onlive
Latest
Microsoft hosting mixer for former OnLive employees
Microsoft will be throwing an industry mixer for the 50-ish percent of OnLive workers affected by the streaming company's recent restructuring madness this Monday, August 27, at its campus in Silicon Valley. Hiring managers will be on site, scouting for Xbox-oriented positions at Microsoft's offices in Mountain View, CA and Redmond, WA."We are eager to speak to individuals and teams affected by the OnLive transition," reads the event's public invitation. "We are looking to add key players who want to make a real impact in creating groundbreaking new products and services."Whether this is indicative of an expanded streaming presence in Microsoft's future is anyone's guess; it could simply be an example of the tech industry taking care of its own. An Xbox Kinect bundle will also be raffled off during the event, though we assume those attending will be more interested in finding gainful employment than winning a door prize.
Hisense building budget-friendly Google TV set-top box, will put Android in your living room for under $100
Looks like consumers are about to get another option in their search for an affordable connected TV solution: Hisense is building its own Google TV set-top box. The product doesn't have a price -- let alone a name -- but will sell for under $100 when it hits shelves later this year. "Hisense adds even more innovation to the growing list of Google TV-powered devices available around the world." Says Google TV partner manager Mickey Kim. "We're working closely with partners like Hisense to bring services from Google and multiple other providers to your TV with an experience tailored for the living room." Details are scarce, but the outfit promises to reveal more at IFA next week. Can't wait? Check out Vizio's Co-Star.
Steve Perlman remains OnLive CEO in company rebirth
OnLive CEO Steve Perlman is retaining his position as chief operating officer of the cloud gaming service, despite over half of his employees losing their jobs when the company shut down. OnLive amassed debts of over $30 million, but was acquired by Lauder Partners, LLC with the company's new owner assuring there is "solid financial footing."Perlman's continuance as CEO was revealed in a letter from Lauder Partners to the OnLive Fans community. The letter also details that Perlman received no stock in the newly formed OnLive company, nor did he receive any compensation as part of the transaction.During the original OnLive's final staff meeting last week, Perlman blamed himself for the demise of the company, making today's news all the more bizarre. "I'm the one that brought you here. I'm the one that ultimately made decisions. And I'm the one that ultimately takes responsibility. So I am sorry, and it didn't end up exactly as we'd hoped," he told the company's 150-200 person staff. Perlman's history beyond OnLive includes high-ranking positions at both Apple and Microsoft.
OnLive's debt was $30-40 million, insolvency group reveals
It's now been revealed that OnLive's debt was somewhere between $30 million and $40 million before last week's collapse and subsequent reincarnation.Last week, the California-based company's assets were transferred to Insolvency Services Group. Those assets were then sold on to Lauder Partners, LLC on the day OnLive ceased operations. Yesterday, ISG's CEO Joel Weinberg revealed the extent of OnLive's arrears to San Jose Mercury News."It was a company that was in dire straits. It only had days to live in terms of cash flow and the like," Weinberg disclosed, "Something had to be done immediately or there would have been a hard shutdown, which would have been a disaster."The newly acquired company will continue to run under the OnLive name, but it had to lay off at least half of its 200 employees as part of the process. It now also appears likely that investors HTC and British Telecom will write off their investments. Weinberg also revealed that he expects investors to only receive 5 to 10 cents per dollar owed.
British Telecom says it's 'highly likely' to write off OnLive stake
British Telecom has reported that it is "highly likely" to simply write off the 2.6 percent stake it invested in the recently rebooted cloud computing service, OnLive. The issue isn't yet settled, but a BT spokesperson told TechRadar that "the 2.6 percent shareholding in OnLive does not represent a significant investment for BT as a whole. We consider it highly likely that we'll have to write off our investment."HTC also made a $40 million investment in OnLive, and it has already reported to the Taiwanese Stock Exchange that it considers the money written off. With all of OnLive's assets being transferred to form a new company, getting compensated for their investments may be more trouble than it's worth for both HTC and BT.But the book isn't closed just yet – BT says it will "keep a close eye on developments" with OnLive, and that current customers who are able to access the service can continue to do so for the time being.
