Planet Moon Sees Financial Trouble, Planning Legal Action Against Funders

Planet Moon Studios CEO Aaron Loeb tells Gamasutra the company is responding to unexpected financial problems surrounding an important project by preparing legal action against several unnamed parties. The news comes in the wake of this morning's announcement that MMO maker Bigpoint had taken on 37 of Planet Moon's staffers, but had not bought the company or its IP outright. "In December, 2010, Planet Moon was proceeding in earnest on an important project and we were delivering our usual high quality product," Loeb says. "To Planet Moon's surprise, the project went into financial default during the holidays." The cause of the financial problems, Loeb says, is "a substantial amount of money" the company is owed from several unnamed parties. The company has retained Jeff Makoff and Heather Landis at Valle Makoff LLP to pursue litigation against these funders, Loeb says, as it determines the continuing status of the project. In light of the situation, Loeb says he and his company "are pleased that we were able to find employment so quickly for our affected colleagues," through Bigpoint. Perhaps best known for PS2 cult hit Giants: Citizen Kabuto, Planet Moon has recently worked on family-oriented Wii titles including adventure game Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter and trivia game Smarty Pants.