Ex-RTW Chairman Linked to Project: MyWorld Purchase [Update]

The former Realtime Worlds chairman, Ian Hetherington, has been linked to the purchase of the RTW IP Project: MyWorld. The Dundee company collapsed last month after alleged mis-management inside the company, with Hetherington himself taking some of the heat from one former employee.

Update: Develop is reporting that the rest of the studio, which includes the Dundee office, a smaller US office and the rights to APB will be sold by next week. It is yet unknown who is purchasing the company, but Develop says there have been two or three companies interested from “both sides of the Atlantic”. The a spokesman for company’s the administrator, Begbies Trayno, told Develop: “Discussions are continuing and we are expecting to make an announcement next week.”

This leaves two separate parts of the company, the Project: MyWorld side (as detailed in this article) as well as the APB side. The exact details still aren’t known, nor is how many staff will remain. Expect more details to emerge over the next week or so.

The original article continues below.

According to The Courier, a Dundee newspaper, “sources” have confirmed that Hetherington is involved in the purchase of the 3D virtual world game, but notes that he is not the only participant, with an American company also part of the deal. The newspaper claims that a “confidentiality clause” has been placed upon the deal, which has also prevented the number of jobs saved being made public. 23 people are known to have been set aside to develop the game, although whether they are simply finishing the game or are part of a new a studio is yet unknown.

An administrator overseeing the company said: “All I can say is that the business has been sold, I can’t confirm to who.”

Develop reported on Monday that an unnamed American company was involved in buying Project: MyWorld, but did not mention Hetherington. The newspaper believes the Realtime World’s founder, Dave Jones, is not part of the deal, despite earlier rumours that he was.

It was suggested in a blog post by a former employee that both Hetherington and Jones were part of the mis-management in the company. Luke Halliwell, while not naming the pair, accused the company’s management of having “the behaviour of a deluded, greedy, addicted gambler” and noted that “you don’t get to burn through $100m without, shall we say, some opportunities to have done things differently.” In a comment below, Luke’s wife Lucy Halliwell said: “Dave Jones and Ian Hetherington have pissed away millions.”

Realtime Worlds’ last release was All Points Bulletin, a game that did not fare well with reviewers and had an estimated cost of production of around $100 million.