Final curtain for Argonaut as Edgware studio closes

By Games Industry.biz Published 1 November, 2004

Shareholders angered by San's buyout as remainder of Edgware staff are laid off.

One of Britain's longest-established developers appears to have reached the end of the line, with reports indicating that Argonaut's administrators have shut down the firm's Edgware head offices and made the remainder of the staff redundant.

The news comes on the heels of Friday's announcement that former Argonaut CEO Jez San, who resigned last week, has purchased two of the company's studios - Cambridge based Just Add Monsters, and mobile game developer Morpheme.

That announcement, which was issued by the firm's administrators Asher Miller and David Rubin late on Friday afternoon, included a comment from Miller stating that the team remained "hopeful of achieving a sale" of the Edgware studio, and was in negotiations with a number of parties.

However, it would appear that the remainder of the staff in Edgware were made redundant on Friday, joining a large number of staff who were laid off when the company originally announced that it was in financial difficulties two weeks ago, and staff from the Sheffield studio who were laid off a week previously.

A number of former employees have told our sister site gamesindustry.biz that no redundancy payment has been made to the staff who were laid off, while several claim that they are also owed unpaid wages.

The fate of licenses and other assets attached to the Edgware studio is unclear at present, with the administrators presumably still seeking purchasers for them; it's strongly rumoured, however, that Jez San may be making a bid for the assets related to Argonaut's signed project for British publisher SCi, with a view to rescuing the title and continuing its development under the auspices of a new company.

The speed of San's acquisition of Just Add Monsters and Morpheme after resigning as CEO of Argonaut has raised hackles among some Argonaut shareholders, who are openly expressing suspicion at the timetable of events leading to his purchase of the subsidiaries from the administrators.

However, despite outspoken discontent from several shareholders, as yet no evidence of wrongdoing has been presented, and it's not believed that any investigation into the situation is currently being considered by the British financial regulatory bodies.

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Comments (8) Latest comment 7 years ago

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  • Blerk #1 7 years ago

    it's not believed that any investigation into the situation is currently being considered by the British financial regulatory bodies

    Yeah... having been on the receiving end of a very similar situation this year I can certainly vouch for the fact that none of the British financial regulatory bodies actually give a shit unless it's somehow diddling the government out of several million quid. If it's the man on the street they're not bloody interested. :-(

  • tengu #2 7 years ago

    /Checks crystal ball

    I see several hookers and vast quantities of drugs in someones future during a celebration...

  • erotic_monkey #3 7 years ago

    who cares about (Argonaut).....there suck

  • HughBinns #4 7 years ago

    Commiserations to all argonaut staff.

    Eurocom have vacancies, especially for good engine and tools coders, a technical project manager (perhaps a good opening for an experienced coder looking to get into management), and any scripting/effects experts. We also have various other vacancies, with details here www.eurocom.co.uk . All the positions are based in-house here in Derby.

    If of interest, please email recruitment@eurocom.co.uk (for the attention of Louisa Kelly).

    Thanks and good luck,

    Hugh

  • Pirotic #5 7 years ago

    Rumour has it SNK are going down the pan if the next release of games are not a success, (thats Metal Slug 3D and the other pants 3D incarnations of the classics they already slaughtered).

  • Hunam85 #6 7 years ago

    i have a letter from 3/4 years ago from rare urging me to seek them out after i finished school ( i was in y11 at the time) but since the split with nintendo, id rather work at a GAME

  • Clive_Dunn #7 7 years ago

    I hadn't heard anything about Black Cactus, what are the rumours ?

  • malarky #8 7 years ago

    Hunam85 said: "i have a letter from 3/4 years ago from rare urging me to seek them out after i finished school ( i was in y11 at the time) but since the split with nintendo, id rather work at a GAME"

    Wow, you definately made the right choice there... Jesus...