Argonaut warns of financial difficulties

By Games Industry.biz Published 15 October, 2004

Existing cash resources will only last a short time if new deals cannot be struck, developer warns.

Shares in British developer Argonaut Games have been suspended from trading on the London Stock Exchange this morning after the company issued a short notice to the markets indicating that it may be facing serious financial difficulties.

The brief statement indicated that Argonaut has experienced additional delays in the signing of a number of key development contracts, and can survive for only an "extremely limited period" on its existing cash reserves if the deals are not signed immediately.

The company had originally hoped to sign the contracts in question before it issued its annual results during the summer, but failed to do so, resulting in the reporting of weak financials for the period, and has now been dealt an additional blow by this continued delay.

Shares in the firm (traded under the AGT ticker) have been suspended from trading this morning, pending clarification of the financial position of the group - which is also looking into the possibility of a capital reconstruction.

"In the absence of these development agreements being immediately secured, the Group's existing cash resources will provide funding for only an extremely limited period and Argonaut may not be able to continue to trade," this morning's statement warns.

Argonaut is one of the UK's largest independent developers, and along with its headquarters in North London, operates studios in Oxford (LTStudios), Cambridge (Just Add Monsters) and Sheffield (Particle Systems) as well as the Morpheme mobile games developer.

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Comments (61) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ssuellid #1 7 years ago

    Oh dear. What games are they working on?

  • ralphwolfenstein #2 7 years ago

    It doesn't make a stoat's pocket worth of difference how many times you remind all and sundry that you made Starglider 20 years ago Jez...

    The key phrase here being '20 years ago'

  • Pirotic #3 7 years ago

    Indeed, from what i remember all the major publishers were happy to get rid of Malice. in the end it was the unheard of 'Mud Duck Productions' who finally took it to sale despite 50% review averages.

    Microsoft had it down as an exclusive 2nd party title back in the day, so i doubt they'll ever get a game signed up with them again.

  • Blerk #4 7 years ago

    Uh-oh! :-/

    Didn't they make about fifty squillion quid from the Harry Potter licenses, though? Did they blow all that on gin or something?

  • IronGiant #5 7 years ago

    I-Ninja was fun.. though probably sold next to nothing. Malice was a huge disappointment though.

  • prettyboytim #6 7 years ago

    Yoiks! My brother works at Argonaut Sheffield...

  • Shinji #7 7 years ago

    Um. How about SWAT:GST which scored over 73% on GameRankings, or Kung Fu Chaos, scoring 76%? Somewhat selective list there!

  • IronGiant #8 7 years ago

    What's scary is just how little those titles sold, even if you added them all together!! Whoever decided Powerdrome was a commercially viable product should be shot.

  • krudster #9 7 years ago

    I've just had confirmation from one staffer who has been been made redundant. Really bad news.

  • bloke #10 7 years ago

    Yup - just got txted that 140+ in total got the push. Not a lot of spin you can put on that. :-(

  • Blerk #11 7 years ago

    Oh man! :-(

  • SteveB #12 7 years ago

    I feel sorry for the hard working staff who lost their jobs today.

    Jez San on the other hand........

  • ssuellid #13 7 years ago

    poor sods, some good game but very little luck and bugger all marketing that I ever saw. The first I knew about Powerdrome was a review in a mag. KFC still is one of my most played party games but noone else seems to have got it.

  • teabagger #14 7 years ago

    I doubt they've gone into administration - it doesn't make sense to lay off half the staff and then go into admin on the same day. They'll just be cutting the wage bill in an attempt to struggle through for a little while longer.

  • SteveB #15 7 years ago

    No Red Dog was a great game. It was just Sega's crap marketing.

    Honest.
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/04 @ 16:42

  • sam_spade #16 7 years ago

    While the workers have my sympathies because inevitably it's managements job to make a company profitable.

    I have to say that Argonaut haven't really being making games that are interesting or, apparently, enjoyable.

