Game companies line up for pieces of 3DO
By Reuters
August 7, 2003, 5:30 PM PT
news.com.com
Seven video game companies have qualified to bid in the auction for the assets of bankrupt publisher 3DO, according to court papers filed on Thursday.
In a notice filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco, 3DO's attorneys said Microsoft, Eidos Interactive, Ubi Soft Entertainment, JoWood Productions, Namco Hometek, Turbine Entertainment Software and Crave Entertainment filed by Wednesday's deadline to bid in the Aug. 14 auction.
3DO filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 28 and said it would seek to sell its assets. The company had struggled with weak sales and repeatedly sought financing from its founder and chief executive, longtime video game industry executive Trip Hawkins.
The filing did not detail what assets the seven bidders were interested in, or what they were offering to pay.
Microsoft entered the console games business two years ago with its Xbox console, though it had been in the PC games business for years before that. Britain's Eidos is best known for the "Tomb Raider" franchise, while the French Ubi Soft has had success of late with its "Splinter Cell" action title.
Namco Hometek is a unit of Japan's Namco and publishes games such as "MotoGP" and "Soul Calibur." Turbine was behind the "Asheron's Call" online role-playing games. Germany's JoWood is known for titles such as "AquaNox," while Crave publishes "UFC: Throwdown."
According to the court order approving the sales procedures, bidders were required to place deposits of anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 to bid on the various asset groups, including the in-progress games "Street Racing Syndicate" and "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." Bidders interested in all of the assets as a group were required to deposit $250,000.
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