On the Internet when a story breaks, everyone jumps on it. The same was the case not too long ago, when Indian site The Economic Times (and subsequently several major news sites) reported that SOE was being bought by Zapak Digital Entertainment for the sum of $300 million, with further details to arrive next week.
Guess what? It's not true. When reached for comment, Sony Online Entertainment President and CEO John Smedley quickly refuted the article. "No idea who made this up. We are in discussions with various companies in India about bringing our games to this growing market but that's it. We aren't for sale," he said. "It's completely and utterly false."
As for what's really going on? "The real scoop is we're just working on a game distribution deal in India with Zapak. It's as simple as that. They're a good company."
Well there you have it. Seems the Internet may have jumped its collective gun a little too early on this story. SOE lovers and players of SOE games don't worry; false alarm. In the meantime, SOE's looking into what caused the miscommunication and trying to get all the false reports taken down.
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Updated June 4th, 2008
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Ah, good ol' investigative journalism.
I feel productive tonight.
I'm not surprised. You would've thunk someone would've figured "Wait, why would SOE be selling a highly productive subdivision in a time when they're looking to expand in that area? This makes no sense."