June 25, 2004 - In its first quarter financial report issued today, Interplay displayed not only the expected sharp losses, but also a surprising possible direction for future game development.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2004, Interplay posted a net loss of $.9 million, in contrast to a net income of $5.6 million in the same period last year. The company explains the losses primarily on the sale of the Hunter: The Reckoning license for $15 million in the first quarter of 2003.

Interplay's financial trouble is certainly not news, as just weeks ago the company resorted to shutting down operations temporarily after state authorities found Interplay did not have worker's compensation insurance, nor was it paying all of its employees. The company has since reopened, having acquired insurance and promised to bring its payroll obligations up to date.

Far more interesting, however, is the development direction the company may now take: massively multiplayer gaming.

CEO Herve Caen commented, "Based on a detailed review of where our industry stands and the level of interest in the gaming community in taking some of our premier properties online, we are now pursuing several options to fund our entry into Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming with titles including Fallout."

A Fallout MMORPG? While the action-based Fallout console titles may have been a detour from the original series, an MMORPG title is far from what many hardcore fans of the series had expected.

However, Caen believes it could work. He continued, "Initial feedback from our investment bank and ongoing dialogue with others in the gaming sector appear to confirm that the combination of our valuable and popular intellectual properties with the rapidly growing online gaming community is the best way to maximize Interplay shareholder value."

Caen did add, however, that the company will likely continue development of "next generation" console titles and PC titles, along with "purely online" games.

We'll keep you posted on Interplay developments as soon as they emerge. Stay tuned.

And don't you think a Fallout MMORPG could be pretty sweet? Granted, it seems every major name is pumping out MMOs these days, and none of them are any different really from the rest. But are first person shooters or strategy games REALLY all that different? It's all about the genre or world in which it takes place. If a game has a cool enough premise, can you blame a company going for an MMO? Besides, a post-apocalyptic setting would make for a pretty sweet MMORPG.

IRVINE, Calif., July 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Interplay Entertainment Corp. (OTC Bulletin Board: IPLY - News) today reported it has entered into a licensing agreement that will allow Bethesda Softworks to develop and publish Fallout 3, a sequel to the highly popular Fallout role-playing game franchise. The deal awards Bethesda exclusive worldwide rights to publish the title for PC, console, and handhelds with the rights to develop and publish future sequels. Interplay retains all online gaming rights for the Fallout franchise, as well as ownership of the Fallout intellectual property. The company announced last month its intent to enter into Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming with titles including Fallout.

Commenting on the announcement, Interplay Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Herve Caen said, "This is a good agreement for both companies and for gamers. Although we had a high level of interest in licensing Fallout among several parties, we are most impressed by Bethesda's execution of role-playing titles. Bethesda is an ideal steward of the Fallout franchise."

"We're extremely excited about this opportunity and what it means both for Bethesda and for Fallout fans around the world," said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks. "Fallout is one of the great RPG franchises. Millions of Fallout games have been sold worldwide, and fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of a Fallout 3 title.