Stargate Worlds has been in development for several years. Publisher CME/FireSky says the game is on-track as scheduled, but not everyone is so convinced.

Conceptualized in early 2006 by Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment (in association with MGM), Stargate Worlds is a PC game under development that hopes to bring the Stargate franchise to life within the open-ended, playable worlds of an MMORPG. Mainly based around the military sci-fi atmosphere that SG-1 fans are familiar with, the MMO focuses on the Tau'ri-Goa'uld conflict and promises to immerse players in the same world as the TV show. Early SGW gameplay announcements and trailers inspired confidence among many Stargate fans, especially because of the game's unique first-person-shooter and combat mechanics.

But consumer faith in the project has waned over the years. More recently, developer CME and its subsidiary publishing company, FireSky, have begun receiving a steady stream of criticism from the media because of the ways in which the companies have operated during the game's production. In an interview with GateWorld a few months ago, Stargate series executive producer Brad Wright expressed his doubt about the MMO's release.

Perhaps under the most scrutiny is Gary Whiting (founder and board chairman of CME), accused by the community of being everything from a PONZI schemer to an embezzler. Adding even more fuel to the fire is the recent news that MGM will reportedly revoke the publisher's licensing rights on August 1, unless $8 million in capital is raised in investment funds. But despite all the scandal accusations and media circus, FireSky has continued declaring that the MMO is still on-track and under development.

"The lights here are still on and the development team is working hard every day to get this game built," according to FireSky's Kevin Balentine, in the aforementioned article. "Team members are in the office seven days a week to deliver Stargate Worlds." This announcement, made back in April, followed a particularly-sketchy period of rumors.

CME developers and designers made a public outcry back then, accusing the company of withholding their salaries. Allegedly, one or more employees even launched a makeshift website about it, titled and domain-registered as "days-since-cheyenne-mountain-employees-have-been-paid.com." It turned out that the current economic "crisis" we've been facing over the last few years took its toll on CME, especially since it didn't have any existing capital. FireSky chalked it up as a cash flow problem.

The company didn't have the luxury of funding the development of SGW with existing revenue, because it didn't have money coming in from other MMOs, like many other publishers do. It relied primarily on investment funding to launch the game's initial development.

But it wasn't until that GateWorld interview with Brad Wright that the fan community began seriously considering the vaporware factor. Although Wright isn't an official spokesperson for FireSky, he served as a creative consultant for the game during its development.

When asked about the future of SGW, Wright admitted that he had no idea if the game would see a launch anytime soon, even though it was originally planned to be released by now, at least in beta phases.

"It's a shame," he said, in the interview. "If it doesn't happen—and, let's be honest, it should be happening now if it was happening. It's a shame. It's a terrible shame. They had an opportunity and they got our support, and they obviously had significant funding, and it didn't happen. It's kind of a drag for the fans and the time that we invested—what little of it there really was, in comparison to what they did—was still a shame that it was wasted, because it should have happened."

But as many fansites pointed out in their coverage of the issue last April, the fan community might have jumped the gun, putting more weight into Wright's comments than it should have. Just a few days after the Wright interview plunged the community into a funk, FireSky tried to initiate damage-control and issued a press release on the SGW website.

"I've been asked from many corners lately to provide an official response to a story circulated by Gateworld.net," wrote Balentine, the FireSky Marketing Director. "I spoke with Darren Sumner, the author of the story, soon after it was posted and gave him a detailed response to the article which he decided not to publish. […] Brad Wright is the Stargate expert and a creative consultant on Stargate Worlds who advises us on the story; unfortunately we had not recently updated him on our progress or the impact from the current global economic crisis, and he was not fully aware of the continuing progress on our game."

Balentine went on to write that there was some truth to the media reports of the financial difficulties the company is having. Attributing its cash-flow problems to "the greatest worldwide economic downturn in decades," he claimed that FireSky is "still raising enough money from angel investors to keep the dev team working."

Apparently the money from the "angel investors" just wasn't quite enough though. As we reported a few days ago, FireSky allegedly has until August 1 (tomorrow, relative to this story's press time) to raise the remaining investment capital needed for it to retain the game's licensing rights. According to the source story at MMORPG.com, a former FireSky employee is anonymously attributed to leaking the news to the website that MGM will revoke its license if the publisher isn't able to come up with the cash in time.

"At this time, the company's last hope appears to be a group of doctors who are considering an $8 million investment into the company," MMORPG.com reports. "This cash infusion would keep the company alive, allow it to pay off back wages and launch Stargate Worlds. However, our anonymous source does not believe that the deal will get done."

In response to the claim, MMORPG.com was able to get in touch with Shane Hensley, FireSky's Director of New Business Development. Hensley confirmed that the company is currently looking for additional investors, including "the doctors", but he told the website that FireSky's license isn't in jeopardy of being revoked.

According to the information Hensley offered, the rights holders aren't too happy with the ways in which CME/FireSky have handled the MMO's development thus far—but they haven't threatened to back out of the deal by a specific date yet, either. The story also quotes him as saying, "The struggle has been more than most could bear, but there are a few here who have independent means or significant personal investment who have been able to ride it out. I doubt this will last much longer, but those who are here currently are amazingly dedicated and continue to make progress on our projects despite the circumstances."

No matter which FireSky employee you listen to, currently-employed or otherwise, they all seem to talk about Stargate Worlds in a sweet-and-somber way; as if they're doing their best to hide a tear with an optimistic smile. It's part of any publisher's job to remain publicly enthusiastic about its product, even during the roughest of times.

The media and fan community will probably find out if there was any truth behind the licensing issue in a few days. Either way, something tells me it won't be too long before we know if SGW is destined to live or die.