UK publisher Mastertronic closes Cambridgeshire HQ, lays off 40% of staff

In the midst of liquidation threats, UK games publisher Mastertronic has been forced to make nearly half of its staff redundant, and close its Cambridgeshire headquarters. Writing at Develop, Mastertronic's Andy Payne admitted that the company has had money problems recently, and was forced to close down its retail games business back in February, laying off all the staff involved. But this didn't do the trick, and one creditor of the company has now threatened Mastertronic with a Winding Up Order -- essentially, a petition to put the company into liquidation. In response to this, Mastertronic has entered into a Company Voluntary Agreement with its creditors. This means that it is looking to settle its debts by asking whether creditors would be happy to only receive a portion of what they are owed. As part of this process, Mastertronic has shut down its headquarters in Cambridgeshire and laid off 40 percent of its staff. "To say these are testing times is an understatement," says Payne, "but I do feel confident of our creditors' support and delivering against what we say we will do in an entirely digital world."