Articles

Just Adventure has discovered that according to documents filed in French courts, esteemed game developer and publisher Microids has filed for protection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Though we have been aware of this news for some time, a decision was made to not release the details until after the E3.

In North America, Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code is considered a "reorganization" and is primarily for corporations and partnerships, or for individuals with large debts and assets. Chapter 11 offers greater flexibility and options than other chapters and can be extremely useful in a scenario where a company needs time to catch up on payments, but keep the business running. It is unique in that the Debtor remains in possession of all business assets and the ongoing business. In other words, the Debtor itself is the Trustee for the estate. Chapter 11 Debtors have the ability to object to a creditors' claims, avoid liens, reject leases and contracts with no penalty and even extend the time for repayment to existing creditors. French law does differ somewhat in its definition of Chapter 11 and some of those differences will be explained further on in this article.

Founded in 1985, Microids has Research & Development studios and offices in France and Canada. Two of their most recent releases - Post Mortem & Syberia - have received high acclaim in the gaming community and Syberia has received 'Adventure Game of the Year' accolades from many prestigious publications both within the gaming community and from the mainstream press. Besides their line of adventure games, they are also recognized for developing quality strategy and simulation titles.

We asked Cedric Orvoine, the Public Relations Manager for Microid's Montreal office, if he would be willing to answer a few questions that are surely on the minds of all adventure gamers and he was gracious enough to provide us with the following responses:

To start off, I'd wish to insist on the fact that Microïds S.A. hasn't gone bankrupt. The company has filled under the protection of the French Law of Commerce specifically to prevent this situation of bankruptcy to happen. The purpose of this is to find a way out of this situation and to come up with a solution and we are very confident we will succeed.

I don't think I'm in a good position to comment on the difference between the US and the French Law as I'm not familiar with any of them. But one thing I can tell you is that the protection of the French Law of Commerce has been designed to protect the companies and/or corporations and to support them while they face some financial difficulties or while they go through a reorganization process. In France, this law is very flexible and works in favor of protecting assets and jobs.

Microïds S.A. is under the protection of The French Law of Commerce for the next six months and until then the activities of the company will run as planned, meaning that Syberia II's development will continue. We will also continue to work on other projects in development at our Montreal studios.

We here at Just Adventure wish Microids all the best and hope to soon see them back on their feet financially and providing the adventure community with more quality adventure games for many years to come.

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