    You can say all you like about marketing, but word of mouth is the biggest marketing out there.

  • tiddles #17 7 years ago

    asd - any other companies you'd like to see go out of business? Maybe we could do away with the concept of independent publishers/developers altogether...

  • gamesb*tch #18 7 years ago

    b**ls, who's going to buy the drinks at E3 next year? ;o)

  • krudster #19 7 years ago

    I think it's about time you bought the drinks, Mr B*tch!

  • Thamuhacha #20 7 years ago

    >asd - any other companies you'd like to see go out of business? Maybe we could do away with the concept of independent publishers/developers altogether...

    Yes, I don't think we need unregistered posters coming in at this point with comments like that either. Argonaut are a developer with a long history (admittedly mixed) and a large employer in the British games industry. Their demise is nothing to celebrate and ASD would do well to consider what he says more carefully before sounding like a cock.

  • Lauper #21 7 years ago

    Any idea what the Argonaut studios were working on and if any of the games/studios will survive?


    North London
    Oxford LTStudios
    Cambridge Just Add Monsters
    Sheffield Particle Systems

  • teabagger #22 7 years ago

    well said Thamuhacha
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/04 @ 17:38

  • Frankyb0y #23 7 years ago

    Asd

    How can you go on like that?

    People have lost their jobs today and you're mouthing shite like that...

    Get a grip mate and a clue while you're at it!

  • teabagger #24 7 years ago

    Swat 2 was in the pipeline AFAIK
    JAM are working on Heavenly Sword which was recently on the front page here. Hopefully they'll stay working on it, they're a good bunch and don't deserve this.

    asd - ah! the 'ignore' button. *clicks*
    Edited by 1 at 15/10/04 @ 17:42

  • Thamuhacha #25 7 years ago

    >asd - ah! the 'ignore' button. *clicks*

    I am getting close to that but since the prick won't register, ignoring him means ignoring all unregistered posters ...

  • teabagger #26 7 years ago

    Only registered users should be able to post IMO. It's all too easy to mouth off like an idiot when you're protected by anonymity.

  • Dan L #27 7 years ago

    Well - in which case, I'm glad I'm registered now.

    What's going on in the industry as a whole, is very, very worrying.

    When large plc's like Argo start to get into this kind of trouble, then - well - interesting times.

    I would suggest that ASD gets out a bit more... He's clearly extremely bitter and twisted if he derrives pleasure from news of redunancies.

    D.

  • Thamuhacha #28 7 years ago

    >Unless of course they are shit, in which case I don't want them in my industry.

    Good job you're such a fucking talent isn't it?

  • Scientist #29 7 years ago

    "One that makes games that sell, and which turns a profit, and which is growing. Why don't you come in for an interview? Studios like Argonaut are dead mate. Dead. "

    Notice how he doesn't say "good games"

  • Scientist #30 7 years ago

    "Well I've never failed to be offered a job following an interview..."

    But you've been cussing management for being misguided. Are they not the ones who interview you?

  • Thamuhacha #31 7 years ago

    By all means comment on the industry, bring your perspective and opinion, but don't expect to be taken seriously if you tout yourself about as a genius.

    I seem to remember we have a history of people who talk themselves up without giving any evidence round here. According to form, you should probably "run silent run deep" at this point.

  • teabagger #32 7 years ago

    Come on guys, just ignore him.

  • Thamuhacha #33 7 years ago

    >Come on guys, just ignore him.

    I know, I am suffering from Friday-boredom. And he wound me up (as I expect he did to anyone who knew people at Argonaut).

    Back to PES4 ...

  • Scientist #34 7 years ago

    SCi has increased profits. That's about the only one I can think of.

    And he worked for 2 companies that went belly up so he obviously had no qualms applying to work for doomed companies. He's just the kind of dickhead that can give the rest of us in the industry a bad name amongst passionate gamers, as we tend to be on this site.
    I certainly won't be laughing at my ex-Argonaut friend this evening when he tells me what's been going on.

