committed to keeping them alive. It's good to see that Horizons will get a new lease on life and that the fans will continue to be able to enjoy the game.
Have fun,
Re:Happening more and more (Score:2)
Re:Happening more and more (Score:1)
Amusing Reaction (Score:1)
When you're in bankruptcy, you'd better believe an offer is exciting!
Sad story.... (Score:1)
Nolan Bushnell after Atari got aquired by Time/Warner, he was forced out and it was run into the ground. E. T. in landfills anyone? Atari Pacman?
Gary Gygax was forced out of TSR, TSR goes under and gets bought by Wizards of the Coast.
Infocom's a little different, as it was actually some of the people who founded the company who starved the games division so they could move into the high profit world of business software. Another great games company bites the dust and disapp
Tulga is a shell company, this is all a sham... (Score:5, Informative)
Chris Tulamello and Steve Favorito are members of a corporation, 67TH AVENUE HOLDINGS, incorporated on 6/09/2004
David Bowman, Steve Favorito, and Rick Simmons are members of a corporation, ARIZONA ONLINE GAMES, incorporated on 6/10/2004.
All of this points to a shell game. AE will be liqudated as well all of its unsecured outstanding debt. The "so called" secured investors will agree to this transfer, which by the way keeps David Bowman and crew intact and in charge of Horizons", because it keeps them from losing their investment. The intellectual property is protected!
Another way to look at it. They used other companies to finance their way to a low population but stable income model. The people getting the short end are the companies which provide services. Technically legal but totally unethical. I really don't know what is worse, the actions of these guys or the fanbois of the game cheering them on, justifying anything for their selfish enjoyment.
A copy of their current bankruptcy documents is available here for the time being (zipped PDF assembled by someone else)
http://www.archonon.com/artifact.zip
5mb, mirror if you would.
Re:Tulga is a shell company, this is all a sham... (Score:2)
It all sounds technically legal, but ethically questionable.
Except for there is not a chance they will, (and people will say it's not technically possible) they should release the 'server tech' under some open license that will allow people to run private shards. That would be the 'nice' thing to do.
Another Point (Score:1)