Rumor: RTW chiefs to buy Project MyWorld [UPDATED]

Ian Hetherington and Dave Jones, chairman of Realtime Worlds, may be trying to buy Project MyWorld out of administration with creative director Dave Jones supporting the purchase, according to an as-yet-undetailed source picked up by Gamesbrief.

The rumour suggests the pair may be trying to close a deal quickly. This follows the recent re-hiring of 23 of the original 60 Project MyWorld team by RTW administrator Begbies Traynor after the title received “considerable interest” from both sides of the Atlantic.

Project MyWorld was announced by Realtime Worlds last month in what was believed to be a last-ditch move to secure a publisher and bring much needed funds in to the ailing Scottish studio following the difficult reception of APB.

According to a seperate source on GI.biz, it is now believed that a new studio may be being formed around Project MyWorld, with the 23 re-hired staff and a figure "with an existing relationship with Realtime Worlds" running the project from the current RTW Dundee studio.

The identity of the potential buyer is as yet unknown, but these events suggest that Hetherington and Jones are behind the move to consolidate the new studio behind the project, originally slated for a spring 2011 release.