Civ - Infogrames sells rights

[Harry Tuttle]

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=125808

It could include Civ2, who knows.

[CapTVK]

Any real info about this will eventually be available at the Edgar database. There's a good reason why Infogrames sold off those rights. They've got some substantial debt that needs to be paid off soon.

http://www.sec.gov/

[CapTVK]

Hmmm....

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1002607/000095012304013294/y68481e10vq.htm

IESA Liquidity

IESA has incurred significant continuing losses from operations and is highly leveraged. IESA owns, directly and indirectly, approximately 59% of our stock, distributes our products in Europe, Asia, and certain other regions, and pays us royalties in this respect. IESA also develops products which we distribute in the U.S., Canada, and their territories and possessions, and for which we pay royalties to IESA. As at September 30, 2004, royalty payments due and payable to us by IESA under our existing distribution agreement for the period then ended amounted to approximately $15.7 million. In addition, as at that same date, amounts due and payable to us by Atari Interactive and Paradigm, respectively, amounted to approximately $4.8 million and to $0.8 million, in respect of promissory notes.

On November 3, 2004, we entered into an agreement with IESA and several of its subsidiaries under which, in lieu of receiving payment on the above past due amounts, we transferred the amounts due to us from IESA and Paradigm to Atari Interactive in exchange for a secured promissory note (the “Secured Note”) from Atari Interactive that also includes in the initial principal amount the sums currently due to us from Atari Interactive and a $1.6 million note payment that would have been due from Atari Interactive on December 31, 2004, and interest on those amounts of approximately $0.1 million. Specifically, the Secured Note has a principal amount of approximately $23.1 million, will mature on March 31, 2005, bears annual interest at the prime rate plus 3.25%, and is secured by 2,000,000 shares of our common stock owned and pledged by Atari Interactive and by the rights, as owner, to the “Atari” trademark and the Fuji logo in North America (collectively, the “Collateral”). The “Atari” trademark and “Fuji” logo currently are owned by Atari Interactive and licensed to us through 2013 under the terms of the Trademark License Agreement, dated September 4, 2003.

If Atari Interactive fails to pay all outstanding principal and interest it owes to us in respect of the Secured Note when due on March 31, 2005, or if Atari Interactive otherwise defaults on its obligations to us thereunder, we will have the contractual right to foreclose on the Collateral. We have the right to apply royalties we will owe to Atari Interactive or to IESA or other if its subsidiaries in reduction of the Secured Note, instead of paying the royalties. Based on our projected royalty obligations to Atari Interactive, IESA and its other subsidiaries, we anticipate that by March 31, 2005, we will have applied most if not all of those amounts against amounts owed to us under the Secured Note.

In October 2004, IESA entered into an agreement with certain of its bank lenders under which it restructured the repayment terms of its debt obligations to those banks, extending the maturity dates thereof. IESA also entered into arrangements with certain of its banks in order to finance its operations through the upcoming holiday season.

[rmsharpe]

Could this possibly mean release of the Civ2 source?

[Harry Tuttle]

Originally posted by rmsharpe
Could this possibly mean release of the Civ2 source?

I dunno, but I did just update the letter. Please read it in the source code thread.

[conmcb25]

So who exactly did the CIV "rights" get sold too?

[curtsibling]

I bought them!

(I wish...)

I hope this situation leads to the CIV2 source code being easier to attain...

[Leonidas]

THE CIVILIZATION SERIES HAS BEEN SOLD!


Industry News : Civilization Franchise Sold
Posted by Chris Abele @ 00:52 EST


Atari has sold the famed franchise to an unnamed buyer.


Blue's News directed our attention to today to a minor financial release with major news on an established franchise. Games publisher Atari quitely announced it had sold the rights to the Civilization franchise, the strategy game series it had owned since 1996. According to the release, Civilization was sold for 15.5 million euros, or about $20.1 million USD.

It is worth mentioning that Atari reported a net loss in its first six months of operations this year, from a loss of 9.8 million euros last year to 42.2 million in the most recent six months.

No buyer was noted in the transaction, but expect this to have a significant impact on the next Civilization game, which has been rumored to be in development at Firaxis, the longtime developer behind the series. For more on the Civilization series, consult our review of Civilization II or Civilization III.

[CapTVK]

Ouch! Atari seems well on its way to becoming a penny stock.

[CapTVK]

More news! Seems Atari/Infogrames still owns the rights to the older titles.

Civilization Sold
Infogrames unloads the franchise -- but to whom?
November 24, 2004 - European developer and publisher Infogrames mentioned in its first-half 2004/2005 financial report that the company sold the Civilization franchise. The sale resulted in a capital gain of 15.5 million euros (in excess of 20 million USD) for Infogrames.

The Civilization series of turn-based strategy games, created by Sid Meier, is one of the most recognized and acclaimed PC gaming franchises. The next title in the series, Civilization IV, is under development at Firaxis Games, Sid Meier's development company.

Though the identity of the franchise's new owner has not yet been disclosed, our sources were able to clarify the situation somewhat:


"Infogrames (parent company for Atari) has sold the rights to Civ IV. Atari however will continue to hold the publishing and distribution rights to all previously released Civilization games and expansion packs through October 2005."

No release date for Civilization IV has been announced, and it is unclear how the sale may affect the sequel's release. As more information emerges, rest assured we'll be back to let you know.
-- David Adams

[curtsibling]

If Atari nosedive into liquidation -

I wonder what will become of all the old software code?

.....

[CapTVK]

Originally posted by curtsibling
If Atari nosedive into liquidation -

I wonder what will become of all the old software code?

.....

Old titles do have some value attached (not much because the game itself is really dated and won't run as well on modern OS's). Companies seem more aware of retaining sourcecode these days so they'll probably be transferred to the new owner. Then again, weird stuff can happen in these sorts of situations.


We better get a move on before the vultures fly in and start pecking!

[Skanky Burns]

Or put together some money of our own and aquire the rights to other software while they are in financial trouble.

[ravagon]

Heh, unless you've been holding out on us and have a spare few mil squirreled away somewhere that's probably not going to happen ...


Harry

On the down side though, if Atari is having a financial 'situation' now may not be the best time to send a request for the source code - even for older products - as they may well be 're-evaluating' many of their assets.

[Case]

Originally posted by CapTVK
Ouch! Atari seems well on its way to becoming a penny stock.

Hasn't it gone broke in the past?

Incidently, wasn't a fight over the rights to the Civ franchise one of the main factors that delayed Civ3? I vaugely recall that one of the reasons Civ 2: TOT did poorly was that it was released in direct competition with another Civ-style game.