Fargo quits Interplay
Founder and CEO resigns following French take-over
Given the apparently bitter power struggle that has been going on at floundering American publisher Interplay since a hostile take-over by France's Titus six months ago, it's no great surprise to learn today that founder and CEO Brian Fargo has finally left the company. A report in the Orange County Register puts it mildly when they say that "Fargo .. and Titus weren't always on the same page about plans for the company", as the old guard at Interplay allegedly did everything they could to ruin the company before Titus formally took control on September 11th. "It's only when they announced their own intentions that I realized I can't fight the market and a shareholder with 50 percent of the shares at the same time", Fargo told the paper. Interplay has been haemorrhaging money for the last three years, and more recently it has lost its valuable Star Trek and Dungeons & Dragons licenses and been taken to court by star developer Bioware over a supposed breach of contract. Just about the only valuable asset that Interplay has left now is a multi-million dollar deal to develop games based on the Matrix trilogy. The first Matrix title is currently under construction at Shiny, and despite persistent rumours that the game is headed for disaster, Fargo insists "it looks great" and will probably still be released "one way or the other". Which doesn't exactly sound promising. Fargo's departure means that the company's board of directors is now almost entirely made up of Titus staff. Whether the French can turn the company around before it sinks into oblivion remains to be seen, but either way this is effectively the end of the line for the old Interplay. Related Feature - Interplay Strikes Back