Bankrupt PlayLogic Renames, Restarts With Digital Focus

Five months after Amsterdam-based game publisher PlayLogic filed for bankruptcy, the company said it would relaunch with "mainly a focus on digital video game publishing" for consoles. PlayLogic said in a Tuesday announcement that it would hire back an unspecified portion of former staff at a new, similarly named company, and they be officially re-employed January 1, 2011. The newly-formed company's official name is PlayLogic Entertainment N.V. The company filed for the Dutch equivalent of bankruptcy this summer, citing problems including overdue payments, loan defaults and poor cash flow. PlayLogic Entertainment N.V. did not provide an update of the status of debts relating to the original PlayLogic. PlayLogic's reboot doesn't include the U.S. division, PlayLogic Entertainment Incorporated, but the company still plans on publishing digital games on a worldwide basis on Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo platforms. The publisher also said it will expand to mobile and online gambling games, and is currently in final negotiations to acquire a company active in that market. Heading up the new PlayLogic is Rogier W. Smit, who was previously EVP of PlayLogic Entertainment. He cofounded Playlogic International N.V. and Playlogic Game Factory B.V. in 2001. Marcel Noordeloos comes on board as CFO, with Willem M. Smit serving as chair. Amsterdam law firm CMS Derks Star Busmann led the process of reforming the publisher.