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Realtime Worlds Enters Administration

Posted August 17, 2010 by M.H. Williams

A mere two weeks after the announcement of their next project, MyWorld, and then the slashing of most of the MyWorld staff, Realtime Worlds still shows no signs of recovery. Today, reports via Develop have already seen Realtime’s U.S. studio in Boulder, Colorado shut down completely, with CEO Gary Dale apparently flying to Colorado this week to deliver the news. Now it’s been confirmed that Realtime is entering administration in order to rescue what’s left of the company.

Sources are saying that the new administrator is corporate rescue firm Begbies Traynor Group. With this move, Realtime Worlds now has to find an investor to save the firm from liquidation. APB, the result of five years in development, did not pan out for Realtime in the manner they hoped with poor reviews and lackluster sales.

The official fate of APB remains in the air with reports of 170 staff being laid off, leaving a skeleton crew of 50 to support the flagging title. Studio manager Colin Macdonald went on record just last week saying, “We're completely behind APB, it's got huge potential, and we'll continue to make new content for it.”

Ken Pattullo and Paul Dounis of Begbies Traynor will be helping Realtime Worlds through the administration process. Begbies Traynor hopes to keep the company afloat until a new buyer can be found. “We are currently involved in a consultative process with the 200 staff employed in Dundee,” said Dounis in a statement.

M.H. Williams has been writing in some form or another for ten years and has been a hardcore gamer since the NES first graced American shores.  You can catch him on Twitter as @AutomaticZen, Google+ as himself, or on his personal Facebook page.