  • teabagger #35 7 years ago

    Nearly pub o'clock

    Is that dsa chap still prattling on? Ho hum... how tedious.

  • Thamuhacha #36 7 years ago

    >Why on earth would a passionate gamer be upset that a company like Argonaut go under? They MADE SHIT GAMES.

    We'd be upset if we ere in the industry. It's not the fault of the majority of people working at Argonaut that it went tits up. It damages our domestic industry and signals a further shift in power towards the massive companies at the top.

    And I have always thought that you're in the US ... for what it's worth.

  • teabagger #37 7 years ago

    "And I have always thought that you're in the US ... for what it's worth. "

    pffft!

    Best. Reply. Ever.

  • Scientist #38 7 years ago

    Thamuhacha, I think I might know who you are! Are you based in Central London? I won't blow your cover. :-)

  • tiddles #39 7 years ago

    That would appear to be a veritable chipshop on your shoulder about British devcos and publishers, asd.

    Surely if these companies aren't making the kind of commercial and successful games they need to, we should be hoping they can change their direction and/or management in order to do so - not hoping they go down the can.

    The more British games co's go under, the more it hurts the British industry. As you point out, it's inevitable that this is going happen if such companies consistently under-perform, but either way I don't see how this is desireable.

    From your comments it reads to me as if you somehow need to justify having left for the States... I could be wrong. Bad experiences with a UK devco? Care to name names?

  • Royal Fool #40 7 years ago

    I encourage everyone to register. It takes less than a minute and EuroGamer is not one of those companies that are going to sell off e-mail addresses. In fact, if I remember correctly there are no confirmation e-mails sent at all, you can start logging in right away.

    Please register. It weeds out the real posters from this sad prick.

  • tiddles #41 7 years ago

    Totally love the way you assume I work in the US.

    Sorry, I was mis-directed by one of Thamuhacha's comments... end of the week an' all that.

    So, where do you work then? I'm confused.

  • Piggy #42 7 years ago

    tool,

    What’s left at Argonaut, what games are still continuing?

    Will anything survive?

  • IronGiant #43 7 years ago

    Hopefully you guys will get snapped up quickly by other devs..

  • annalise #44 7 years ago

    Ha ha - model :))

    And hi Jas! Glad to hear you are doing so well at the mo. That's cool :)

  • annalise #45 7 years ago

    Hi Doyousmokeshashes (I shall never forget that name). Mail me please :)

    It was such a dark day yesterday.


    :(

  • annalise #46 7 years ago

    What about games designers ;-)

  • Clive_Dunn #47 7 years ago

    Condolences to all those that have lost their jobs, good luck with finding something new.

    Jesus that ASD is a tosser.

  • annalise #48 7 years ago

    Hey Howard! God I remember those Croc testing days! Me, you and Rog. Nearly 8 years ago. Seems like yesterday....
    Yeah still in shock about it.

  • IronGiant #49 7 years ago

    Was this really that much of a surprise.. Malice was a flop, Powerdrome the same and surely you guys working on Catwoman the game must have known the film was gonna be a catastrophic flop? Blame the management for sure as it was their decisions that ultimately made this mess but bad sales never bodes well for the future.

  • IronGiant #50 7 years ago

    Ahh i didn't realise that, even if it was released what's the market for it?

  • teabagger #51 7 years ago

    I thought it was out in the States, just not over here?

  • mash the x button #52 7 years ago

    asd not really - you sound and write like asd.......

