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Bad Juju, indeed: Desura’s parent company files for bankruptcy

Desura parent company bankrupt

A couple of weeks ago, PC distribution shop Desura apologised on its blog for not paying developers in a timely fashion and, in some cases, at all. The missed payments led to a Reddit thread going back five months, with developers bemoaning the situation. It’s now looking like this was indicative of a larger issue, as Desura’s parent company, Bad Juju, has filed for bankruptcy.

In its blog last month, Desura reassured developers that payments would be made, blaming complications stemming from the change in ownership. Desura was previously owned by Second Life developer, Linden Lab, before being picked up by Bad Juju, which also owns Indie Royale, in November 2014.

The distributor also lacked an automated payment system, but it was working on one while it was also attempting to sort out manual payments to developers.

Bad Juju confirmed the bankruptcy filing with Gamasutra today, but has yet to make a statement or explain what will happen with the late payments, or if the developers will see a penny.

Bad Juju’s head of developer relations had this to say: “I asked Tony [Novak, CEO of Bad Juju] for confirmation and all he could tell me was, ‘The lawyers have said I can’t say anything or answer any questions yet, but yes it’s true.’”