Loki Speaks up on Chapter 11 216
The following is an email sent by Scott Draeker of Loki
Dear Friend of Loki:
As you may know, on August 3, 2001, Loki filed a Chapter 11 reorganization. As our valued customer, we wanted to let you know why we have elected to reorganize and how, if at all, it will impact our ongoing business.
Under US law there are two kinds of bankruptcy:
- Chapter 7 is a liquidation. We have not filed a Chapter 7 and have no intention of doing so.
- Chapter 11 is a reorganization. This will allow us to deal with our creditors fairly and equitably and at the same time continue to operate the company. We are still shipping products and porting new games and expect to be doing so for a long, long time.
Most of the debts we are restructuring through the Chapter 11 are well over a year old. They represent mistakes made by a young company. We've learned from our mistakes and become cash positive. Going forward we have every confidence that Loki will continue to be successful and grow.
We cannot say for certain how long Loki will remain in Chapter 11. It depends on many factors. However we do intend to bring the process to a conclusion as quickly as possible. Once our plan of reorganization is accepted by the court, our creditors will receive an agreed upon settlement and all other prepetition obligations will be fully and finally discharged.
During and after the reorganization your orders will continue to be honored. We will continue to provide end user support, bug fixes and new products. Negotiations are in progress to guarantee Loki a steady stream of additional AAA games to bring to Linux.
Most importantly, we'd like to thank each of you for your support over the years. Without our customers, we are nothing. The outpouring of support we have received in the last few days has been overwhelming, and we will continue to do everything we can to merit that support.
Kind regards,
Scott Draeker
President, Loki Software
Re:I've changed my mind... (Score:4, Insightful)
Why? Does it matter if they are still funcitoning or doing well for their product to be useful to someone?
If they have developed a game you want to play, there's no reason not to buy it dispite the condition they happen to be in. At best, in the long run it won't matter, at worse, there won't be any more patches for your software. You'll still have the game you purchased.
Complex question (Score:3, Insightful)
However, this poster is correct in his guess that it is the exception rather than the rule. I can't vouch for this statistic but according to this article
http://www.nmbiz.com/issues/00/Jan/Orion.htm
Only 8% of companies that file from Chapter 11 emerge. Other articles I've read have executives stating that being in Chapter 11 is like having the courts run your company. Agressively attacking debts (chapter 11 essentially protects you from having creditors shut down your company) and emerging quickly seems to be a key to success.
In the meantime, what the hell do you all know, yah nay-saying twerps. Of course Loki is going to put the best possible spin on what is obviously a life-support measure. They wouldn't be filing if they weren't about to be shredded by their creditors otherwise. But in the meantime, other than simply disappearing in a puff of venture capital like most of the ill-conceived and overextended startups of the last 5 years, they are working to pay off as much of their debts as possible on a sustainable schedule. In the meantime, they keep contributing to the economy, their employees still ahve a job, and they still have a chance. Whether they manage to be one of the 8% is up to their customers and how wise the choices they make going forward are.
Re:Complex question (Score:1, Insightful)
Yup. That's why I just dropped 100 bucks on loki's site buying a book and a couple more games. I think this brings the total of Loki games I own up to, er, 8 or so.
Loki (Score:2, Insightful)
I think what happened was Loki was having a difficult time starting up. They finally started going and gaining income and either:
1. Neglected to pay some creditors.
2. Weren't in a position to pay creditors at the time.
3. Accountant totally forgot about it.
There are too many "ifs" to even speculate. So don't it makes you look like a jackass and in the mean time.. Play a game.
Almost sold out... (Score:3, Insightful)
Back at LWE in NYC this Spring, Loki approached the now defunct Chilliware, looking for a buyout.
Many phone calls and meetings later, a sum of $250,000 was reached; this would give Chilliware 100% rights to Loki software.
$250k aint alot of cash folks. Any company that can go under for that small an amount, well. Sheesh...
BTW, other companies that almost sold out to Chilliware:
*GNUCash (Houston, we have a problem...)
*Hancom
*EasyLinux (Hi Hans!)
Luckily, Chilliware imploded, thanks to the CEO's wandering eye and hands.
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Oh yeah, I have the source for iceSculptor, Mentor and Mohawk, if anyone wants to buy it...Chilliware owes me some big cash, and since none of the 'principals' will respond, I'll take it this way instead.
