Hip Interactive Lapses Into Insolvency

Canadian game and peripheral publisher Hip Interactive has announced that it has lapsed into insolvency, following news that the company had delayed its financial results, expected to show a loss before income taxes of between $20 and $21 million, and further problems leading to the CFO's resignation late last week. The company announced that it "no longer has sufficient cash available to it to pay its liabilities as they become due", and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has appointed Ernst & Young Inc. as interim receiver. The directors of Hip Interactive have resigned following this final blow. Hip's statement makes it clear that many associated with the company will not fare well due to this transition, commenting: "At this time, it is not clear the level of recovery that the Company's unsecured creditors will realize; although it is not expected that the Company's shareholders will receive any proceeds of such liquidation." Hip Interactive’s product line includes a significant range of peripherals and controllers under the Hip Gear name, though Hip had recently been making a larger push into console and PC game publishing, with titles including Pariah, Playboy: The Mansion, and Stolen. The company was also in the process of funding the publishing of the forthcoming Call of Cthulhu: Destiny's End, developed by Headfirst Productions, and George Romero's City of the Dead, developed by Kuju Entertainment, among others. It is currently unclear what will happen to Hip's in-development titles.