OnLive denies closure rumor as massive round of layoffs occur
OnLive's the recipient of the latest rumor du jour, as an email stating it's closing down has been sent to Polygon and a high profile developer; however, VG247 understands that a large round of layoffs are happening, with only key, upper management positions remaining unaffected.
A supposed, anonymous, former-OnLive employee emailed Polygon, stating that the firm would be closed down today, and that it would resurface as a "new company."
The email was also sent to Wasteland 2 lead Brian Fargo, first broken by Mashable, who posted it on Twitter:
"I wanted to send a note that by the end of the day today, OnLive as an entity will no longer exist. Unfortunately, my job and everyone else's was included. A new company will be formed and the management of the company will be in contact with you about the current initiatives in place, including the titles that will remain on the service.
"It has been an absolute pleasure working with you and I’m sure our path with cross again."
Fargo noted he received a "recall" notice a few minutes after the email from the supposed former employee landed in his inbox.
The email sent to Polygon stated, basically the same thing.
When asked for a response by Polygon on the news, a representative for the firm said: "We don't respond to rumors and have no comment."
OnLive's director of corporate communications, Brian Jaquet, added: "We don't respond to rumors, but of course not. I have no comment on the news other than to say the OnLive service is not shutting down."
When pressed on the matter by Forbes, Jaquet said: “No, let me be clear. We are not going out of business.”
However, GameFront has been told by a reliable source at OnLive that a massive round of layoffs have occurred at the firm, with only key executive and management positions remaining unaffected.
Whether there was indeed a massive round of layoffs occurring, Jaquet replied to Polygon: I'm sorry I cannot be more specific."
Meanwhile, a source close to Kotaku has told the site than a meeting was held this morning headed by CEO Steve Perlman who told employees the firm had filed for ABC bankruptcy (basically Chapter 7) in the state of California. What this filing means is "the liquidation of an individual’s non-exempt assets to settle debts with creditors."
Perlman said that the company "would cease to exist and that no one would be employed by OnLive," while a "subset of employees" would be brought back into the company which would formed from its remains.