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[crimsonheadGCN]

Update: There's now an article about it on Gamasutra: http://gamasutra.com/view/news/245334/Desuras_parent_company_has_filed_for_bankruptcy.php

Bad Juju, the parent company of game bundle seller Indie Royale and digital distribution storefront Desura, has filed for bankruptcy.

Lisa Morrison, head of developer relations at Bad Juju, told Gamasutra she just found out about the bankruptcy on Friday morning, via Twitter. She said she had few details on the situation.

“I asked Tony [Novak, CEO of Bad Juju] for confirmation and all he could tell me was, ‘The lawyers have said I can't say anything or answer any questions yet, but yes it's true.’”

This was posted in the Steam thread:

If you Google, Bad Juju bankruptcy, you find some very unfortunate news.

https://twitter.com/uncomplex/status/606793949232132096

And I searched and this was the top result. A bankruptcy case:

https://www.inforuptcy.com/communit...15-12823-Bad-JuJu-Games--Inc---cacbke_1706672

 

[finley83]

Would explain the failure to pay devs I guess. At least all the games downloaded are DRM free.

 

[Card Boy]

The good thing about DRM free. You are fucked if Steam goes ever under.

 

[JaseC]

The good thing about DRM free. You are fucked if Steam goes ever under.

Steam's bevy of third-party content servers means the distribution of data isn't tied to Valve's existence. This is why Steam Support assures users that "in the unlikely event of the discontinuation of the Steam network, measures are in place to ensure users will still be able to access their games".

Edit: Bad Juju bought Desura barely seven months ago. I suppose the acquisition was intended to turn the tide.

 

[SerTapTap]

Glad I only had a couple games from 'em and they were DRM free.

Seems like the unpaid devs may simply never be paid. Super shitty situation. I'd recommend any devs move their stuff over to Itchio if they need another non-steam sales platform.

Steam's bevy of third-party content servers means the distribution of data isn't tied to Valve's existence. This is why Steam Support assures users that "in the unlikely event of the discontinuation of the Steam network, measures are in place to ensure users will still be able to access their games".

Edit: Bad Juju bought Desura barely seven months ago. I suppose the acquisition was intended to turn the tide.

It's also possible to serve DRM free games from steam--Assault Android Cactus is DRM free. Unsure how common it is but I know that at least it's possible.

 

[Gintoki]

I think only 3 games I own on desura that I don't have already on steam

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

There's now a Gamasutra article and I have updated the OP with a few quotes.

 

[Leafhopper]

Looks like they have been in a bind for awhile going by this post on the Desura site from the 27th of May.

 

[Herpes Reasons]

The good thing about DRM free. You are fucked if Steam goes ever under.

No, you're actually not. Whether Valve implements something or not to free up the games doesn't matter. The PC is an open platform and therefore I'll always be able to access the games I rightfully purchased. Stop with the fearmongering.

 

[Eila]

I can't imagine too many people using the service seriously (outside of free keys from bundles). I remember a dev talking about the dozens of copies sold through desura.
And I have a bunch of games in there. I feel having to buy a new hard drive to fit them all is more of a loss than just forgetting about them.

 

[outunderthestars]

I stopped visit Desura due to the high amounts of pure garbage on the store.

 

[MUnited83]

The good thing about DRM free. You are fucked if Steam goes ever under.

Steam isn't going under in your lifetime, and even if it did this would be wildly incorrect.

 

[Kumubou]

Seems like the unpaid devs may simply never be paid. Super shitty situation. I'd recommend any devs move their stuff over to Itchio if they need another non-steam sales platform.

Isn't the major issue with itch.io that the developer is responsible for payment processing? I remember looking into it and that's what I saw, and that would be a huge mess if someone hit your game up with fraudulent credit cards for free keys and you're stuck with a slew of chargeback fees (like what happened to the Natural Selection 2 developers). Personally, for payment I would just be inclined to set up a Humble Bundle widget and pay them the few percent (don't remember if the exact number can be disclosed) to handle payment processing.

But yeah, not getting paid stinks. Honestly, if I was on a platform like that and payments were late/missing I would bail out immediately, as that is always a sign of extreme cashflow issues or extreme shadiness (or both).

 

[morningbus]

Like a company wouldn't buy Steam to continue services for its millions upon millions of customers.

Something as big as Steam doesn't just close up shop like Penny Arcade's Greenhouse.

 

[user237]

So can I just install all of my Desura games and play them later?

 

[Stumpokapow]

Wow as someone who has 500+ games on Desura, this is super annoying.

And besides Desura shutting down, this will also kill IndieRoyale, which means a bunch of games I'm waiting for Steam keys for I won't get :/

 

[wrowa]

Reading the blog post, it sounds like Bad Juju didn't make a good call to buy Desura. I don't know what actually happened there and what led to the acquisition, but if everything they wrote is true then they bought quite a mess.

 

[craig2562]

Looks like the best option for now is to get what you can from Desura.

That includes Steam keys/DRM free copies and anything else you might need. I hope they find a buyer for Desura because I still find it the best source of Indie games (Steam isn't as Indie friendly).

