According to a report on Kotaku, Ghostbusters developer FireForge Games filed for bankruptcy mere days after the release of the title. The bankruptcy, which was filed on July 15, comes during the midst of two separate lawsuits filed against the developer.
Developed over a brief 8 month period, at least according to one employee, Ghostbusters was an attempt by FireForge to help pay off their debt. Over the course of the last month, the studio had been liquidating its assorted assets in order to alleviate the debt of $12 million they had built up since 2011.
Regardless of the low quality of the title, though, the bankruptcy does not stem directly from the rushed product. Instead, FireForge Games’ money issues came as a result of two failed MOBA projects the studio worked on. Unfinished titles Zeus, which was set to be published by Razer, and Atlas, which was being supported by Chinese publishing giant Tencent, are the main culprits. Even as of now, the studio still owes an additional $11.3 million to Tencent.
Besides being a waste of money and resources, Zeus is also the center of one of the lawsuits filed against the flatlining developer. Razor CEO Min-Liang Tan has accused FireForge of using the money provided by his company to work on Atlas, not Zeus. Although the lawsuit is currently on hold due to the bankruptcy filing, FireForge is claiming that they only began work on the Tencent published project after Razor stopped providing them with funds.
As for the second lawsuit, it somehow ties into one of the biggest gaming catastrophes in recent memory. I’m of course talking about long-deceased Kingdoms of Amalur developer 38 Studios bankruptcy and closure. According to lawyer Richard Land, who was responsible for selling off the shuttered developer’s assets, FireForge Games signed a deal to license the studio’s Helios social media platform. However, instead of paying the $3.7 they allegedly owed, the developer instead hired ex-38 Studios employees to work on their own version of the project.
FireForge Games CEO Tim Campbell has not responded to interview requests, but this is shaping up to be one messy bankruptcy. We’ll keep you updated on the latest regarding the closure as it becomes available.