The whole article for those lazy bastards that don't bother to register:<blockquote>Interplay 'unable to pay'
Irvine video-game developer reports loss of $1.5 million for third quarter, $71,000 in cash and $10 million in debt.
By TAMARA CHUANG
The Orange County Register
Revenues continued to plummet for game developer Interplay Entertainment Corp., which is out of cash and hasn't released a game all year.
On Thursday, the Irvine firm said it narrowed its losses to $1.5 million in the third quarter, ended Sept. 30, saving cash by not paying the 11 employees who remained in November for four months, according to a regulatory filing. A year ago, it lost $2.2 million. Quarterly revenue fell to $900,000, down 80 percent from last year's third quarter.
Interplay, which peaked with hits like "Baldur's Gate" and "Fallout," has struggled to make a profit in the past few years and reached a low point in 2004. Cash dwindled, and the company did not pay employees or its landlord for several months last spring. Its landlord kicked Interplay out of its Irvine headquarters in June. While its future is bleak, the company said it would publish a new multiplayer game by next summer.
Herve Caen, Interplay's chief executive, could not be reached for comment.
Late Wednesday, the company said in a regulatory filing that it was out of cash.
"We continue to face difficulties in paying our vendors, and employees, and have pending lawsuits as a result of our continuing cash flow difficulties. We expect these difficulties to continue during the balance of 2004," the company said in the report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
As of Sept. 30 the company reported cash of $71,000 and accounts payable of $10.3 million.
"We currently have no cash reserves and are unable to pay current liabilities. The company cannot continue in its current form without at this time obtaining additional financing," Interplay said.
Interplay also said an evaluation determined its financial controls were in disarray.
"Based upon this evaluation, our chief executive officer and interim chief financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were of limited effectiveness, at the reasonable assurance level, in timely alerting him to material information required to be included in this report," Interplay said.
Interplay's majority shareholder, Titus Interactive, was placed under judicial administration or bankruptcy in France last June. Titus holds about 62 percent of Interplay stock.
Interplay said its European distributor, Avalon, was unable to make any of four payments due between mid-September and mid-November. Avalon is a unit of Titus.
The one hope is Interplay's decision to enter the massively multiplayer online game market, which allow thousands of people to play one game at the same time. But MMOGs cost significantly more to produce than a typical video game. They are, however, a growing genre because they allow companies to continually charge players a monthly subscription fee.
On Thursday, Interplay said it signed an agreement with Majorem, an Israeli game developer, to publish its MMOG, called "Ballerium." The game had ceased development in October after funds ran out, according to the posts at Ballerium.com. The game, a real- time strategy adventure, had been in a test phase for about a year.
Interplay, which is still collecting revenue from sales of older games plus royalty and licensing fees, did not say how much it would cost to complete the Ballerium game.
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Interplay reported a net loss of $4.3 million, compared with its loss in the previous year of $2 million. Revenues dropped 50 percent to $12.5 million.
Its stock, which trades on the over-the-counter exchange, was unchanged Thursday at 1.6 cents.</blockquote>
