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OnLive Denies Rumors That the Company is Shutting Down [Updated]

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Apr 12, 2001
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According to Polygon and veteran video game developer Brian Fargo, video game streaming company OnLive has fired its entire staff and the company will cease to exist as of later today:
According to e-mails forwarded to Polygon from supposedly former OnLive employees, the company will no longer exist as of today.

"I wanted to send a note that by the end of the day today, OnLive as an entity will no longer exist," reads an email forwarded to Polygon. "Unfortunately, my job and everyone else's was included. A new company will be formed and the management of the company will be in contact with you about the current initiatives in place, including the titles that will remain on the service."
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However, according to Brian Jaquet, OnLive's Director of Corporate Communications, the story is untrue. The company's Twitter feed is still posting normally and, in response to an email from MacRumors, Jaquet wrote:
We don't respond to rumors, but of course not.

[...]

I have no comment on the news other than to say the OnLive service is not shutting down.

I'm sorry I cannot be more specific.
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We've followed OnLive for a while, particularly after the company demonstrated an iOS version of its streaming video game software last December. That software was supposed to deliver "console-class gaming to tablets and phones", but is still awaiting approval from Apple to join the App Store.

Earlier this year, the company released a iOS app called OnLive Desktop that used its video game streaming technology to put a full-fledged Windows client on the iPad, including a Flash and PDF-enabled web browser.

Update: Kotaku reports that the company will be filing for bankruptcy and a new company will be created from the remains of OnLive and some employees will be brought over to that organization. Others have apparently been laid off.

Update 2: OnLive has issued the following statement to MacRumors clarifying the situation:
We can now confirm that the assets of OnLive, Inc. have been acquired into a newly-formed company and is backed by substantial funding, and which will continue to operate the OnLive Game and Desktop services, as well as support all of OnLive's apps and devices, as well as game, productivity and enterprise partnerships. The new company is hiring a large percentage of OnLive, Inc.'s staff across all departments and plans to continue to hire substantially more people, including additional OnLive employees. All previously announced products and services, including those in the works, will continue and there is no expected interruption of any OnLive services.
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Article Link: OnLive Denies Rumors That the Company is Shutting Down [Updated]
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/08/17/onlive-denies-rumors-that-the-company-is-shutting-down/
My thoughts exactly

If you can't respond to a rumour that your company will no longer exist in a day, then that's a confirmation.

They must have been bought by someone, MS? Guess we'll hear after the market closes today...
 
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CanadianGuy said:
If you can't respond to a rumour that you're company will no longer exist in a day, then that's a confirmation.

They must have been bought by someone, MS? Guess we'll hear after the market closes today...
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He did respond.

He said "of course not"

He went on to indicate the service would continue running.

The headline of the story even said he denied it.

What were you reading?
 
NutsNGum said:
Wow, bad news for people who bought a library of games from them.
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I think you missed the part where the article said its not true.

Anyway, has anyone ever tried onlive and monitored bandwidth usage during it? It uses an insane amount of data and if you're a hardcore gamer, you will easily burst through Comcast's bandwidth cap (or many other ISP bandwidth quotas) using this service for a couple hours a day or maybe even less.
 
The Company denied the rumors. So it's not shutting down. What's left to discuss.
 
Um...the first guy said that OnLive as an *entity* would no longer exist; he did *not* say that the OnLive service was shutting down. The second guy says the rumor is false and that the OnLive *service* is not shutting down. But that's not what the first guy said. So, it seems to me that the service isn't shutting down, they've been bought, existing employees have been fired, and someone else will be taking over.
 
OnLive "service"

The rep says that the "OnLive service" is not shutting down. The original rumor said that "A new company will be formed and the management of the company will be in contact with you about the current initiatives in place, including the titles that will remain on the service."

So the rep's response is not necessarily a refutation of the rumor. This combined with the rep's unwillingness to comment further leads me to believe that we are still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

edit: just saw hipnetic's post which makes the same point
 
appleguy123 said:
So the PR rep basically confirmed that it's shutting down? :cool:
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That's about how corporate is run; you deny any issues until it slaps everyone in the face. Like when a company is sold, they legally cannot disclose it, although many people will already know.

So from what I take out of this; company is dead, sold, or filing chapter 11. Otherwise there would be no rumor. They cannot say what is happening and thus they deny it. We should hear shortly, if not cob today, within the next few weeks for sure.
 
"The onlive service is not shutting down"

Does not convey the same message as:

"A new company will be formed and the management of the company will be in contact with you about the current initiatives in place, including the titles that will remain on the service."
 
Bandwidth & likely buyers?

With the high bandwidth concerns etc... and Apple thinking of going into TV's w/ deals with AT&T / Verizon / the cable co's...

I wonder whether Apple might be a viable buyer, if they think they can get a package bandwidth type deal ... I mean, they must've been working over these issues for years already with AT&T and Verizon etc. telecoms on the issue of FaceTime videochat over 3G/4G...?

Anyone have any insight whether this might be viable? I mean, if Apple integrated OnLive with an agreement for the bandwidth not to count, the Apple TV would be a pretty killer app when it comes to gaming.
 
seamer said:
"The onlive service is not shutting down"

Does not convey the same message as:

"A new company will be formed and the management of the company will be in contact with you about the current initiatives in place, including the titles that will remain on the service."
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But it also doesn't contradict it.
 
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Ah, my favorite PR move: "We don't respond to rumors, but here's our response to this rumor..." :D
 
Vizin said:
Whether it's true or not, it makes you wonder what would happen to everyone's games if this did happen. Don't OnLive games cost full price? Would they just lose everything they bought?

That's the problem with paying for a license rather than paying for a product, especially when the license depends on an online service remaining active.
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Yes, all of their customer will lose his license. His name is Greg. Very sad.
 
I'm sure after Gaikai was snapped up by Sony, it would not surprise me to see Google or even Microsoft purchasing OnLive. That would certainly make a lot of sense as Microsoft have the financial muscle and global delivery mechanism, alongside the Durango roadmap leaked a while ago....



Apple wouldn't because we all know they don't give a feck about gaming ;) :p
 
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