OnLive sold and restructured but remains OnLive

OnLive, the game streaming service which allowed you to play premium PC and console titles such as Darksiders and L.A Noire on your Android tablet, has been sold.

However, it’s all a bit of a complicated ruse, as the company has pretty much taken action to side-step bankruptcy, known apparently as an ‘Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors’.

Last week, OnLive laid off all its staff and sold its assets, but the buyer was a newly formed startup company under the same name. OnLive reincarnated, if you will, with help from investor company Lauder Partners.

This new company has now re-employed around half the former OnLive staff, while a good chunk of the other half will stay on as consultants.

OnLive has lost all its shares and investments, which includes around $40 million from HTC, in what the company described as a ‘heartbreaking transition for everyone involved.’

The company may have dissolved and then reformed at half strength but fortunately measures have meant cloud services have remained uninterrupted for end users throughout the ordeal, something OnLive is keen to emphasise will continue.

That said, it’s difficult to predict where things will go from here. It could reasonably be argued that this is a rather dramatic death spasm and that, despite saving the company in the short term, these measures won’t be enough to stop its ultimate demise.

The uptake on cloud gaming hasn’t been as enthusiastic as was previously hoped and looking ahead things aren’t exactly peachy.