The Guardian don't seem the sort to make up any random stories, so they may potentially be some credibility to this story.
Also out of curiousity how big is the TLG on a wider gaming level as I never played the first one and was wondering are the big threads on it because the game is so popular or is it because it has just been missing since 2009, so it's more of a novelty thing?
It is a niche game made people who make niches games, I doubt it will a hit.