OnLive sells company, lays off about 50% of staff
Just in case you didn't hear over the weekend, the cloud computing service OnLive experienced a little bit of a crisis: On Friday morning, the CEO of the company spoke to staff to essentially tell them all that they were fired, and that the assets of the company were being bought by another investor. The good news here is that the OnLive service hasn't gone down at all, and it reportedly isn't going down any time soon. But the bad news is that many of OnLive's employees have lost their jobs, and any investments in the company's potential future that they might have had. What does this mean for those of us on Mac and iOS? Right now, not much -- both OnLive's gaming service and the OnLive Desktop service (which provides a free streaming Windows computer and Microsoft apps) are still working just fine. The former employees of OnLive went through a rough situation, and for that reason you may not want to support a company like this going forward, but if you've come to depend on either one of those services, you're fine for now. The future of the company is definitely in question, or at least more question than it was before. Some of the news coming out of the whole event says that OnLive averaged only about 1800 users, which would make the service much smaller than anyone had thought. CEO Steve Perlman also reportedly has turned down previous offers to buy the company, instead hoping that OnLive's patents and other assets would eventually be worth much more. OnLive showed us an iOS app at one point, and even released an actual Bluetooth controller to work with the iPad, but while the company has released an Android app, it's never been able to get the iOS version approved. There is still an OnLive Desktop app on the store, but that gaming version wasn't ever released. We'll see how the company comes out of this situation going forward -- if things don't get any better for OnLive, this could end up being a service that simply arrived before its time.
BT planning to write off 2.6 percent stake in troubled OnLive
BT thinks that it's "highly likely" it'll let its 2.6 percent stake in OnLive go to the wall. It told TechRadar that it was keeping a "close eye" on the gaming venture which is restructuring in the face of spiraling debt costs. The telecoms provider has promised that its customers will be able to access the service (for as long as it exists, we guess) and that the investment is a small enough figure that it won't be worrying too much about its balance sheet.
Yes, Ouya is still supporting OnLive
Yes indeed, the Ouya is still planned to have OnLive support at launch. Ouya announced in late July that OnLive cloud game streaming support would be in the Android-powered, Kickstarter-funded open-source console when it launches early next year. Reps from both companies reconfirmed their commitment to the collaboration this afternoon.If this sounds a bit familiar, it's because OnLive has – in unspecific terms – said as much already. "All previously announced products and services, including those in the works, will continue and there is no expected interruption of any OnLive services," a statement by the company read last Friday. However, we've seen this question pop up repeatedly since last week, so we wanted to state each company's position on the record one last time. Just for you. Yup, you.
OnLive's mysterious benefactor revealed, 'almost half' of original staff hired on at new company
Venture capitalist group Lauder Partners, LLC – helmed by long-time tech investor Gary Lauder – is the group behind OnLive's new incarnation. OnLive representatives announced this morning that Lauder Partners' Gary Lauder is the "very accomplished and well known venture capitalist" that's helping bail out the cloud streaming service. CEO Steve Perlman spoke of Lauder in vague terms during the company's final meeting late last week.The new company will retain "almost half" of the original staff – OnLive employed approximately 150-200 during its height, and laid off over half of its employes last week when it declared a form of bankruptcy (ABC). Said employees will retain their current salary level in the new company; executives are said to be receiving "reduced compensation" from the transaction (as to retain more employees), and CEO Steve Perlman is apparently receiving nothing from the transaction. It's unclear why any executives would be receiving compensation from the transaction in a moment where so many staff are being let go.OnLive reaffirmed that "users should see no change in the OnLive Game or Desktop Services," and that "all of their purchases remain intact and available." The announcement also provided updated stats on OnLive's userbase, which "has over 2.5 million subscribers, with an active base of over 1.5 million subscribers."Update: OnLive tells us that the original company had "about 200 employees" (including temps) when the ABC process began last week, and "almost half had offers in hand at full salary when we made the transition." The rep also said OnLive "expect to get more offers out this week," and that it's "just a matter of processing the transition."