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Reality Bite on Ch. 11 (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't see how you can realistically operate a company with no line of credit. Loki will be sold, its almost certain.
Re:Buying Time (Score:3, Insightful)
I know that USG (http://www.usg.com) filed for chap 11 (http://www.usg.com/special/) basically as protection for a class action lawsuit against serveral serveral companies (including them) for asbestos-related claims. As they were the only company that had not filed Chap 11, everybody was going have them.
Chap 11 can be used to project a company because of large debt. Allowing them to restructure and the debt and while making sure they don't increase it.
While it is true that those plans may not work. Chap 11 is designed to allow companies to attempt to corrected a large debt problem will still providing to the people we are entailed to the money.
Just because a company files Chap 11 does not mean they are doomed. It means they made stupid mistakes before and hopefully they can correct it.
If Loki is making money (minus of course the debt) then they have a good chance of continuing to move forward.
Re:On the other hand (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:after original post (Score:2, Insightful)
What Scott Draeker is really up to... (Score:5, Insightful)
If you really want to know what happened, check out this Linux Today Story [linuxtoday.com].
Basically, Scott has been screwing his employees over for the last 18 months, and when he was told to pay up, cowardly claimed chapter 11 so that he could continue paying himself, and no-one else.
I think all of this sympathy is misplaced.
sigh (Score:4, Insightful)
We've... become cash positive.
It doesn't work that way. You may have income, but you're not positive if you can't pay your debts. Part of a successful reorganization is recognizing the situation you're in so you can fix it.
I wish them the best of luck, but they have some more thinking to do.
Re:Reality Bite on Ch. 11 (Score:3, Insightful)
That's nonsense. Think like a lender. Company screws up, takes on too much debt, wastes money, etc, company files for protection, company pays off debts in an orderly way, company emerges without debt. Now what have you got? You have management with proven workout experience. You've got a proven business model. You've got a debt-free company. This adds up to: prime lending target.
When a company emerges successfully from Chapter 11, one problem it definitely does not have is finding new credit. The real question is, will they be willing to take on so much debt again, so fast? Probably not. Once burned, twice shy.
Re:relief (Score:3, Insightful)
Thereby actually making it better than the original platform version. Look at UT, a nice 45 second load time under windows and a fraction of that under Linux.
Just because of that the game is better in my opinion. I hate waiting for it to load up under windows.
And under windows, it doesn't properly release my sound card either so I have to reboot right after playing it... dont see that happening under Linux now do ya?
Re:On the other hand (Score:3, Insightful)
You do realize that Loki has to *pay* companies for the right to port games? And that they front all of the money for the porting? If Loki gave away patches, or sold them for $15, they would lose IMMENSE amounts of cash on every title they ported. The only way they can make money is to sell the game at the normal price.
It isn't their fault that you bought the Windows CD. Would you bitch and moan if you had migrated to a Mac, and needed a new CD?
The only reason Q3A for Linux could use the Windows CDs is because Id made the port themselves, and just contracted Loki to keep it updated and distributed. Loki didn't initially pay to port it.
TINSTAAFL. If you want Linux games, you have to buy Linux games, not buy Windows games with the hope that some company is benevolent enough to front the money to port it, and not get any profits back. Or, you need to convince game shops to make their products cross-platform to begin with, which would negate the need for other companies to port them.
Support Loki, buy a game! (Score:5, Insightful)
1) While I'm not a hardcore gamer, I enjoy playing a game from time to time
2) It makes sense to support a company who makes cool stuff for your platform of choice (similarly, I donated to Mandrake after downloading their latest release). I have a decent job and can afford to miss some cash in exchange for a quality product.
3) Not everything should/can be free. If you want Linux ports of closed source (ie: professional) games, someone will have to pay for them. Otherwise resign yourself to the fact that you'll have to resort to the likes of Tuxracer and Freeciv in terms of games (and I'm not dissing these games, they're written by hobbyists and simply don't compete in the professional game market).
So to sum it up, if you want Loki to be around a year from now, fork over some $ for a game. If you think the price is too steep, team up with your fellow Linux diehards and purchase a game for a few of you. While not exactly right/legal, it's still better if 3 people buy 1 game to share than nobody buying the game at all. Loki makes quality products for our favorite OS; I hope that they'll still be around a few years from now ...
Re:Don't buy Loki Games (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Don't buy Loki Games (Score:1, Insightful)