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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