Two Worlds II Inventory May Be Seized Before Release

Things are really heating up in the financial dispute between CDV and SouthPeak Games, as GamesIndustry.biz is now reporting (registration required) that the latter’s Two Worlds II inventory may be seized and liquidated by the courts before the company is able to start distributing it in September/October.

CDV took action against SouthPeak for alleged non-payment of bills, sending bailiffs to take over 40,000 games from SouthPeak, and freezing a payment to the publisher from distributor Centresoft in the hope of redirecting it to CDV.

Despite SouthPeak’s efforts to adjourn the decision on the £30,000, lawyer Fladgate LLP is confident payment will be awarded to the now-defunct publisher. Despite the £50,000 made from the sale of games such as 3D Dot Game Heroes and Horrid Henry, CDV is only likely to receive around £12,000 after fees.

It may be a small victory as CDV tries to reclaim the $3.4 million owed by Southpeak, but its lawyers said it will continue to take action against the controversial publisher.

As Southpeak prepares to launch Two Worlds II in September, Fladgate is deciding whether to seize the stock or wait to claim the proceeds of sales of the fantasy game.

“They don’t have any new releases until Two Worlds II, but we’ll be able to do the same again,” warned Lawrence Abramson, partner at Fladgate.

“The question is, do we seize the stock or let it sell and seize the proceeds? And then there’s the question of whether Centresoft would want to distribute Two Worlds II for Southpeak.

This is really getting ugly. If you have your mind set on playing Two Worlds II on release day, you might be better off pre-ordering a digital copy.