MizzouRah
05-29-2003, 11:27 AM
May 28, 2003 - According to inside sources, every last employee at 3DO (the company responsible for the ill-fated console of the same name as well as the entire Army Men franchise) was let go earlier today and the company as a whole has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
This comes as a shock, to be sure, but industry pundits have been witnessing a slow decline of the company for years, so while somewhat surprising in the way the closure came about, the end of Trip Hawkins' baby is not entirely unexpected.
The 3DO Company's marketing director Rick Reynolds, however, countered the "going out of business" claims as false. "3DO is still in business," said Reybolds in a calm, collected voice. "There are teams working on games, including Jacked, Street Racing Syndicate, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and others. There is a zero chance of that happening. No one is going to let High Heat Baseball disappear. Someone will pick up these games.
"What is true is that we are up for sale. We have experienced financial difficulties, and we have had a big stream of people coming through the office today, and there have been companies looking at potentially buying our games, either in a big package, or in parts, or as individual games. We have been on the phone all day long, but I don't know of anything more than that happening today."
Exact details of the alleged mass termination are largely unknown, but from what we've learned today, no severance packages or extended pay was offered. "There have been a lot of rumors, and I'm not in the office, but you have to take it all with a grain of salt," added Reynolds.
When IGN called The 3DO Company to get an additional confirmation, the front desk message service kicked in. No prompt for leaving a message or contacting 3DO employees was offered. Additionally, even though the recorded message explained that 3DO is open from 8 am to 6 pm, our 5:45 pm call unsuccessfully reached anyone.
Best of luck to all of those who find themselves without gainful employment.
I really hope someone picks up the High Heat team and gives them the money and resources to get back where they once were.
This comes as a shock, to be sure, but industry pundits have been witnessing a slow decline of the company for years, so while somewhat surprising in the way the closure came about, the end of Trip Hawkins' baby is not entirely unexpected.
The 3DO Company's marketing director Rick Reynolds, however, countered the "going out of business" claims as false. "3DO is still in business," said Reybolds in a calm, collected voice. "There are teams working on games, including Jacked, Street Racing Syndicate, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and others. There is a zero chance of that happening. No one is going to let High Heat Baseball disappear. Someone will pick up these games.
"What is true is that we are up for sale. We have experienced financial difficulties, and we have had a big stream of people coming through the office today, and there have been companies looking at potentially buying our games, either in a big package, or in parts, or as individual games. We have been on the phone all day long, but I don't know of anything more than that happening today."
Exact details of the alleged mass termination are largely unknown, but from what we've learned today, no severance packages or extended pay was offered. "There have been a lot of rumors, and I'm not in the office, but you have to take it all with a grain of salt," added Reynolds.
When IGN called The 3DO Company to get an additional confirmation, the front desk message service kicked in. No prompt for leaving a message or contacting 3DO employees was offered. Additionally, even though the recorded message explained that 3DO is open from 8 am to 6 pm, our 5:45 pm call unsuccessfully reached anyone.
Best of luck to all of those who find themselves without gainful employment.
I really hope someone picks up the High Heat team and gives them the money and resources to get back where they once were.