OnLive has just issued a statement about its major corporate shake-up, confirming the sale of its assets, and promising that its services will "continue without interruption." The company says that on August 17th, all of its assets "were acquired by a newly formed company that will continue to operate under the OnLive name," and has confirmed that it is restructuring under an "Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors" — an option for struggling companies that allows them to transfer all of their assets to another one to run the business more efficiently, to prepare the company for a quick sale, or other purposes.
OnLive says that Lauder Partners — a venture capital firm that's invested in companies like Aereo and LiveScribe — is the company's "first investor." It's not clear what portion of the company Lauder Partners has obtained, but according to Lauder's website, it's no stranger to the streaming game company: the group previously invested in OnLive in 2009. OnLive says that it plans to hire more staff "upon closing additional funding," including former staff.
"Users are not expected to notice any change whatsoever"
The OnLive Game and Desktop Services, all OnLive Devices and Apps, as well as all OnLive partnerships, are expected to continue without interruption and all customer purchases will remain intact; users are not expected to notice any change whatsoever. OnLive’s current initiatives will continue as well, with major announcements of new products and services planned in the coming weeks and months.
Despite the shake-up, which saw the company's employees fired during an all-staff meeting two days ago, the company says it plans to continue operations: it says that "users are not expected to notice any change whatsoever." As it turns out, that's good news for a lot of people: OnLive says that it has an "active base of over 1.5 million subscribers," with over 2.5 million subscribers in total.
While the company remains bullish on its future prospects — it says that "OnLive is the future of computing and entertainment" — it recognizes that the acquisition is "a heartbreaking transition for everyone involved with OnLive." There's still a lot to learn about what exactly led to OnLive's dramatic transition, and we'll bring you the latest as new details emerge.
Here is the "FAQ" section of OnLive's statement.
Q. Will users see any change in the OnLive Game or Desktop Services? What about their purchases?
A. Users should see no change in the OnLive Game or Desktop Services. All of their purchases remain intact and available. OnLive has been up 24/7 since launch over two years ago and expects to remain so. OnLive has over 2.5 million subscribers, with an active base of over 1.5 million subscribers, connecting from a vast range of devices and networks, with many sessions running for hours. The user base is growing rapidly with OnLive’s addition into recently announced devices and TVs from major manufacturers. We expect this growth to continue under the new company.
Q. Is there any cash or stock in the new company provided for any OnLive, Inc. shares?
A. Unfortunately not. The nature of the transaction is such that only assets, not shares, were purchased. This is true for all shares of OnLive, Inc., whether held by investors, employees or executives.
Q. Did Steve Perlman receive stock or compensation in this transaction?
A. Like all shareholders, neither Steve 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.
Q. Did all OnLive, Inc. assets transfer into the new company? Are any assets held by any other party?
A. All of OnLive, Inc.’s assets (e.g. technology, patents, trademarks, etc.) were transferred to an assignee, which then sold the assets to the new company. There was no transfer to any other party.
Q. Have OnLive, Inc. employees been offered positions in the new company?
A. Almost half of OnLive’s staff were offered employment at their current salaries in the new company immediately upon the transfer, and the non-hired staff will be given offers to do consulting in return for options in the new company. Upon closing additional funding, the company plans to hire more staff, both former OnLive employees as well as new employees.