Lace Mamba Global dobs in Mamba Games for contract breaches
European publisher Lace Mamba has issued a defensive statement in response to an open letter from four indie developers stating their grievances, which include illegal distribution of games and unpaid royalties.
One of the more bizarre aspects of the indie alliance's account was that Lace Mamba Global and Mamba Games had muddied the waters as to the relationship between the two companies and their management.
In a statement published on Eurogamer, Lace Mamba Global clarified its position: Mamba Games is a distinct company working in partnership with Lace Mamba Global. The company put the blame for contractual breaches and failures firmly on Mamba Games, and said it would do what it can to ensure Mamba Games is "held to account".
Lace Mamba said the breached contract pre-dated its relationship with Mamba Games, but acknowledged its own "reporting and accounting issues" and said it was happy it had been able to satisfy the developers it had been working with so far. Machinarium developer Amanita Design is the only company with issues still unresolved.
The full statement is available below.
"In January of 2010 Mamba Games Ltd, an existing company, run by Jason Codd and Robert Neilson, formed a partnership with Adam Lacey of Lace International, with the intention of forming a new games company, Lace Mamba Global Ltd. This partnership was widely reported in the media at the time. As this was a partnership deal, Mamba Games Ltd continued to trade as a company in its own right, retaining its pre-existing contracts that were signed prior to the formation of Lace Mamba Global.
Mamba Games sub-licensed some of its pre-existing contracted product to Lace Mamba Global for distribution in the UK and Eire. Where Mamba Games product has been sold to other territories, this was done directly by Mamba Games, selling Lace Mamba Global branded product to international distributors for which Mamba Games were paid directly. Lace Mamba Global recognise that Mamba Games (Jason Codd) pre-existing contractual obligations are not being met and we will do all we can to help developers to ensure Mamba Games are held to account.
As per our previous statement, Lace Mamba Global also recognise that there have been some reporting and accounting issues in the past which we are actively working to resolve. We are pleased that those companies who we have been working closely with over the past few days have acknowledged that we have resolved their outstanding issues and we continue to work with and contact our other partners to ensure all of Lace Mamba's contractual obligations are being met in full.
Lace Mamba Global are committed to regaining the trust of the gaming industry, we value our partnerships and will endeavour to resolve all the issues currently facing us. We would like to thank all developers for their continued patience while we review our contracts and report accurately.
Lace Mamba Global would like to state that we will not publicly discuss individual contracts or issues out of respect for confidentiality."