  • jubber #53 7 years ago

    Ex-argo here and naturally sorry to see so many of my mates made redundant. On the other hand asd has a fair point. Exclude the cavalier attitude to people losing their jobs (and consequently Argonaut's social circle, which was the best thing about the place) and he has a point. Argonaut hit middle management critical mass a few years ago and the current crisis was inevitable. Malice (which I worked on) was a disastrous game but the management did nothing constructive to put things right or can the game - as recommended by most of the people working on it. That same creative management team tried to make out they had learnt from their mistakes but the only way they could ensure nothing like Malice happened again was to fire themselves - unlikely. Catwoman was evident to me as a failure waiting to happen; a poor licence, an almost certainly terrible film based on a comic character nobody cares about. Argonaut didn't employ enough people who understood game mechanics in positions to enforce those choices, they just employed a lot of people who thought they did. In the end market economics won out. If you constantly make crap games or games you have no idea how to sell to the general public then you will go under - just like any other industry. My only worry is the phalanx of fuck-muppetry that comprised Argonaut's upper echelons will swan into other positions in the UK games industry and fuck it up some more.

  • Larch #54 7 years ago

    My sympathies to any ex-agronauts still reading this thread... I know how you feel. Good luck to you - and also good luck to those who are left.

    Bit lazy to blame the management as usual though. I mean, I'm sure they were just doing what you have to do to survive in today's climate. Errr hang on, somethings not quite right there. :/

  • jubber #55 7 years ago

    Hey []# - cheers for the well deserved praise - who are you under that pseudonym? Need to know who to buy pintage for

  • Grom #56 7 years ago

    All of Sheffield was made redundant this morning at 10am - deal on the new project wasn't signed so no more money... Anyone need a level designer? :(

  • prettyboytim #57 7 years ago

    Heard from my brother up in Particle Sys.. ^H^H^H^H^H^H Argonaut Sheffield that it's gone down. A real shame. He intends to take a bit off time off from games now, but I really feel for all those other guys.

    /dusts off I-War...

  • medulla oblongata #58 7 years ago

    Did that xbox game with the girl with the mallet ever come out?

  • aomcaloes #59 7 years ago

    Yep. Sad day for the Sheffield team that had been together for over 5 years in some cases if you include the original Particle Systems team. So close and some great progress this week... sadly not enough to get SONY to part with a couple of million 8(

    Best of luck to everyone in the search for new jobs/careers

    oZZy
    Edited by 1 at 22/10/04 @ 22:42

  • Lauper #60 7 years ago

    www.gamasutra.com


    Insolvency practitioners David Ruben & Partners have confirmed, in a phone conversation with Gamasutra, that the three trading subsidiaries of noted UK developer Argonaut Games, plc. have been placed into administration, as of 3.15pm GMT today.

    The three subsidiaries are Kung Fu Chaos developer Just Add Monsters, mobile developer Morpheme and core development studio Argonaut Software Ltd. Holding company Argonaut Games has not itself filed for bankruptcy, although officials have recently requested the suspension of the company’s shares on the London Stock Exchange, commenting at the time: "In the absence of... development agreements being immediately secured, the group's existing cash resources will provide funding for only an extremely limited period and Argonaut may not be able to continue to trade."

    Argonaut, headed by Jez San, has been involved in a number of important software and hardware projects in its eighteen year history, including the development of the Super FX chip for Nintendo, as well as software titles such as Starglider, Starfox, Croc, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Unfortunately, recent titles such as the much-delayed Malice and the EA-published Catwoman have been much less successful, with the company showing signs of trouble as early as August, when it issued a profits warning downgrading the company’s full year guidance to a £6 million ($11M) loss.

    A further announcement concerning the company’s fate is expected to take place on Monday.

  • Bolek #61 7 years ago

    Geez... The market was already saturated with people looking for a job and things are not gonna get any better at this rate. The UK industry is definitely going down the drain. I feel I'd better get a job out of the entertainment industry shortly.
    I wonder what's to expect on monday. CAN IT BE WORSE ?

  • Grom #62 7 years ago

    Well 60 people from Edgware (and maybe 60 more), 30 people from Sheffield, however many from JAM if a buyer can't be found, same for Morpheme... Can't be much less than 200 people looking for a new job.

    It'll be an employer's market for a while :(