Mastertronic enters administration

UK games publisher Mastertronic has entered administration.

The firm says a deal is in place to buy the assets of the business and retain the existing team.

However, MD Andy Payne will no-longer be involved.

Mastertronic applied for a CVA in July 2014 to avoid a winding-up order. At that point, it closed its retail business and laid off 40 per cent of its staff.

It survived following a new investment deal in February 2015, but issues with that deal forced the firm to seek new funding, which didn’t arrive.

We signed an investment deal with a Bahrain/Qatar based organisation back in February 2015 which would have seen our majority Dutch shareholder exit and be replaced by these new shareholding investors and the company financed going forward,” Payne told MCV.

"Sadly, this organisation did not honour the contract and as a direct result have put us in the position we find ourselves in today. We made strategic investments into game development, based on this investment deal. When the Middle Eastern investors reneged on the deal, it left us desperately needing an alternative investor. Sadly we failed to find one in time.

"The new company will focus on flight and train simulation only and I will not be employed by the new company, although I may be asked to advise, and my future is now in my own hands again.”

The Mastertronic brand name has existed in video games for 32 years. This iteration of the business dates back to 2004 when TheProducers and Sold Out were merged together.