Interplay is selling off their remaining assets and IPs. The company is perhaps most well known for being the owners of the Fallout license before Bethesda Softworks snatched it up in 2007.
Interplay has been on and off the relevance chart since Bethesda acquired the Fallout franchise from them. The company attempted to create a Fallout Online game and locked itself into massive legal battles with Bethesda for a number of years afterwards. This entire debacle resulted in yet another bankruptcy filing by Interplay. Ironically, it was a fate that Bethesda Softworks would eventually save them from with the purchase of Fallout.
Now, Interplay has filed to sell off the remainder of their works and intellectual properties. A press release issued by Wedbush states that Interplay has entered into a process to sell its assets and properties. The release does not go deeper into the nature of the decision. Interplay CEO Eric Caen stated that “the proliferation of mobile, augmented reality, virtual reality and other new forms of consumption” is perfect for its vast number of characters and stories. He added that “consumers are ready to experience and interact with Interplay’s characters, stories and game play in ways never possible before. We look forward to seeing how this unique portfolio of interactive entertainment icons will evolve for the worldwide audience”.
Interplay has a couple of high-calibre names in their catalogue, including Messiah, Kingpin, and personal favourite, Earthworm Jim.
The company has more recently licensed their Descent IP to Descendant Studios. The project, titled Descent: Underground, was a success on Kickstarter and has been in development for quite some time. It is a throwback to Interplay’s classic Descent franchise. As such, it features exciting space combat and point-of-view gameplay. The trailer that released about a year ago leaves nothing to the imagination.
These are the Interplay titles that are currently for sale:
- Battle Chess
- Boogerman
- Clay Fighter
- Dark Alliance
- Descent
- Earthworm Jim
- Freespace
- Kingpin
- M.A.X.
- Messiah
- MDK
- Redneck Rampage
- Run Like Hell
- Sacrifice
- T-Rex Rumble
- Giants
The sale is regulated and conducted via Wedbush Securities, a leading investment firm situated in Los Angeles, California. To my understanding, the sale of these properties is open to all; developers and individuals alike.
Given the opportunity, which property would you purchase?
[Sources: Globe Newswire, PC Gamer]
Junior Editor at Vamers. From Superman to Ironman; Bill Rizer to Sam Fisher and everything in-between, Edward loves it all. He is a Bachelor of Arts student and English Major specialising in Language and Literature. He is an avid writer and casual social networker with a flare for all things tech related.