Over £500k of Evercade stock reported stolen in "terrible, potentially organised attack"
Retro handheld orders delayed after units swiped in transit.
A lorry containing over £500k of Evercade EXP Limited Edition stock has been reported stolen, in what developer Blaze Entertainment has described as a "terrible, potentially organised attack".
Exact details of the theft are unclear, though it's reported the incident took place as stock was being moved between warehouses. Nobody was injured, but all stock was taken.
The £130 gaming handhelds had been destined for despatch to customers in the UK and USA, and elsewhere in the world outside of Europe. A separate consignment bound for customers in mainland Europe is unaffected.
Blaze has gone public with news of the theft quickly - and stated it was now going back into production with replacements for customers.
"This is an unprecedented situation in the history of Blaze and Funstock and we deeply sympathise with all our fans and customers who are the victims of this theft," Blaze's boss Andrew Byatt said in a press release sent to Eurogamer.
"I have immediately started production on replacements for this stock at our factory and we will endeavour to get these into your hands as fast as humanly possible."
Blaze - which describes itself as a small, private British firm - is now contacting customers affected by the theft with further details.
"We firmly believe that the customers of Blaze and Funstock are victims here and we apologise for the impact this event will cause," Byatt continued, noting the likelihood that many of these Evercade systems had been intended as Christmas presents.
"We hope all our customers can join us in condemning the actions of these criminals and ensuring this event will not be allowed to stop our enjoyment of the classic gaming experience that Evercade provides."
The Evercade EXP is a handheld version of the company's Evercade VS. Both are cartridge-based and support a library of 380 officially licensed classic titles, spanning over four decades.
At present, over 30 cartridge collections are available for Evercade, each bundling together a curated selection of retro games usually themed around a single developer - with the likes of Atari, Data East, Intellivision, The Bitmap Brothers, Gremlin, The Oliver Twins, and Interplay all currently represented through various deals.
The EXP is set to include 18 Capcom classics built in. Amiga titles are set to arrive on Evercade next year.