Money troubles force MaxPlay to make major layoffs

Just over a year after stepping into the game engine arena with its cloud-based dev platform, San Francisco-based tech company MaxPlay has been forced to lay off the majority of its workforce. 

MaxPlay CEO Sinjin Bain broke the news in an interview with VentureBeat, and revealed the company laid off almost all of its 70 employees at the end of September. 

Bain explained there are a "variety of reasons" for MaxPlay's downturn in fortunes, but suggested the main cause was a failed deal that resulted in a cash shortage.

"We were building an enterprise software platform. It was a very expensive proposition, with high potential rewards," he told VentureBeat.

"At the last minute, the [money guys] pulled out of their commitments and left us in a very difficult place. We had several groups looking to acquire us, and for a variety of reasons those didn't pan out."

Fortunately, Bain also revealed that many of those affected have already found new roles within Amazon, Magic Leap, and The Void. 

As for what remains of MaxPlay, the tech group will now look to rebuild by licensing out its code base, having already earmarked "a number of opportunities."