Majesco Entertainment

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Majesco Entertainment Company
FormerlyMajesco Sales Inc. (1986–2005)
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
FoundedJune 16, 1986; 35 years ago (1986-06-16) in Edison, New Jersey, U.S.
Headquarters
Hazlet, New Jersey
,
U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Jesse Sutton (CEO)
Parent
  • Majesco Holdings Inc. (2003–2016)
  • PolarityTE, Inc. (2016–2017)
  • Liquid Media Group (2018–)
SubsidiariesMidnight City
Websitewww.majescoent.com

Majesco Entertainment Company (formerly Majesco Sales Inc.) is an American video game publisher and distributor based in Hazlet, New Jersey. The company was founded as Majesco Sales in Edison, New Jersey in 1986, and was a privately held company until acquiring operation-less company ConnectivCorp in a reverse merger takeover, becoming its subsidiary and thus a public company on December 5, 2003.[1] ConnectivCorp later changed its name to Majesco Holdings Inc. on April 13, 2004.[2]

On December 1, 2016, Majesco Entertainment was acquired by PolarityTE, Inc., a biotech company, in another reverse merger takeover, because of which it formally ceased all video game operations on December 8, 2016. In mid-2017, chief executive officer Jesse Sutton re-acquired the company through a management buyout and continued operating it privately held. In January 2018, Liquid Media Group announced the acquisition of Majesco.[3]

History[]

Majesco was first known as a reissuer of old titles that had been abandoned by their original publisher. By cutting the prices and eventually arranging the rights to self-manufacture games for both Nintendo and Sega systems, the company found a sustainable market niche.[citation needed]

Later, Majesco arranged with Sega to manufacture a version of its Genesis (known as Mega Drive outside North America) 16-bit console, which had been superseded by the 32-bit Saturn. It released this in 1998 as the Genesis 3 and followed up with a version of the handheld Game Gear called the Game Gear Core System.

The company's focus shifted to in-house game development, initially under the brand Pipe-Dream Interactive since few believed they could make the transition successfully.[citation needed] Majesco focused on developing for console systems, such as Nintendo's GameCube and Game Boy Advance, Microsoft's Xbox, and Sony's PlayStation 2. A few of the titles it released, involving popular characters, included a few Bomberman titles for the Gamecube and Game Boy Advance. Majesco also published PC games with Terminal Reality as the developer, such as BloodRayne and BloodRayne 2.

In 2003, Majesco was slated to publish Black9, but producers forced the developers, Taldren, Inc., to shut down when the game was about 85% complete.[4] The publisher had reached financial trouble with its larger-budget games, such as Psychonauts, which sold poorly although receiving several awards and critical acclaim, and Advent Rising, which generated intense hype but was ultimately panned by critics for being released prematurely and without adequate bug testing. Its best-selling titles in the last few years have been the series of GBA Videos for the Game Boy Advance. It also published the game Jaws Unleashed.

On January 19, 2006, the company's financial situation worsened to the degree that it had to cancel two games it was going to publish: Demonik, developed by Terminal Reality, and Taxi Driver, a sequel to the movie. Majesco's president, Jesse Sutton, said that in the future the company would "focus primarily on publishing value and handheld video games."[5] Since that announcement, the company has followed through with publishing successful budget titles in North America like Cooking Mama for the DS.

On September 14, 2006, Majesco released Advent Rising and re-released BloodRayne and BloodRayne 2 on Steam.

On November 6, 2007, Majesco announced the opening of a new development facility in the Los Angeles area dedicated to the development of casual game products and properties.[6]

On December 10, 2007, Majesco announced that they would be publishing a rhythm-based game, Major Minor's Majestic March, exclusively for the Wii developed by NanaOn-Sha.

Majesco has announced that it will be launching an internet version of Bananagrams on August 18, 2008 that will be available on Facebook, a social networking website.[7]

On November 4, 2009, Majesco released BloodRayne and BloodRayne 2 on GOG.com.

