Desura and Indie Royale's parent company has filed for bankruptcy
Bad Juju has bad luck.
Desura's and Indie Royal's parent company, Bad Juju, has filed for bankruptcy.
Inforuptcy has a record of this while Bad Juju's head of developer relations, Lisa Morrison, confirmed the news to Gamasutra.
"I asked Tony [Novak, CEO of Bad Juju] for confirmation and all he could tell me was, 'The lawyers have said I can't say anything or answer any questions yet, but yes it's true," she said.
When asked how this would affect those who have purchased games on Desura, Morrison told Eurogamer, "Nobody knows. The Trustee has come in and everything that happens now is in the hands of the courts. They won't let Tony speak about it."
Morrison told Gamasutra she "had no idea this was coming," though things were already looking bad for Desura following incidents of developers complaining about delayed payments.
Bad Juju addressed such concerns last month, apologising for the matter and explaining that its CEO was in the hospital and his health remained a top priority.
The Humble Bundle's Dave Traeger has extended an olive branch to his former competitors from Bad Juju's ranks. "To everyone affected by the Desura whirlwind, I feel for you. Get in touch, lets talk," he said on Twitter.
"Class act over at @humble, definitely somewhere to look to get your project back up and selling <3," Morrison replied.
"It's an honour to be part of an industry where people care so much for others. The support and kind words from devs has me in tears already," she cried.
Desura was purchased by Bad Juju only last year from its previous owner, Linden Lab, developer of Second Life. Linden Lab had only acquired Desura one year prior.
Vox developer AlwaysGeeky offered their thoughts on Reddit, suggesting that Desura was the place for indie games before Steam Greenlight. But between that, Humble Bundle and GOG, the market changed significantly.
"At the end of the day with the increased competition from Steam's new inclusion of indies, Humble store and other similar platforms, Desura really offered nothing to their clients and players that wasn't done better elsewhere," AlwaysGeeky said. "Once the paying clients start to move away from a platform, it doesn't take long for the developers to follow."
We've reached out for further info and will update as we find out more.