HTC to lose its $40 million investment from OnLive's financial restructuring
As cloud-based gaming service OnLive struggles to reform itself and cope with its pricey infrastructure, HTC's $40 million investment made last year will disappear completely, according to a recent filing to the Taiwan Stock exchange. OnLive began streaming its gaming selection to Android smartphones and tablets at the end of the same year but we never saw any exclusive features for HTC hardware. Following some tough financial results, it packed up its Korean office and recently returned half its stake in Beats, although its involvement with OnLive had never resulted in the same degree of publicity.
OnLive officially announces asset acquisition, notes that its newly formed company will keep OnLive name
Amid the rumors, sourced reports and statements, it was easy to lose track of the facts surrounding OnLive's recent restructuring efforts. No surprise then, that the newly formed outfit has issued a press release and FAQ (after the break) in hopes will clear things up. First and foremost, the firm reiterates that the streaming game service will continue operating uninterrupted, and that the "newly formed company" that acquired the firm's assets will continue to do business under the OnLive name. The announcement also mentions the Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) process OnLive used to settle its debts, noting that "an affiliate" of Lauder Partners, a technology investment firm, was the new OnLive's first investor. Finally, the firm laments the necessity of laying off its staff, stating that "neither OnLive, Inc. shares nor OnLive staff could transfer under this type of transaction," confirming that nearly half of the previous staff had been offered positions at the new company, and optimistically projecting future hires culled from both previous and new employees. The new OnLive calls the asset acquisition "a heartbreaking transition for everyone involved," but looks optimistically to a future of "transforming the OnLive vision into reality." Check out OnLive's full, official word on the matter below.
OnLive's alternative to bankruptcy: just what is an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors?
The news is out. OnLive, Inc. is no more, having cut the bulk of its workforce loose and used an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) to absolve itself of massive debts incurred by the expansion of its services without a corresponding increase in its customer base. But what is this alternative to filing for bankruptcy, and why did OnLive choose this particular legal reset button to start over? We spoke with an expert on the matter, Martin Pichinson, co-founder and managing member of Sherwood Partners (which does two or three ABCs in a given week), to help educate us on this little-known tool used by companies irrevocably in the red.
Documenting the death of OnLive: notes from the company's final meeting
"I've been a non-stop fundraising machine," OnLive CEO Steve Perlman told his entire staff yesterday morning. "And I finally got to the point where I just could not bring in enough funding to carry this thing forward." The hundreds of employees that make up OnLive were – en masse – relieved of their positions in yesterday's meeting, including Perlman himself. "All of us, technically, as of today, our jobs have ended – our current jobs with this company," another administrator informed the crowd after Perlman finished speaking.OnLive is entering what is known in California as an "Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors," or an "ABC," (a form of bankruptcy) wherein an "assignee" (a person, persons, or entity) takes over the assets of the current company – in OnLive's case, this means "the software, hardware, network architecture, our logo, all that stuff," according to Perlman – in an effort to lighten the previous company's debts and get its creditors paid off. Thus the "Benefit of Creditors" part of that acronym.Perlman didn't say who that assignee was during the company's meeting, only referring to him as "an extraordinary guy" (not an entity), and a "very accomplished and well known venture capitalist" who is "very wealthy." The unknown assignee apparently believes that OnLive "is the entire future of everything," Perlman told employees. Unfortunately, he isn't wealthy enough to bring on the 150-200 people that OnLive employed."Here's the tough part, and this is the thing I'm very sorry to say: it's just not possible for one individual in a startup – whether it's that old startup or this new startup – to bring in this many people into a company," Perlman said. Without giving numbers, Perlman said that, in the new company, "the people that come on board are the essential people, as needed, to go and accomplish that goal of getting this thing to cash-flow positive."He prefaced that news with a stinging reality: "The people that are gonna be coming on board here, that will come out of the group ... I'm gonna tell you, most of the people will not be coming on board."