 

[DSix]

Desura because I still find it the best source of Indie games (Steam isn't as Indie friendly).

Are you kidding?! Many indies weren't properly paid in time or at all.

 

[Leafhopper]

Wow as someone who has 500+ games on Desura, this is super annoying.

And besides Desura shutting down, this will also kill IndieRoyale, which means a bunch of games I'm waiting for Steam keys for I won't get :/

Wow that sucks.

 

[morningbus]

Looks like the best option for now is to get what you can from Desura.

That includes Steam keys/DRM free copies and anything else you might need. I hope they find a buyer for Desura because I still find it the best source of Indie games (Steam isn't as Indie friendly).

The only way Steam could be more indie friendly is if it were Newgrounds.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

Aside from Indie Royale, I don't think we ever got paid from Desura. Games just don't sell there and they've got a payout minimum.

 

[PsySal]

[deleted]

 

[JaseC]

It's also possible to serve DRM free games from steam--Assault Android Cactus is DRM free. Unsure how common it is but I know that at least it's possible.

Yeah, I know. There's a list of DRM-free games on the Wikia site for Steam, but I'm not sure how comprehensive it is.

 

[FyreWulff]

The good thing about DRM free. You are fucked if Steam goes ever under.

Unfortunately, people are going to assume they can just "PC gaming" their way out of anything, without having any of Valve's private keys, and ignoring the fact that only popular Steam games will be 'recovered' in the event of a Steam shutdown.

With DRM free, there's zero question. Your game works forever. No "maybe".

 

[MUnited83]

Unfortunately, people are going to assume they can just "PC gaming" their way out of anything, without having any of Valve's private keys, and ignoring the fact that only popular Steam games will be 'recovered' in the event of a Steam shutdown.

With DRM free, there's zero question. Your game works forever. No "maybe".

Good thing Steam has DRM-free games as well then.

Then again I don't know why people are bringing up something that won't happen on their lifetimes.

 

[chrominance]

No word on when/if Desura goes down, I guess? Time to download all the games I own over there. That's going to be a huge pain in the ass, especially with Indie Royale stuff being separate (who knows how many of those "link this whole bundle to Desura" links I clicked).

 

[Gaogaogao]

man, up until gog galaxy showed up, I thought a service like desura had real merit.

time to download all the things

 

[8 X 11 Printer Paper]

Ugh so all the Greenlight games (maybe 5-10 through bundles) I bought on Indieroyle won't ever bear fruit.

 

[Lafazar]

Wow as someone who has 500+ games on Desura, this is super annoying.

And besides Desura shutting down, this will also kill IndieRoyale, which means a bunch of games I'm waiting for Steam keys for I won't get :/

I'm in the same boat, but it's even worse for me (~1200 games on there, majority from Indie Royale Bundles).

My goodness, downloading and archiving everything relevant from Desura (Steam Keys, Soundtracks, DRM-free games) is going to be a nightmare, especially with that cumbersome interface. I wonder if I should even bother.

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

Lisa Morrison, head of developer relations at Bad Juju, told Gamasutra she just found out about the bankruptcy on Friday morning, via Twitter

Employees finding out their employer is bankrupt via Twitter is a pretty shitty turn of events

 

[Starwolf_UK]

Regarding Indie Royale they've been radio silence for a few hours but an ominous tweet:

Had a great bundle lined up but it looks like it won't see the light of day

Though they did say it was due to not been given the all clear to run it and not having any art.

But probably what Graeme Boxall saying about it probably being their last day at indie royale is more important.

As for Desura. I must have well over 100 keys rotting away. Prehaps I'll gather them for a modbot fire. It seems some of the games (the ones via groupees) I have DRM free downloads for.

 

[AcceptableGhost]

This is sounding pretty dire, I wonder if they are just going to flip the switch off on the whole site soon?

 

[Stumpokapow]

This is sounding pretty dire, I wonder if they are just going to flip the switch off on the whole site soon?

Well, the two known employees both claim they're done working / locked out, and the IR guy says it's a chapter 7 bankruptcy (i.e. total liquidation) so I would guess that the absolute latest the services will stay up is whenever a data-center bill comes in or wherever a critical service goes down, and I suspect they'd pull them before then. I'd download and/or redeem as fast as you can.

 

[superNESjoe]

I recently had my last game in an Indie Royal bundle and for whatever reason they opted to pay me through Desura instead of my Paypal account. That payment has been stuck in Desura and this makes me worried I'm not going to see it. The money small devs see from bundles like that is pretty crucial to keeping us going.

I really hope this gets resolved for all the unpaid devs like myself.

 

[zulux21]

Wow as someone who has 500+ games on Desura, this is super annoying.

And besides Desura shutting down, this will also kill IndieRoyale, which means a bunch of games I'm waiting for Steam keys for I won't get :/

im in a similar boat, though I haven't bought a lot from indieroyale for a while since groupees and indie gala have had the better looking greenlight bundles to me.

either way in general this sucks, but I would imagine that there is still a chance that all will not be lost. Some other company may decide to buy them out. Groupees for example could potentially buy out the indieroyale part as it wouldn't be the first time they revived a bundle site (bundle in the box for example) and I wouldn't consider it impossible for someone like Humble to buy out desura, as while humble has their humble store, they could use something like desura as a testing ground for games before putting them on their store, and potentially create something like an indie spotlight bundle to go with their other bundles to show off games on the desura service that they want more feedback on ect.

now obviously those are just random thoughts, I mean you could just as easily have someone like Steam buy up desura and rework it into a greenlight store or they could just rot away into nothingness.

