in 2011. SouthPeak Games quietly disappeared from the public eye in July 2013.
History
Foundation and sale (1996–2005)
SouthPeak Games was founded as SouthPeak Interactive LLC on March 1, 1996,
director of SouthPeak Games.[9] As result of the sale, all assets related to SouthPeak Games were moved the Midlothian location, while all staff at the Cary location were laid off or re-employed directly by SAS Institute.[10] The company in its new location was legally registered as SouthPeak Interactive, L.L.C. on October 19, 2000.[11] In August 2005, Melanie Mroz was appointed executive vice-president of SouthPeak Games.[12]
Acquisitions (2005–2009)
On January 16, 2008, SouthPeak Games acquired
royalties, although SouthPeak Games had already acknowledged these issues when they acquired Gamecock Media Group.[18]
When SouthPeak Games released their 2009 Q1
quarterly report on November 13, 2009, it was revealed that, after American video game developer and publisher Midway Games filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2009, SouthPeak Games had acquired the exclusive rights to publishing video games based on the TNA Impact! television program for US$100,000,[19] however, they could not agree with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling upon any further titles to be developed.[20]
Lawsuits (2009–2011)
In December 2009,
arbitrator Peter Vogel ruled in favor of SouthPeak Games, ordering TimeGates Studios to pay the US$7.3 million and hand over the license to the Section 8intellectual property to SouthPeak Games, which was, however, overturned by a federal court in March 2012, claiming that the original contract foresaw that TimeGate Studios would retain the Section 8 license in the publishing deal.[23] Regardless, in April 2013, the United States courts of appeals closed the lawsuit in favor of SouthPeak Games, forcing TimeGate Studios to pay a total of US$7.35 million in damages, and again pass the Section 8 license to SouthPeak Games.[24]
In November 2009, SouthPeak Games lost a legal battle to German distributor CDV Software, which concerned the failure to deliver three out of four unspecified games before Christmas 2008, and was ordered to pay US$3.1 million.[25] Additionally, on February 19, 2010, the judge ruled upon CDV Software's other claims, including copyright infringement and breach of contract, ordering SouthPeak Games to hand in further, undisclosed payments.[26] Mid-issue, on April 8, 2010, Reba McDermott was appointed chief financial officer, replacing Melanie Mroz, who previously served that role interimly,[27] but saw her appointment terminated nine months later.[28] As a result of the outstanding bills, on July 20, 2010, British distributor Centresoft put 40,000 units of SouthPeak Games stock on ice to auction them off,[29] generating £50,000 by August 6, 2010.[30] The legal issue was announced to be resolved on October 14, 2010,[31] and CDV Software dropped all charges against SouthPeak Games on November 10, 2010.[32] However, all payments ordered by the settlement court were not paid by SouthPeak Games, as a result of which CDV Software filed for preliminary insolvency on April 15, 2010.[33]
In June 2010, American publisher
My Baby First Steps on October 13, 2010.[37] It was reported on January 10, 2011, that SouthPeak Games had won against Majesco and Nobilis, with the Lyon Commercial Court stating that Nobilis had no legal basis for ceasing operations with SouthPeak Games, wherefore all rights to there series were returned to SouthPeak Games.[38]
In November 2010, the
net losses of US$2.6 million and US$2.1 million in the first and second quarters of the company's fiscal year 2011, respectively,[40] SouthPeak Games was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in September 2011.[41]
7Sixty, closure (2011–2013)
On July 12, 2011, SouthPeak Games opened a new digital distribution subsidiary, 7Sixty LLC, in Grapevine, Texas.[42] Led by vice president of publishing Leslie House and vice president of interactive entertainment Jeff Hutchinson, the studio was established in order to expand SouthPeak Games' business strategies to cover the digital market, with their first title to be Stronghold 3.[43]Stronghold 3, released on October 25, 2011, would become the last game published by SouthPeak Games or 7Sixty, and both companies left the public eye in July 2013.
