Kaboom goes into receivership; Pivotal for sale

Following weeks of speculation, the midlands-based development group Kaboom Studios has gone into receivership, with the one remaining studio - Pivotal Games - being put up for sale.

As gi.biz reported in the past week, two other studios at the group have already been shut down - with Attention To Detail (ATD) shutting down at the end of August, and Silicon Dreams laying off its 55 staff last week.

Now UK trade magazine MCV is reporting that accounting and consulting firm Ernst & Young has been placed in charge of the company's affairs, and will be organising the disposal of assets - including the sale of Pivotal Games.

Last week it was suggested that British publisher SCi might acquire Pivotal, since it already owns a 10 per cent stake in the company as well as the IP rights to Pivotal's highly successful military combat game series, Conflict Desert Storm; however, this remains pure speculation, particularly as SCi has traditionally not operated any in-house development, preferring to use third parties only.

MCV