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Co-founder of Playdead Resigned After Intense Power Struggle

Nam T. Bui — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 23:23:11 -0500

Back in July of 2016, Dino Patti, co-founder of indie studio Playdead, left the company after working there for nine years. He was reported to have sold his shares and granted full company ownership to fellow co-founder Arnt Jensen, stating that he wanted "to seek new challenges." However, a recent report from Danish financial newspaper, "Børsen," has revealed a messier side of the story with power struggles and buy-outs within the company.

According to the report, the conflict between Patti and Jensen started back in 2015 with Patti's frustration of the slow development progress of their projects, with each game taking four to six years to complete. The disagreement also extended to the ownership of Playdead's game rights.

Since then, their conflict has escalated to the point that the two only communicate with each other via lawyers and emails. On November 10th, 2015, Arnt Jensen expressed his dissatisfaction with working with Patti, as well as his desire for "other ways to continue my creative activities."

Jensen's statement prompted a removal of Jensen as the director of Playdead's Central Business Register (CVR) in Denmark. This act was conducted by a shocked Patti since he interpreted Jensen's statement as an intention to step down from the company. However, Jensen's lawyers claimed that it was all a "misunderstanding" and Jensen only intended to resign from the position of "creative director", not co-owner of the company.

Sometime later, the Danish Business Authority decided that Patti must leave the company due to continuous disagreement between two parties. Jensen was reported to have paid 50 million DKK (~7.2 million USD) in order to buy out Patti's shares in Playdead, thus giving him complete ownership of the company. After that, Patti believed his received amount was undervalued and attempted to trade in the money, hoping that in exchange, he could be granted back his old position at the company.

At this moment, Arnt Jensen has refused to comment about the conflict, while Dino Patti has said that he considers this all to be very personal. He has even compared the questions about the disagreement to questions about a breakup with a significant other.

Do you think this will affect the studios output? Or can Playdead weather the storm? Let us know in the comments below!

Magic Johnson and others join forces to purchase Team Liquid

Jeffrey Rousseau — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 15:17:16 -0400

Team Liquid is now partly owned by NBA hall of famer, Magic Johnson. The news today came following the acquisition and involved a number of notable investors.

The co-CEOs of Team Liquid, Steve Arhancet and Victor Goossens, will stay within their current roles in the franchise. They will also become directors.

Controlling interest was sold to a large investor group apart of aXiomatic. Among the group including Johnson is co-owner of the Washington Wizards and Capitals, Ted Leonsis, and Golden State Warriors co-owner, Peter Guber.

Leonsis commented on this as a business opportunity for possible growth for all parties involved.

"I am truly excited to work with the best people across a broad spectrum of businesses to create a unique eSports enterprise," said Leonsis. "This company has the potential to create all new experiences for eSports audiences worldwide."

Magic joins the likes of Rick Fox and Jonas Jerebko as NBA figures that have ventured into the growing business of eSports.

You Don't Own Video Games

B. Chambers — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 22:41:42 -0400

With so many people talking about how Microsoft's recently rescinded policies about online-check-ins and trade restrictions were essentially stopping us from owning our games, I wanted to address the simple fact that we don't own video games...

And frankly, we never have.

So Microsoft eventually came to their senses and did away with their ridiculous policies surrounding online-check-ins and used game restrictions. Good on them for that. But, I noticed during the uproar of angry gamers that people were saying that Microsoft's policies would prevent us from owning our games.

Being familiar with End User License Agreements (EULA) and copyright law to a small degree, I found this to be a strange claim. I get the sentiment and I may be arguing semantics here. The bottom line is that we don't want Microsoft or any company removing the rights to deal with our games the way we have for almost three decades now. I totally get and agree with this sentiment. However, the simple fact of the matter here is that we do not own games. Our $60 purchase at our game-broker of choice simply grants us a license to use the software while the copyright owners maintain full ownership of the material.

Consider Rockstar Games' EULA:

LICENSE. Subject to this Agreement and its terms and conditions, Licensor hereby grants you the nonexclusive, non-transferable, limited right and license to use one copy of the Software for your personal non-commercial use for gameplay on a single computer or gaming unit, unless otherwise specified in the Software documentation. Your acquired rights are subject to your compliance with this Agreement. The term of your license under this Agreement shall commence on the date that you install or otherwise use the Software and ends on the earlier date of either your disposal of the Software or Licensor’s termination of this Agreement. Your license terminates immediately if you attempt to circumvent any technical protection measures used in connection with the Software. The Software is being licensed to you and you hereby acknowledge that no title or ownership in the Software is being transferred or assigned and this Agreement should not be construed as a sale of any rights in the Software. All rights not specifically granted under this Agreement are reserved by Licensor and, as applicable, its licensors.

OWNERSHIP. Licensor retains all right, title and interest to the Software, including, but not limited to, all copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, trade names, proprietary rights, patents, titles, computer codes, audiovisual effects, themes, characters, character names, stories, dialog, settings, artwork, sounds effects, musical works, and moral rights. The Software is protected by United States copyright and trademark law and applicable laws and treaties throughout the world. The Software may not be copied, reproduced or distributed in any manner or medium, in whole or in part, without prior written consent from Licensor. Any persons copying, reproducing or distributing all or any portion of the Software in any manner or medium, will be willfully violating the copyright laws and may be subject to civil and criminal penalties in the US or their local country. Be advised that US Copyright violations are subject to statutory penalties of up to $150,000 per violation. The Software contains certain licensed materials and Licensor’s licensors may also protect their rights in the event of any violation of this Agreement. All rights not expressly granted to you herein are reserved by the Licensor.

I've highlighted the areas of focus for your convenience, but feel free to read the portion above in its entirety. The bottom line is that you own a license to use and they own the game. Microsoft's used game policy or online-check-in system was never stopping you from owning your games because, again, you never owned them in the first place.