In this op-ed, Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris examines the many unanswered questions surrounding the future of embattled cloud game service OnLive. Whatever becomes of OnLive in the months and years to come, one thing is certain: Its handling of its ongoing transition (or rebirth or metamorphosis -- whatever you choose to call it) is going to go down in the halls of video game infamy. It's a change that, in terms of confusion, has been handled about as well as the early days of the Sony hacking incident and the 2010 "shut down"/rebirth of Good Old Games. And while there is more solid information today than there was when word of the mass layoffs came about on Friday, there are still plenty on unanswered questions.

What we know

Here's what we do know. At 10 a.m. PT on Friday, the company laid off all of its employees (many of whom had no idea this was coming) as part of an asset transfer that resulted in the shutdown of the original company -- and the near-immediate resurrection of it under the same name. For customers, that meant no interruption in service. And OnLive reps say there are several announcements of new products and services that are planned for the coming weeks. From a public-facing standpoint, that's pretty good damage control. Customers, who don't really care too much about things behind the scenes, know that their purchased games are safe, and they'll be able to connect to OnLive the next time they try to do so.

What we don't know

But the move still leaves roughly half the employees of the "old" OnLive without a job for now and unanswered questions about ownership and who's running the company. A statement by the company issued late Sunday night noted "an affiliate of Lauder Partners was the first investor in the newly-structured company" -- but it stopped there. That makes it sound like Lauder was a white knight for the company, but Lauder's website lists OnLive as having been in its portfolio since April 2009. So was this, in a roundabout way, a second round of capital from the company? Or, perhaps, since it now seemingly completely controls OnLive, a takeover? In the FAQs the company also issued Sunday, it noted "neither [OnLive founder] Steve [Perlman] nor any of his companies received any stock in the new company or compensation in this transaction at all. Steve is receiving no compensation whatsoever and most execs are receiving reduced compensation to allow the company to hire as many employees as possible within the current budget." So his initial investment in the "old" company is gone. That's clear. But when asked directly if Perlman has any sort of ownership stake in the new OnLive, the company declined to answer. A company spokesperson also declined to speak to whether OnLive's board of directors was also disbanded with Friday's action, and how many of them, if any, are still with the company. "OnLive is a private company [that] has never disclosed details about its Board, and the new company has decided to continue that policy," said OnLive's Jane Anderson.

What's OnLive's boss up to?

Lauder Partners head Gary Lauder tells the San Jose Mercury News he hopes Perlman will continue to serve as OnLive's CEO, but at present, he does not yet have a contract or position with the new company. "I'm sure Steve will do what the company needs to best support the team and further the vision, as he's been doing with not only OnLive, but all his projects for his entire career," says Anderson. "In the last week, he has spent an extraordinary amount of time getting COBRA [health insurance] in place for employees, since there usually is none in this sort of situation. Once the employees are taken care of, I'm sure he'll focus back on the vision." Insiders say Sony's recent purchase of the competing Gaikai service did not have a direct impact on OnLive, and that the deal and neither hastened, nor slowed down the decision to lay off staff. OnLive officials did believe it validated their business model, however. That's likely little comfort to the employees who were affected by Friday's actions. And the pain of being laid off was likely compounded by the two-day gap in announcing the "new" OnLive. Like Sony's delay in confirming the extent of its security breach and GoG.com's faux shutdown, not having the new company lined up and ready to announce as soon as the plug was pulled on the old one led to a lot of unnecessary confusion -- for both consumers and employees. Unfortunately, that confusion is still out there. And it looks like it's going to be a while before all of the questions get answered.