Interplay Menaced with Eviction
Posted Friday, April 16, 2004 - 23:31 CET by chevalier

Interplay, the publisher of Baldur's Gate saga, Icewind Dale series and Planescape: Torment, are three months behind on their rent and have been given three days to pay or leave their headquarters.

[i]Besides highlighting the disparity between its cash balance of $1.2 million and working-capital deficit of $14.8 million, the notice also revealed interplay is facing eviction from its Irvine, CA headquarters. The filing states that "As of April 1, 2004, the Company [Interplay] was three months in arrears on the rent obligations for its corporate lease in Irvine, California." During the conference call, Caen revealed the rent for Interplay headquarters is around $150,000 a month, meaning the company currently owes its landlord approximately $450,000--nearly half its cash on hand.

Given the amount of money involved, it's not surprising that legal papers have already been served. "On April 9, 2004, the Company's lessor served it with a Three-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Surrender Possession," continued the 8-K filing. "If the Company is unable to pay its rent, it may lose its office space, which would interrupt operations and cause substantial harm to business." With Interplay's ambitious schedule of upcoming releases--which include Kingpin and Descent sequels and a console game based on Fallout--a forced move of its 113 employees would be inconvenient, to say the least.[/i]

Read the whole thing at GameSpot