Interplay Crosses Fingers For Fallout MMOG

According to its SEC filing for the quarter ended June 30, Interplay is ready to get the ball rolling on the long-rumored Fallout MMOG.

The company is in a greatly-improved financial position after selling the Fallout IP to Bethesda for a total of $5.75 million, $4 million of which they have already received. While the company's revenues were minimal, the infusion of cash will allow it to continue operating and seek external financing for the MMOG project. According to the SEC filing, "The Company is focused on securing funding for development of a Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) based on the popular Fallout franchise. Along with its strategy of leveraging its existing portfolio of intellectual gaming properties, the Company intends that Fallout MMOG will play a key roll (sic) in the future of the Company."

However, the report also says the company had a cash balance of $3 million at the end of the quarter, $2.9 million of which was held in escrow "for the benefit of certain creditors." A failure to secure funding for the development of the Fallout MMOG will almost certainly be the end of the line for Interplay, based on the contents of the statement. "We currently have no cash reserves and are only able to pay current liabilities," it says. "We cannot continue in our current form without obtaining additional financing or income."

Interplay, once an industry powerhouse and the publisher of the original Fallout titles, has fallen on hard times in recent years. In 2002, the company was delisted from the NASDAQ, and in 2004 was forced to shut down its internal development studios. The sale of the Fallout IP to Bethesda was completed in April of 2007; as part of the deal, Bethesda agreed to license the rights to a Fallout MMOG back to Interplay.