Who owns Daybreak Studio? Who owns the company behind the games H1Z1, Everquest and Planetside 2? This is not so easy to answer. Apparently, Daybreak does not belong to the company “Columbus Nova”, because that would pose serious problems. Columbus Nova is indirectly owned by a Russian oligarch, whose assets have been frozen by the U.S. Treasury.
Who is Daybreak? Daybreak is the former studio “Sony Online Entertainment”, which separated from Sony in 2015. They were taken over by the investment group Columbus Nova in February 2015, or so it was thought.
Daybreak operates games such as Everquest, Everquest 2, H1Z1, DC Universe Online, or Planetside 2. They also publish Lord of the Rings Online. Since they joined “Columbus Nova”, there has been a cost-cutting trend – for example, they have canceled Everquest Next and Landmark. The long-time head of the studio, John Smedley, left the company in July 2015. Important identification figures of the individual games also left Daybreak over the years.
Who owns Daybreak? Actually, it was thought that Daybreak belongs to the group “Columbus Nova”. Daybreak announced this itself in a press release in 2015. However, this would currently be a very delicate situation, as Columbus Nova is in serious trouble.
Assets of Russian Oligarchs Frozen in the USA
What is going on with Columbus Nova? Columbus Nova belongs to the Renova Group, which in turn is owned by the Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg (61).
The U.S. Treasury (via Home.treasury.gov) froze the accounts and possessions of seven oligarchs and twelve companies in the USA on April 6. This includes the assets of Viktor Vekselberg and the Renova Group. This is related to the annexation of Crimea and the support of the regime in Syria by Russia. Additionally, Russian oligarchs are accused of sabotaging Western democracies, including the 2016 U.S. election.
Vekselberg and the Renova Group are specifically accused of being involved in corruption regarding energy production in Russia.
They have until June 5 to wind down their operations in the USA.
MMORPG players are worried: This news has triggered serious concerns among Everquest 2 players (via Eq2wire).
They are asking: “Will it be over in two months?” Because if Columbus Nova can no longer operate in the USA: How will Daybreak continue, and thereby Everquest 2?
Yet, Daybreak doesn’t sound like they’re having difficulties. Just on Tuesday, they announced the PS4 port for H1Z1.
This is not our owner, our own press release from 2015 was wrong
This is what Daybreak itself says: Daybreak tells the U.S. site MassivelyOp: This is all a misunderstanding. They have nothing to do with Columbus Nova. A former member of Columbus Nova, Jason Epstein, is the owner of Daybreak Game Company and has always been since he bought the company from Sony in February 2015.
The press release they issued at the time was a mistake that they are now correcting. The press release from 2015 clearly states: “Columbus Nova bought us.”
Moreover, users discovered a conflict on Daybreak’s Wikipedia page. Apparently, accounts attempted to delete all references to Columbus Nova from Daybreak’s Wikipedia page when the sanctions became known in early April.
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