Source: OnLive averaged 1800 concurrent users, CEO promised to protect patents against Gaikai [update]
A source confirmed to have been affected by today's OnLive company shift has stepped forward, telling Joystiq that staff were shocked when company CEO Steve Perlman announced OnLive would be restructured. Employees had joked, before the 10am meeting, that perhaps the company had finally been purchased. They thought the news would be good. It wasn't. Our source, who wished to remain anonymous, said that Perlman "showed no remorse" when detailing the decision to staff and explained to laid-off employees that any vetted stocks were worthless – as OnLive is "nowhere near going public" – no severance would be offered, and all flexible spending accounts were gone. [See update below] At 2pm today, a second meeting was called for employees that received an offer letter to remain with the restructured company, under an undisclosed investor. Only those with offer letters know the company behind the move, our source said. Prior to the news, OnLive employed 180 to 200 individuals. Less than fifty percent of staff – and our source speculates closer to twenty percent – received an invitation to the new company. Employees that remained included management and select members of the operations and engineering teams required to keep the service moving forward. Despite its claim of two million users, our source says that the average peak amount of concurrent users was around 1,800. The two million number accounts for anyone who has signed up for the service; actual usage was remarkably lower. Following the meeting, management told laid-off staff to pack their belongings, return any key cards, and exit the building by 4pm today. When reporters were spotted photographing the building, management requested laid-off employees to exit through the garage and not the front door. Multiple offers were made to purchase the company over the last few months, including one from Hewlett-Packard. Company management said it was investigating offers; however, it was widely known to employees that Perlman was looking for an offer in the range of $1 billion. "Steve got all excited when Gaikai got acquired, because it kind of validated everything we did," our source told us when asked if Sony's acquisition of the streaming service company changed an attitude in the office. At around the same time Sony made the acquisition, OnLive's patent for gameplay streaming went through. "So all of a sudden, Steve was like 'When the time is right, we're going to hit them with our patent because we're not going to let some two-bit company ride our coattails,'" the source claimed, explaining the threat was made to the entire company soon after Gaikai was acquired. "I guarantee that some time in the future, Steve is going to go to court and sue the shit out of them for stealing our ideas," the source said. Joystiq has contacted OnLive regarding the allegation of a potential patent scuffle. Update: Joystiq has learned that laid-off employees will keep their benefits package until the end of August, with the option of opting into COBRA on September 1. Additionally, laid-off employees that aid in the transition to the new investor, may be rewarded in company stock; however, it should be noted that OnLive is still not a publicly traded company. In separate meetings, laid-off OnLive employees received a termination package, which included a check for their last week of work and approved, unpaid PTO. Update 2: Though the new owner of OnLive has yet to be revealed, the new investor appears to be an individual "impressed" with what OnLive has been able to accomplish and not a major company – this according to Perlman during today's internal announcement meeting. Update 3: Another source has come forward to dispute the claim that OnLive CEO Steve Perlman showed "no remorse" when announcing the company's restructuring. "Steve said he was very, very sorry and shouldered all the blame at the company meeting this morning," the new source – also requesting to remain anonymous, but confirmed as an employee – told Joystiq. "Steve has always worked harder than anyone at OnLive and therefore has my respect as well as many others within the company," the sourced, who was also let go this morning, added. We have changed our headline address this conflict. Have any additional information about today's OnLive restructuring? Please contact xav [at] joystiq [dot] com.
