Trion Disbanded, likely rebuilt as Golden Gate Games

There seems to be a lot of confusion going around about the nature of “Trion Disbanded”.  Some people seem to imply that the entire team is gone, or that nobody is left, and that’s not entirely true.  All evidence currently suggests that Trion World’s Redwood and Austin studios are in the process of being rebranded as “Golden Gate Games”.

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The information out there is confusing, but further research has turned up a few things, and likely outcomes of what has happened.

First off, as reported here and in various other places, dgap.de reported that “The assets of the company have been acquired by gamigo’s subsidiary Golden Gate Games Inc”.  This caused a lot of confusion, as searching google for Golden Gate Games turns up a company abbreviated as “G3” or “G3VR” and owned by a person named “Keith McCurdy”.  It is clear that this is not the case.

On October 11th 2018, “Golden Gate Games, Inc.” was registered as a Delaware Corporation.  The file number for this application is 7097021.  Pic below of the official registration.  Unfortunately further information costs $10-$20 to acquire.

With that out of the way, let’s address the legalese and comments from the recent MMOFallout article, which is causing a lot of concern. (link: http://mmofallout.com/trion-worlds-tells-court-company-disbanded-all-employees-terminated/)

This article points out that the lawfirm representing Trion Worlds in a class action lawsuit related to ArcheAge learned on October 18th, 2018, that Trion Worlds was being sold, and would transfer all assets and IP on October 22nd.  This lines up with the dates we know and have reported.  The law firm reported and released details on October 26th saying “All of the employees of Trion have been terminated effective October 22, 2018, i.e.  immediately upon the announcement, and its directors and officers are gone and the company will be dissolved.” However, we also know from a Gamasutra article, several linkedin postings, and comments by former Trion employees, that some developers, QA staff, and Community Managers are still active.  One such linkedin page showcases a Trion dev now working for “Golden Gate Gaming”.

Since there are devs and CM still around, and since the Assets have been handed over to “Golden Gate Games”, the recent formation of “Golden Gate Games, inc.” and given at least one Linkedin posting showcases the name change, I believe it is reasonable to conclude that the Redwood and Austin studios are rebranding to “Golden Gate Games”.

So, here’s an updated timeline of events:

  • October 11, 2018 – Golden Gate Games, Inc. is incorporated in Delaware. (see pic above)
  • October 12, 2018 – Gamigo reports acquiring a 32 Million Euro Bond. (click here for source)
  • October 18, 2018 – Lawfirm representing Trion Worlds in the ArcheAge class action lawsuit is informed that Trion Worlds, Inc. will be sold on October 22nd. (click here for source)
  • October 22, 2018 – Trion Worlds transfers assets and IP to Gamigo Group.  Assets are transferred to Golden Gate Games, Inc. (inc implies US company.  I’m 99% certain this is the recently incorporated company above), Intellectual Property is transferred to Padmapani GmbH (German company, still researching details). (click here for source)
  • October 22, 2018 – Most of the Trion Worlds workforce is laid off, those that remain are given offers by Gamigo Group/Golden Gate Games. (Speculation corroborated by the Gamasutra article and anonymous tips)
  • October 26, 2018 – Lawfirm representing Trion Worlds informs the courts of the sale and dissolvement of Trion Worlds, inc. (click here for source)

 

Full list of sources:

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