Why Disney and not Valve?

[Lily Barclay]

Don't forget that it's not just about the payout that NCSoft would receive for the sale.

NCSoft, by selling CoX to Disney, is essentially selling the rights to their product to a competitor or potential competitor.  The last thing NCSoft wants right now is a competitor. This is probably whats tied into the provisions in NCSofts contracts to potential buyers....I'm sure they are willing to sell CoX, but they do not want the game to be a threat to their future business.

I think this is the main reason that there has been no deal. Preventing possible future competition.

The fact that NCSoft closed the game due to a "realignment of focus" suggests that they aren't interested in our market anyway, so selling it shouldn't be a threat to their future business.

[Quinch]

Doubly so given how many CoH players have declared an outright boycott of all things NCsoft.

[Kaiser Tarantula]

Don't forget that it's not just about the payout that NCSoft would receive for the sale.

NCSoft, by selling CoX to Disney, is essentially selling the rights to their product to a competitor or potential competitor.  The last thing NCSoft wants right now is a competitor. This is probably whats tied into the provisions in NCSofts contracts to potential buyers....I'm sure they are willing to sell CoX, but they do not want the game to be a threat to their future business.

I think this is the main reason that there has been no deal. Preventing possible future competition.

Keep in mind that, if this were the case, they could turn a 'potential competitor' into a licensor, and make an ongoing profit off them, by licensing the game to be run by someone else, instead of selling it outright.

The fact that they're not willing to do this means that they don't want anyone running CoH, no matter what.

[Segev]

If you re-read VV's post and look up Fansy's that she references, it may have nothing to do with not wanting anybody to run it...and everything to do with needing to wash their hands of it in a very specific way before they can let anybody else run it. Seeing what they do between Dec. 1 and Jan. 1 will be interesting.

[Osborn]

Always wondered what you'd get if you called her princess. :p

I don't think that is true. Mechanical apathy, maybe. Intentional evil? Doubt it.

You're probably right, I guess, but I'd figure the path to easy money and good customer loyalty would be at the, at very least, release a 'private LAN server' release of the game, or put it into maintenance mode.

[Victoria Victrix]

I just want to point out something that has not been touched on.

Worlds, Inc. is a firm that exists only to sue. 

They took out a vaguely worded "patent" (which should properly have been thrown out on the basis of just how vaguely worded it is), somehow got it approved, that basically says "we patent anything that allows a bunch of people to play the same game over the internet together").  Once the patent was approved, without ever writing a single line of code, or creating a game themselves, they proceeded to sue virtually every MMORPG that looked as if it was making a profit, being fully aware that most firms would pay them to go away.

And most firms pay them to go away.  This is how the dispute with NCSoft over CoH was "settled".

I wish I could divulge more about the "legal liabilities" but I can't.  They will, however, die with the game.  Let's concentrate on a revival.

[Zolgar]

Let's face it.
Why Disney?

Because if Disney decided they wanted to, they could walk in and buy NCSoft.
They'd be all
"Hi, we want your company."
"Fock yoo, no! We won't sell to you American pi- .. how many zeroes are on that check?"

[Quinch]

El Reg with an article on it

-highfives a fellow El Reg reader-

[Osborn]

I just want to point out something that has not been touched on.

Worlds, Inc. is a firm that exists only to sue. 

They took out a vaguely worded "patent" (which should properly have been thrown out on the basis of just how vaguely worded it is), somehow got it approved, that basically says "we patent anything that allows a bunch of people to play the same game over the internet together").  Once the patent was approved, without ever writing a single line of code, or creating a game themselves, they proceeded to sue virtually every MMORPG that looked as if it was making a profit, being fully away that most firms would pay them to go away.

And most firms pay them to go away.  This is how the dispute with NCSoft over CoH was "settled".

I wish I could divulge more about the "legal liabilities" but I can't.  They will, however, die with the game.  Let's concentrate on a revival.

It seems pretty terrible they have patented what is basically 'communication', and somehow that holds up.

[epawtows]

Is this worlds.com patent thing the *actual* legal issue that is causing the game closure (at least by rumor), is it being cited as an example of the sort of thing that can happen in the MMO-business world, or what?

[Omega Mark V]

One thing I'd like to state:

Yes, VV's post is correct about why NCSoft didn't sell CoH.

Why?

A company like NCSoft doesn't have 'competition' with a game like CoH, because they don't have apparent interest in it, or it's community. If they wanted to make something out of it, they would have, compared to shutting it down.

I'm confident they'll sell it at some point, we can tell they don't want it. It's just the legal issues that need to die on the 30th. Otherwise the next company that would have bought it would have needed to pay that full price for to cover the problems that NCSoft would face.