Cheyenne Mountain responds to rumors of no pay for employees
Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Business models, Events, real-world, MMO industry, New titles, Stargate Worlds, Rumors
Kevin Balentine, senior Marketing Manager at Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment released an official explanation of the rumors: "At Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, we have always been upfront with the media and our fans that we are a start up. Like many start ups, we face the same cash-flow issues that all pre-revenue companies face. We have maintained a core of dedicated investors, but the new economic realities are forcing us to seek out additional sources of funding and that's what we're doing. We continue to move forward on the Stargate Worlds project. We recently completed a successful phase of closed beta testing and we will start a second phase early in 2009. We invite all of your readers to come to our site, check out our fantastic community and sign up for our beta."
For now we only have what's in this official statement as truth. Interestingly enough, Ten Ton Hammer has reported an "anonymous source" stating more employees leaving CME in recent weeks. It should be an interesting story to follow on what could potentially be a triple-A MMO with Stargate Worlds.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TruthGamer said on 12:44PM 12-05-2008
Their response doesn't even address the rumor. We already knew they were short on cash. Don't breathe easier because they responded with nothing. Do some investigative reporting. Here's a hint: run some google searches on their executive leadership.
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Jon Merriex said on 1:03PM 12-05-2008
Hmm... I've never taken Massively as an investigative media haven. They kind of collect and report on the news not deep dive into massive scandels. I also felt Cheyenne said what they could and did confirm the reports. They are having cash flow issues meaning they haven't been able to cover payroll.
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Green Armadillo said on 1:25PM 12-05-2008
I don't expect Massively to personally unearth evidence of whatever is going on, but it wouldn't hurt to at least put an informative headline on the boilerplate PR statement. The headline says that CME responded to the rumors of no pay, while, in fact, the supposed response ignores the rumors. Instead, they say that they're raising more funds and that they haven't yet canceled the game (the studio's only project).
Maybe you're right, and that's the only response the studio's PR people can give, but that isn't really cause to be "happy to report on an actual response".
Wjowski said on 1:32PM 12-05-2008
I see they're taking a page from the Brad McQuaid school of corporate leadership.
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Ripper McGee said on 2:04PM 12-05-2008
Standard PR/Marketing/Management pablum used when things aren't going well. I truly hope they resolve their financial issues, especially in regards to taking care of their employees.
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JP said on 3:58PM 12-05-2008
This is really an internal thing, but at least they haven't said "that's not true" and we come to find out it is. I doubt even if it is true, it's something they're doing hastily.
But, it doesn't bode well for a "complete and polished" product in an already saturated and less then forgiving market when money problems are plaguing the developer.
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InfamousBrad said on 5:50PM 12-05-2008
I would also imagine that even if credit weren't being withdrawn from all kinds of startup businesses right now, this wouldn't be the best time for them to seek additional bridge financing. The later this project has slipped, the more it has prompted me to wonder: if the MMO comes out after the entire Stargate franchise has gone off the air, more than a month after the last ever episode of Stargate Atlantis, will anybody care? They're facing one of the same risks that The Matrix Online faced: they bet millions that people would still be hot for an intellectual property franchise by the time their game came out.
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Angel said on 1:00PM 12-06-2008
Actual, the Stargate franchise is not closing down after the SGA series ends. SGA has at least one movie in development and a new SG series, Stargate Universe, will be hitting the HD waves in the spring.
You also underestimate the 18 to 22 million rabid SG fans. Even if only 1/10th of them subscribe and continue to play that is still around 2 million.
Fitz said on 6:13PM 12-05-2008
They really can't say any more than this if they want to attract additional investors. They won't try to hide things from the potential venture capitalists, but if public opinion of the company and the product start to slide, vc will be far more hesitant to want to be part of it.
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Jack said on 6:28PM 12-05-2008
This does say it all:
"The new economic realities are forcing us to seek out additional sources of funding and that's what we're doing. "
In other words we need release this beta version of the game soon before we are broke! Sorry sounds like my dream game will turn into a bug nightmare like Age of Conan was, Sure as hell will not buy this on release day until I read some comments.
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Vulturion said on 7:40PM 12-05-2008
Aww ; t'is an interesting, if confusing, game already.
However it is AGES from completion ( unless beta is miles behind their development state ), so this is not a good time for financial pressures.
Got to agree with InfamousBrad though ; it is a weird time for a Stargate MMO, particularly since as a brand it is already a league or two below Star Trek & Wars in public consciousness...
I hope it works out well for them.
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Sean said on 8:36PM 12-05-2008
Thanks for at least extracting an official response from them. His response seems, at least in so far as any PR represetative would be willing, to substantiate the rumors.
Moreover, I'm worried that if they don't have enough capital to meet payroll and are looking for more VC investment to keep operating, then they will fold before the year is out, taking Stargate Worlds with them.
One of the byproducts of the current recession is the drying up of credit. Many of the companies that have defaulted in the last few months only did so because of the credit situation. Here's hoping things turn around for Cheyenne or that they get bought out by a larger developer.
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