GamingAge got ahold of Damon Vergilio (Interplay's Public Relations employee) and interviewed him about the recent crisis at IPLY. Here are some bits:<blockquote>GA: How much of Interplay's staff is currently working from remote locations?
DV: That is almost impossible for me to answer. I am working from home as well as many others. I do hear people are quitting on a daily basis and a lot of my friends have already started for other companies. I do not know how many have quit. I am pretty sure 90% of upper management is still there.
GA: What are the company's immediate plans to get working again, and what timeframe do you expect?
DV: Immediate plans are to make some kind of deal to get Interplay enough cash to re-instate Worker's Compensation, health benefits, back wages and get into a new building. I would assume that the only way to do this without someone investing a large chunk of money would be to sell a franchise or two. If we can secure some short term cash to get us out of this immediate pickle then we expect to be around a long time.
GA: Interplay is home to some of gaming's most beloved franchises. Considering the games announced earlier this year – based on the Descent, Fallout, Kingpin, Exalted (from the creators of Hunter) and Dark Alliance properties – are some licenses more likely to be on the trading block than others?
DV: Anything is on the chopping block to save the company. Herve [Herve Caen, Interplay's CEO] said he expects to announce something within the next couple days that will be enough of a boost to bring us back in. When it gets this dire, everything is up for grabs.
Long term, with the properties we own and what we have under our belt, we're in good shape. Short term, we have a situation to fix. Bankruptcy is not a necessary step for us. SG Capital [the company helping Interplay raise capital] agrees.
Some deals were close to complete before this happened, but until there's a signature there's no guarantee.</blockquote>Aukey, so sell the damn Fallout license to Troika already!!
Spotted at Raging Bull forums, TTWO forum.
Link: GamingAge interviews Damon
DV: That is almost impossible for me to answer. I am working from home as well as many others. I do hear people are quitting on a daily basis and a lot of my friends have already started for other companies. I do not know how many have quit. I am pretty sure 90% of upper management is still there.
GA: What are the company's immediate plans to get working again, and what timeframe do you expect?
DV: Immediate plans are to make some kind of deal to get Interplay enough cash to re-instate Worker's Compensation, health benefits, back wages and get into a new building. I would assume that the only way to do this without someone investing a large chunk of money would be to sell a franchise or two. If we can secure some short term cash to get us out of this immediate pickle then we expect to be around a long time.
GA: Interplay is home to some of gaming's most beloved franchises. Considering the games announced earlier this year – based on the Descent, Fallout, Kingpin, Exalted (from the creators of Hunter) and Dark Alliance properties – are some licenses more likely to be on the trading block than others?
DV: Anything is on the chopping block to save the company. Herve [Herve Caen, Interplay's CEO] said he expects to announce something within the next couple days that will be enough of a boost to bring us back in. When it gets this dire, everything is up for grabs.
Long term, with the properties we own and what we have under our belt, we're in good shape. Short term, we have a situation to fix. Bankruptcy is not a necessary step for us. SG Capital [the company helping Interplay raise capital] agrees.
Some deals were close to complete before this happened, but until there's a signature there's no guarantee.</blockquote>Aukey, so sell the damn Fallout license to Troika already!!
Spotted at Raging Bull forums, TTWO forum.
Link: GamingAge interviews Damon
