Report: Perpetual Entertainment Liquidating Assets

In an SEC filing, Korean-based developer Gravity (Ragnarok Online) disclosed that in October, it received a notice that U.S.-based online game developer Perpetual, in which Gravity invests, would be liquidating all of its assets. According to the filing, the notice said that a separate company called Perpetual LLC would "shall liquidate the Assets, wind down Perpetual, and distribute the net liquidation proceeds to creditors of Perpetual." The date on which Gravity stated the notice was sent, October 10th, is the same day that Perpetual announced that its PC MMORPG Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising would be put on hold indefinitely. Just prior to that announcement, the company announced it would lay off between 30 and 40 employees, as it did the first time that Gods and Heroes was delayed, reportedly due to the need for further beta testing. Gravity stated that it does not expect to recover any of the $9 million investment it made in Perpetual in 2006, and that the loss will be reflected in its financial statement for 2007. However, it is unclear whether this announcement also affects Star Trek Online, Perpetual's other MMO, which was still believed to be in development - or whether the company's physical offices in San Francisco will continue to operate in the longer-term. Gamasutra has contacted Perpetual for a statement, and will update the story with further information. [UPDATE: Perpetual's third-party PR contacts have indicated to Gamasutra that they are no longer representing the San Francisco firm, and can therefore offer no input into these claims.]