Dundee’s economy has been dealt a savage blow today with the collapse of leading video games company Realtime Worlds, leading to the loss of 170 jobs.
Staff were told their fate at a meeting at the company’s West Marketgait HQ after senior management bowed to overwhelming financial pressure and called in administrators.
The mass sacking follows an announcement late last week that a further 60 staff dedicated to the company’s new Project MyWorld game were being laid off.
Realtime’s failure is a massive blow as the company has been held up as shining example of the direction in which a post-industrial Dundee needed to go in order to rebuild the city’s shattered economy.
The company had hoped last month’s launch of its ambitious online game All Points Bulletin (APB) would give it the perfect platform to take on the dominant World of Warcraft online game, which generates billions of dollars of revenues annually.
However, the PC-only title received a lukewarm reception and the business model it was built around gamers having to pay a monthly subscription fee to keep playing rather than buying the game outright has been criticised in some quarters.
Ken Pattullo and Paul Dounis of Begbies Traynor have now been appointed joint administrators. They said a consultation process is now under way with staff.
Prior to the administration, Realtime Worlds employed around 210 people.For full coverage of this story, including local reaction, see Wednesday’s Courier.