Maybe it is just me but this situation doesn’t sound so different from businesses that are used to launder money. It would sure explain some of the unbelievable business decisions that have been made over the last several years. Either way my heart goes out to all those who lost their jobs.

I do believe that the layoffs were planned. I wish I could believe that the ownership issues were just incompetence, but at the very least there was deliberate deception at the outset, obscuring sale of the company to a different party than claimed in the press releases and news coverage. The timing of the revelation of the “truth” is obviously tied to the Russian sanctions; I doubt that we’d ever have learned about it otherwise.

Maybe Daybreak will have to sell the EQ franchise for peanuts and some excellent devs will make EQIII!!!
…a guy can dream, can’t he?

It was one of the best episodes of Massively OP Podcast :D
We need more special episodes! You should call them: “Kerfluffle in the news” and record it whenever something big is happening with focus on that subject :)

Very interesting episode and I hope we see more specials in future, It all pretty much stinks and I do not believe columbus nova never owed the company and it was all big misunderstanding.

This is panic stations and headless chickens, new owner or same owner with the loss of backing/gangster money hence the layoffs.

I am hoping they do get bought out by a other company who will show everquest 2 the love it desperately needs as its an amazing IP that was once up there with wow and is currently fading away and sinking like a stone with a total lack of quality investment over the years and poor free to play implementation.

Dam even EQ Next could be back on the cards.

A lot of wishful thinking going on at the end of this podcast. Swallowing the line that these were preplanned layoffs makes you look very naive.

I think there are still some significant proceedings to take place. I think the fire is far from out.

From the horses mouth (we all believe this don’t we):

Dear Daybreak Community,

There has been some confusion concerning Daybreak’s ownership and rumors about the state of the company that have circulated from a few online game websites, and we want to set the record straight. We assure you that these rumors are entirely false and that there’s no impact on our business or games in any way whatsoever.

From the get-go, Daybreak has been primarily owned by Jason Epstein, a longtime investor who also has investments in a variety of media properties. Jason acquired Daybreak (formerly SOE) in February 2015 and has been the executive chairman and majority owner of the company since that time.

We’re well aware of prior statements from Daybreak indicating our company was acquired by Columbus Nova. We have since clarified that the company was acquired by Jason Epstein when he was a partner at Columbus Nova, which he left in 2017. We’ve also taken steps to clarify those facts on our website and on third-party internet sites to ensure that all of the information currently made available is consistent and accurate.

We apologize for the previous miscommunication and hope that this clears up any confusion. As always, we greatly appreciate your continued support for our games, and we’ll continue to work hard to bring the best experiences to you.

Can somebody give me the skinny?

Good recap, thx for that.
Stay sharp, cut through the smoke screen and don’t get tempted to believe what you prefer to believe.
One thing is DBG saying it was all a case of “miscommunication”.
But there is another party here that never debunked the acquisition story…Columbus Nova.
No disrespect to MOP’s sources, afterall much of this story relies on them, but nobody can make me believe that DBG and CN both forgot to correct what was reported.
Plus the then DBG CEO coming out and announcing it.
Think clear, don’t get lulled in.