Planet Moon ‘owed substantial money’

Californian game studio Planet Moon is preparing legal action after accusing several unnamed parties of owing the group a “substantial amount of money”.

The studio’s unnamed project “went into financial default” over Christmas, the studio’s CEO, Aaron Loeb, told Develop.

Yesterday the social games giant Bigpoint hired 37 staff working at Planet Moon, and has absorbed the workforce into its San Francisco offices.

Develop had incorrectly reported that the huge staff transfer was due to a studio buyout.

The studio said it is still in operation, but is owed an unspecified amount of money “and has claims against several parties”.

“We are pleased that we were able to find employment so quickly for our affected colleagues,” Loeb said.

Loeb added: “We are preparing legal action. We will issue further statements when we can. Our focus at this point is on determining the future status of the project and working with our litigation counsel, Jeff Makoff and Heather Landis at Valle Makoff LLP.”

Planet Moon was founded in 1997 by ex-Shiny Entertainment developers.

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Bigpoint has been on a rapid talent hunt of late and, with the Planet Moon hires, has pushed the staff count up to 100 at its San Francisco base.