New State of Emergency declared as Glasgow firm takes on game

DC STUDIOS, the Glasgow computer games developer, has acquired the rights to the sequel to the top-selling State of Emergency game from collapsed rival Vis Entertainment.

DC has signed an agreement with administrator Tenon Recovery and State of Emergency Development, owner of the rights to the game. The deal will mean DC completing the development of State of Emergency 2 and arranging a publishing deal for the game and any further sequels.

It is already talking to several publishers and hopes to have the game on American stores’ shelves before Thanksgiving.

Under the agreement, the debenture holders will share royalties with DC. They include Scottish tycoons John Boyle and Ian Ritchie, together with Andrew Lapping of Hamilton Portfolio and Alex Catto.

DC will re-employ between 10 and 40 former Vis employees. Scotland on Sunday revealed last month that DC was likely to pick up staff from Vis.

Mark Greenshields, the chief executive of DC, said: "The game is an excellent addition to the company’s line-up and we look forward to it being a huge success and to the continuation of the brand in the future. We are also delighted to be supporting games development within Scotland."

Speaking to Scotland on Sunday two weeks ago, Greenshields said the company had succeeded where others had failed by insisting on "rigid financial management".

State of Emergency 2 will be released for the Playstation2 later this year, with versions for other games consoles to follow.

Chris van der Kuyl, who founded Vis, set up a new games company just days after the collapse of Vis. He is chairman and currently the sole employee of his new venture, 4J Studios, which will open for business later this month.

The company is likely to be based near Vis’s former studios in Dundee, and Van der Kuyl is expected to hire up to 10 former members of his Vis team.

According to documents filed at Companies House, Van der Kuyl incorporated 4J Studios on April 19 - just 12 days after Vis went into administration.

News that Van der Kuyl is planning to return to the corporate world so soon after the painful collapse of the company he founded will surprise many.

Van der Kuyl, who once predicted that Vis would be worth 500m, is said to have no plans for a media launch of 4J Studios, instead planning to slowly develop the company in a low-key manner.

Vis collapsed despite being sold last year to American company Bam Entertainment.

Bam failed to raise the promised finance and was delisted from Nasdaq.