The History of Interplay
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April 15th, 2004 was a dark day at Interplay Productions. Payroll was missed completely for the first time ever. There had been times in the last year that paychecks were given at the end of the workday, but it never was actually missed. People were able to make there mortgage payments and feed their families in the past, but no more. The employees thought that the party was over and began to pack up their belongings. However, the company president promised everyone that all is well despite no assurances that paychecks were coming any time soon. Capital management companies were brought in to try to prep the firm for a sale but it was found that it was not worth saving in its current condition. Now, lawsuits were piling up, payroll was now officially missed for two full pay periods and recently, the landlord had given an official eviction notice.
Is the company dead? As a corporation, it's very much alive. But without millions of dollars sunk into the firm just to pay off debt that's due today and millions more to fund operations until a new management team could be found and turn the place around, it's not likely that it will recover.
So, even though I may be premature in saying this, Farewell Interplay. You were the source of many happy memories for me and thousands of current and former employees. May the games that were created there live on forever in the hearts and minds of gamers everywhere. Bard's Tale, Descent, Battlechess and Wasteland were classics that the games of today still try to duplicate their fun factor, but may never do.
