Namco, Ubisoft and MS carve up 3DO assets
The first results of the auction for 3DO's franchises and assets have been revealed, with bid wins for Namco, Ubisoft and Microsoft on the company's three major game franchises, but no word as yet on the fate of the smaller lots.
The first results of the auction for 3DO's franchises and assets have been revealed, with bid wins for Namco, Ubisoft and Microsoft on the company's three major game franchises, but no word as yet on the fate of the smaller lots.
The British interest comes in the form of Street Racing Syndicate, which is under development at UK studio Eutechnyx; this title has now been taken over by Namco for $1.5 million, and it's hoped that the development process will be unaffected by the publisher change.
Meanwhile Ubi Soft's $1.3 million leading bid for the Heroes of Might and Magic franchise has been confirmed as the winner in that auction, while Microsoft has acquired the rights to High Heat Baseball for an as-yet undisclosed price.
Commentators anticipate that Microsoft will replace its own Inside Pitch franchise with High Heat Baseball, a much more successful title and one which the company has expressed significant interest in for some time.
We'll bring you news on the other auctions as the results are made official; the other asset groups on sale were Army Men (bidders being Eidos and Turbine), Jacked (sole bidder being JoWooD), Cubix (sole bidder being 4kids), and two grouped lots - "Internet patents" and "Other patents".
GamePro