On June 6, 2011, Majesco announced that it was acquiring the assets of social game developer Quick Hit and Quick Hit Football to build out its social gaming strategy.[8]

In August 2013, Majesco announced the creation of an indie publishing label, Midnight City, in order to bring various indie games to consoles.[9]

After a disastrous fiscal year of 2013, the company was expected to enjoy a recovering growth in 2014.[10] However, this proved incorrect, as they continued to lose large amounts of money in 2014, resulting in the closure of Midnight City and the cancellation of the console port of Gone Home.[11]

In August 2015, Majesco announced that they had appointed a new CEO, and that only five employees would remain in the company. The company's focus also shifted to develop mobile and downloadable titles. Two new titles, Glue and a new installment in the A Boy and His Blob franchise, were announced after the reconstruction.[12]

In December 2016, Majesco announced it was ceasing operations in the entertainment industry, and merged with biotech firm . Polarity will obtain Majesco's NASDAQ symbol name, COOL.[13][14]

In June 2017, divested itself entirely of and subsequently sold, Majesco Entertainment's assets, which were subsequently taken private, leading to the rebirth of the company as an independent corporation.[15]

In November 2017, Majesco announced that it had re-entered the video game business after having previously been brought back to a privately held company, release their onto Steam.[16]

On January 15, 2018, 51 percent of Majesco was bought by Liquid Media Group, and Jesse Sutton became LMG's Gaming Advisor.[3]

In June 2020, Ziggurat Interactive purchased a number of IP formerly owned by Majesco Entertainment, including the rights to BloodRayne, Advent Rising, Flip's Twisted World, and Raze's Hell. On the same day, Ziggurat announced that the PC release of BloodRayne would receive updates to improve compatibility with current-day systems, with updates done by original developer Terminal Reality. They also announced plans to continue the franchise.[17]

Games published[]

References[]

  1. ^ Burnes, Andrew (December 8, 2003). "Majesco Merges With ConnectivCorp". IGN. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  2. ^ "ConnectivCorp Changes Name to Majesco Holdings Inc". www.businesswire.com. April 13, 2004. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "LIQUID MEDIA GROUP ACQUIRES PROVEN GAMING PUBLISHER MAJESCO ENTERTAINMENT" (PDF). Liquid Media Group | News. January 15, 2018.
  4. ^ "Cyberpunked: the Fall of Black9". The Escapist Magazine. May 20, 2008. Retrieved June 4, 2008.
  5. ^ "Majesco cans two games, shifts to budget/handheld". Eurogamer. January 19, 2006. Retrieved May 10, 2006.
  6. ^ "Majesco Announces New Casual Game Studio, Appoints Former Sega Exec In Lead Role". Gamasutra. November 6, 2007. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
  7. ^ "Banagrams Bound for Facebook". Playthings. Archived from the original on September 26, 2008. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  8. ^ "Majesco Expands Social Strategy With Quick Hit Acquisitions". Gamasutra. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  9. ^ Sarkar, Samit (August 29, 2013), Majesco launching indie publishing label Midnight City with 10 games, retrieved June 29, 2017
  10. ^ "Majesco Entertainment Co.: Moving Away From Disastrous 2013 Into Potentially Significant Growth In 2014 And Beyond". January 13, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  11. ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (November 17, 2014). "Majesco and Midnight City are in dire straits". Eurogamer. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  12. ^ Hillier, Brenna (August 12, 2015). "Majesco is going all digital, new A Boy and His Blob inbound". VG247. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  13. ^ Sarkar, Samit (December 9, 2016). "Majesco merges with medical technology company, exits games business". Polygon. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  14. ^ Sarkar, Samit (December 9, 2016). "Majesco merges with medical technology company, exits games business". Polygon. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  15. ^ "PolarityTe divests Majesco's game business for $0.1M". June 29, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  16. ^ "Majesco's marauding Martian hit 'Romans from Mars' comes to Steam". November 9, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  17. ^ "Ziggurat Interactive purchases the rights to Bloodrayne, Flip's Twisted World, and more Majesco IP". GoNintendo. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.

External links[]

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