I'd download and/or redeem as fast as you can.

so many bundles to go through @___@

on groupees alone I have 27 mouse wheel scrolls (running my finger from the start of the mouse wheel to the end) of desura keys.

 

[Hyun Sai]

As expected. It works best with Obsidian Mind.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Well, the two known employees both claim they're done working / locked out, and the IR guy says it's a chapter 7 bankruptcy (i.e. total liquidation) so I would guess that the absolute latest the services will stay up is whenever a data-center bill comes in or wherever a critical service goes down, and I suspect they'd pull them before then. I'd download and/or redeem as fast as you can.

Any unclaimed desura keys left in modbot's stash?

 

[Stumpokapow]

Any unclaimed desura keys left in modbot's stash?

probably bazillions. i can take a look at it some time this evening and post them here in a garbage dump.

 

[zulux21]

probably bazillions. i can take a look at it some time this evening and post them here in a garbage dump.

is it cool if I just dump a bunch of keys (likely just email embedded) in here or would you rather I used the free to a good home thread?

 

[firehawk12]

Wow, this is probably the first test to see what happens if a big platform dies. I had no idea that Linden sold the platform either.

I can't remember though... were any of those games DRM free? I think I have like 400 games from them via bundles.

 

[Stumpokapow]

is it cool if I just dump a bunch of keys (likely just email embedded) in here or would you rather I used the free to a good home thread?

Don't think it matters. You could use modbot or post them email tag embedded or just post them in plain-text and here or the free to a good home thread is OK.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

How do we save Desura? Where do I pitch in?

 

[Kagami]

Steam Support assures users that "in the unlikely event of the discontinuation of the Steam network, measures are in place to ensure users will still be able to access their games".

People love to quote that, but I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock in it.
Most likely it just means a permanent offline mode for the machine the games are already installed on, with no ability to move them to new machines or new Windows installations.
The fact they make no actual mention of their plans in any form on the Steam website is enough to steer me away from buying Steam DRM games.

 

[Myggen]

Will be interesting to see if some legacy servers are put in place, or if this just gets shut down with little warning.

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

People love to quote that, but I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock in it.
Most likely it just means a permanent offline mode for the machine the games are already installed on, with no ability to move them to new machines or new Windows installations.
The fact they make no actual mention of their plans in any form on the Steam website is enough to steer me away from buying Steam DRM games.

Every Steam DRM game is already available in pirate format, people just don't bother creating their own special offline only virtual Steam to play pirate games because actual steam is so good and any game you might want to buy is eventually sold at a price you can afford.

If real steam isn't around anymore, its no big deal locking yourself out of using real steam services. because they wont be there.

 

[Corronchilejano]

How do we save Desura? Where do I pitch in?

Desura had to save itself, and failed.

 

[zulux21]

Don't think it matters. You could use modbot or post them email tag embedded or just post them in plain-text and here or the free to a good home thread is OK.

100% ORANGE JUICE HF999-JWINF-W0VSL-880FJ-MN3ZS
12 LABOURS OF HERCULES G5R2Z-6LN5B-S6CJD-KF8G3-QTP1Z
1quest H0WRO-1VYSO-G34X9-4R184-55OFT
2020: DIVIDED NATION K63G5-AYCCX-EF1OY-TPYZY-BDEOF
3030 DEATHWAR LD2BD-91O42-19ZOM-K9QTF-E4DT5
6180 THE MOON - DELUXE H54BD-GPNM8-CC43K-V3OSU-RDF20
8-bit commando G0P1Q-EEIEB-NJNG2-6I99P-UD98S
99 LEVELS TO HELL 8W3F0-ZR76M-UZ41M-TFUOV-7ZR86
99 spirits GK1FT-FUQ6N-E8F35-9B4QK-LVUHU

I will continue to slowly post these in chunks, these are all from groupees. I am gonna likely do it a letter at a time and work through my indie royale bundles as well... this is gonna take hours @_@

 

[Kagami]

Every Steam DRM game is already available in pirate format, people just don't bother creating their own special offline only virtual Steam to play pirate games because actual steam is so good and any game you might want to buy is eventually sold at a price you can afford.

If real steam isn't around anymore, its no big deal locking yourself out of using real steam services. because they wont be there.

"available in pirate format" lol, you make it sound like a platform.
Anyway, I'm not going to spend my money on DRM-encumbered games that have to be pirated to assure access to them. There's more than enough good DRM-free games available to last a lifetime.
Having said that, I'm certainly aware that the real source of problems is copyright law in its current form.

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

"available in pirate format" lol, you make it sound like a platform.

AFAIK pirating steam games effectively is running a pirate virtualised steam as a platform and locking yourself out of real steam to do so.