Video killed the Radio Star
Sex killed the Video Game!
2005 Founded (according to Linkedin info)
2009 Gazillion signed 10 year contract with Disney to develop Marvel Entertainment games
2010 Temasek led Seed funding of US$60m
2017 Series C funding US$30m
2017 Disney terminated relationship with Gazillion
Total funds raised : US$250M
Gazillion is a MMO (massively multiplayer online) game developer and publisher.
The beginning and the ending of Gazillion are rather confusing. Google search throws up all incorrect information. Which begs the question of whether Temasek actually knew. Since there may be folks out there who may like a clearer narrative, I'll do a full monty here. This has bearings on the review of the investment.
Such creative projects require 3 personalities - the entrepreneur or ideas man, the tech guy, and the development lead man. Ron Hutter was the Ideas man. Hutter is from the education sector. He founded Edusoft, a successful educational company. He also ran a VC firm. He had an idea for an educational material on an MMO platform and in 2005 filed NR2B Research for this project. He searched for a lead designer. John Romero saw the placement on linkedin and that's how they met. Romero is the Tech guy. He had produced several games to his credits. Hutter invited Romero in as co-founder.
Romera said the company name NR8B Research was inappropriate for a video game outfit and he suggested a more street cred name Slipgate Ironworks. They went by that name for a while, but eventually filed name change from NR8B to Gazillion. SEC filing record confirms this.
They recruited David Breviit as the COO. Brevit earned fame for his role in the development of popular video game Diablo. In 2011, John Needham took over from Hutton as CEO. Brevit took over CEO role in 2013.
They commenced work and produced some titles. The big break came in 2009 when Hutter signed a contract with Disney to produce MMO games using Marvel characters. Hutter and Romero disagreed on the issue of Intellectual Property. Hutter-Disney contract was a licensed right for 10 years. Romero refused to do work without IP and he quit in the same year.
Nothing that is published online, from Bloomberg to Crunchbase, describes the beginnings that way. The narrative came from the horse's mouth in an interview by Morgan Ramsay in his book "Online Game Pioneers at Work".
Brevit producted 2 Marvel games which debut in 2013. It was not well received. David Von Dorman had came on board as director representing investor Roth Capital. Dorman ousted Brevit and took over in 2015. Gazillion was recapitalised and revamped. By 2017 the Marvel games improved their player base. There was a Series C funding round. Don't know if Temasek participated.
Towards the end of 2017 came the bombshell. Disney indicated it did not wish to continue with the relationship which will expire Dec 31. The plug was pulled and Gazillion closed in November with no severance pay for employees and customer deposit claims unsettled. In 2018 Trion Worlds bought out various development assets of Gazillion.
Nothing is published online as to why Disney pulled the plug when the Marvel games were beginning to go viral and about to move into Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Did Temasek know the truth?
It seemed David Von Dorman's real name is Dave Dohrmann, a known sexual abuser. His identity was uncovered by gamers and there was some doxxing going on. Some Gazillion female employees came forward with sexual allegations. Disney was quick to act and pulled the plug.
For those who enjoy a bit of sleaze, an achieved Reddit commentary with more details is here.
On a serious note, one wonders whether Temasek's investment in 2010 was bona fide. Why dive into a project where the lead designer and co-founder has just resigned. Why pour millions into a development with only a 10 year licence?
INVESTMENT WATCH:
The money is all gone. Just wondering if the investment has been written off in 2019 financials.
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