OnLive hits reset after being dragged down by expensive servers, confirms service will continue
OnLive has finally issued an official statement after rumors of mass layoffs first leaked out earlier today, confirming that its assets have been acquired into a newly-formed company with what it claims is "substantial" financial backing. The big news for users is that the OnLive Game and Desktop services will remain operational and continue to be supported. The release also claims a "large percentage" of OnLive staff is being hired into the new company with plans to hire more over time, while PR informs us the leadership team remains intact. Check the words straight from the source after the break. We've heard from some of the people present for the meeting where the new plan was revealed today, confirming the company is going through a process known as Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC). A faster alternative to bankruptcy that doesn't involve the courts, it allows OnLive to deal with some of the issues it was facing, most notably an oversupply of servers for the number of users it had signed up. The ABC process allows OnLive to be unshackled from the expensive server contracts and bring in a new source of venture capital. Oh and that other major cost, the employees? Not all of the information is known yet, but beyond the loss of jobs, it turns out the stock they owned was in a company that no longer exists. We're hearing their benefits will end after August, however there are offers of contracts to answer questions about important topics like "where things are," in exchange for special form stock in the new venture. Update: Joystiq has more information from a former employee, who estimated the average number of peak concurrent OnLive users at around 1,800 or so, and the amount of retained staff in the range of 20 percent. One other tidbit? The source expects OnLive to go after recent Sony acquisition Gaikai for infringement of a game streaming patent, so stay tuned.
OnLive spun off into new company, service 'will continue to operate'
Cloud streaming business OnLive confirmed its sale and subsequent restructuring "into a newly formed company" this afternoon, and said both its game and desktop services "will continue to operate." That includes "all of OnLive's apps and devices."According to the statement, OnLive, Inc. is now a new company "backed by substantial funding" – enough funding to hire "a large percentage of OnLive, Inc.'s staff across all departments." Furthermore, there are plans to "hire substantially more people, including additional OnLive employees." The statement also said that its various plans for the future, including "products and services" that are still in development, will be unaffected by the spin off.The statement doesn't address how many employees were affected by today's news. Reports from former employees put the layoff numbers at 50 percent or more of OnLive's total staff.When asked whether CEO Steve Perlman was still heading the company, an OnLive rep confirmed that the company's management team "remains intact."
Source: OnLive undergoing buyout in wake of dire financials, laying off 'at least 50 percent' of staff
After a lot of back and forth from the rumor mill and official OnLive channels, we now have what we believe to be a far clearer view of precisely what is happening right now at OnLive headquarters in Palo Alto. We've spoken with a (now former) employee of the gaming service who ran down today's events for us. According to the account, a meeting was held at OnLive's offices at 10AM this morning, wherein the company's CEO announced a massive staff layoff -- at least 50 percent of the staff, according to our source's numbers. The layoffs come as part of across the board cuts to the company, and all those out of a job will have their key cards deactivated as of 4PM local time today. The source was understandably baffled by the abruptness of the news, along with the added blow that no severance will be offered and stock holdings are essentially worth nothing. The move apparently comes as OnLive is being purchased by an unknown party. Those being kept on have reportedly received offer letters from the new company. Why the sudden move? The source believes it may have something to do with the company's massive operating costs, which we're told are around $5 million a month. Certainly those concerns line up with a story dug up by Kotaku highlighting the company's plans to file for Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors as a result of the company's troubled financial situation. We're still gathering information as to the nature of the buyout. Update: According to our source, the writing wasn't on the wall at the company per se, but OnLive had reportedly been entertaining acquisition offers ahead of the news from companies including HP. Update 2: Our source has offered up some additional information on the matter, putting the average concurrent user number for the service at 1,100 to 1,500, peaking at around 1,800 on a given day -- not exceptional by any means in the face of reported $5 million a month operating costs. The number of layoffs, meanwhile, may well be greater than originally suggested, with our source putting the number of employees staying on board at around 10 to 20 percent.
Source: OnLive losing 'at least 50 percent of staff,' bought out by unknown third party
OnLive let go "at least 50 percent" of its staff today, Engadget learned, and the company was purchased by an unknown third party. A former employee confirmed layoff reports that popped up earlier this afternoon and recounted the events that led to today's firings.A meeting held this morning by CEO Steve Perlman informed employees that "at least 50 percent of the staff" were to be cut, effective as of 4PM PST today. Employees affected in the layoffs are said to have not been offered severance.Moreover, OnLive was bought out by an unknown third party, and an unknown amount of employees will be offered jobs at the newly formed company. It's unclear why OnLive is suddenly shedding so many employees, but the former employee pointed out monthly operating costs of approximately $5 million as at least part of the reason.For its part, OnLive isn't confirming any layoffs. "We don't respond to rumors, but of course not," a company rep told Joystiq earlier today regarding reports that the company's entire staff was laid off. Reps wouldn't confirm whether other layoffs have occurred.Vizio's Co-Star player is the latest product featuring OnLive – it's unclear how, if at all, it will be affected by today's layoffs, not to mention the purchase of OnLive by a third party.
OnLive on rumors of closure: 'of course not' [update]
InXile Entertainment's Brian Fargo tweeted this morning that he heard from someone inside Onlive that it was closing down, and has now posted that everyone on staff has lost their jobs, and that "a new company will be formed" soon after. A Mashable report from an anonymous source alleges the same. Joystiq reached out to OnLive directly to ask about the rumors, and Director of Corporate Communications Brian Jaquet replied to us with a blunt denial: "We don't respond to rumors, but of course not." "The exciting news is that the first VIZIO Co-Stars (Google TV stream players) with the OnLive app built-in have just arrived in customer homes," he continued, "and our second of three 'Indie Giveaway Weekends' is going on now. OnLive users can get a free copy of the award-winning games Space Pirates and Zombies and SpaceChem." So it sounds like OnLive is still open for business. Joystiq followed up to ask if there were any layoffs at the company this morning at all, and Jaquet could only confirm that "the OnLive service is not shutting down." We'll update this post with any more details if we can get them. Update: Kotaku is now hearing from "a source inside OnLive" that there in fact was a meeting this morning where CEO Steve Perlman told the staff that the company was filing for bankruptcy, and that no one would be employed by the current OnLive going forward. We're still researching this story, and will provide more information when we get it. Update 2: IDG's Martyn Williams reports via Twitter that he's outside OnLive's headquarters in Palo Alto, CA, and that he's seeing "employees leaving OnLive headquarters with moving boxes." It's looking more and more like there were layoffs at the company today. Joystiq is continuing to follow up. Update 3: OnLive laid off "at least 50 percent" of its staff this afternoon, and the company is being taken over by an unknown third-party. More through this link.
OnLive reportedly shutting down, new company forming in its wake (update: OnLive says 'of course not')
Well, here's a bit of a shocker. After a strong showing at E3 and partnerships with companies like OUYA, gaming service OnLive is reportedly closing down, with an entire staff layoff resulting. At a glance, this sure feels a lot like the similar rise and fall of InstantAction, which was attempting to pull off something similar with cloud-based gaming. Polygon is reporting the story as relayed to the site by game developer Brian Fargo. We've reached out to the company and received a non-comment comment, "We don't respond to rumors and have no comment." Our OnLive contact also used the opportunity to plug its Google TV tie-ins and few giveaways -- so, for the moment at least, things seem to be moving along as usual. Update: Joystiq has reached out for comment as well, getting a similar, yet decidedly more blunt response: "We don't respond to rumors, but of course not." Blunt response or no, we're sure this isn't the last we'll be hearing about this one. Update 2: We reached out to OnLive again for clarification on whether the denial pertained to both the shutdown and layoff rumors. The response reads thusly: "I have no comment on the news other than to say the OnLive service is not shutting down. I'm sorry I cannot be more specific." Update 3: Martyn Williams from IDG has reported there are employees leaving the OnLive offices with moving boxes.
