Krome Studios is back, and so is TY

Company
Krome Studios

It's starting to feel like the good 'ole days again! This week, we've seen the return of Dimsdale & Kreozot, Infinite Interactive, and now it's Krome Studios' turn to make a reappearance.

They've reopened their website which, for the past year or so, sat dormant displaying just the Krome Studios logo. The new site has had a design makeover and gives a glance of the smaller-scaled titles they've been involved with since their notorious collapse in late 2010.

The website also gives a small teaser of what's to come from Krome - expect to see the return of Ty, the Tasmanian Tiger, their breakout title which propelled the small Brisbane Studio to greater numbers and bigger things ten years ago.

Submitted by designerwatts on Fri, 27/07/12 - 11:10 AMPermalink

I remember seeing someone at GDC 2011. I didn't know who it was but he was at one of the hotel lobbies near the conference, playing around with a tablet with the TY loading screen on it.

I was off to a meeting so I didn't stick around to ask. But I can only assume he was showing some kind of product to publishers, media or investors.

This could be the result of those kind of efforts. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.

Submitted by ex-kroman (not verified) on Wed, 01/08/12 - 10:39 PMPermalink

Umm, didn't they go into liquidation with a few million dollars in unpaid debts back in 2010, including a ton of money owed to staff? Most of the staff ended up getting these debts payed by the Aussie taxpayer, but all the 457 (foreign) staff got left short-changed.

How can they just pop back up after running their company into the ground and offloading debts onto the Govt.? Is that even legal?

W
T
F

How come this isn't a news story?

Submitted by ex kroman (not verified) on Tue, 28/08/12 - 12:05 PMPermalink

I dont understand how do they get away with htis. I still havent receive all my holiday pay from them, but yet they have money to rebuild the company.

Submitted by annoyed (not verified) on Thu, 30/08/12 - 9:27 AMPermalink

Yes - it's all just from there being "money to rebuild the company". Nothing to do with a shitload of hard work, working at other jobs, some people working without pay etc to try to do something that we love.

Submitted by Sandy (not verified) on Thu, 06/09/12 - 3:24 PMPermalink

Get your facts right. Every company in Australia pays a contribution to the Gov't in the event of losses, winding up etc. Just like worker's compensation companies pay insurance and when the worker is injured the Gov't pays worker's compensation. THis hasn't come out of the paypacket of taxpayers but is funded by the companies themselves. Also just like you pay an extra fee on your rego for a nominal defendant portion which covers incidents ie blinding sunlight, lightning, etc again taxpayers don't pay this. Check your facts no offloading of debts on the Govt.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 06/09/12 - 6:57 PMPermalink

Maybe I'm wrong but I can't find the legislation that requires companies to contribute to a fund for GEERS. (Please point me at it, I may be having a google fail)

They ARE technically required to have sufficient funds on hand to cover employee entitlements, but when things start to go bad.....doing everything possible to survive tends to kick in, which is why we have GEERS.

My understanding is that the Government can recover costs from liquidated assets but that there is a substantial gap as described in this article.

http://www.workplaceinfo.com.au/payroll/payments-and-expenses/employers…

Also remember that unpaid employers superannuation contribution is not covered by GEERS and that contractors are not covered at all.

I seem to remember that there was a proposal to extend GEERS to cover unpaid Super which would have required employers to pay a levy, but this was strongly opposed by employers organisations.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 06/09/12 - 10:14 PMPermalink

I forgot that not everyone has a subscription to workplaceinfo.....so here is an article from "The Age" describing how TAXpayers have funded nearly $1bn in unpaid entitlements through GEERS over the past decade.

"Employment Minister Bill Shorten defended GEERS and criticised company directors for failing to meet their obligations. ''These situations are often a result of financial mismanagement by company directors,'' a spokesman for Mr Shorten said."

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/failed-firms-leave-huge…

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/08/12 - 10:43 PMPermalink

er, Pheonixing or some other shenanigans? Pretty sure Walshy would have done his homework on the legalities and found some loophole.

I also am surprised this has not generated more commentary.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 03/08/12 - 11:15 AMPermalink

Krome specifically hasn't made the news, but...

Phoenix activity costs Australia between $1.78 billion and $3.19 billion a year, according to a report into phoenix companies in Australia released today by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

The report, prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), estimates that the annual cost of phoenixing in Australia is between $191 million and $655 million for employees, in the form of unpaid wages and other entitlements.

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/legal/050528-fwo-report-reveals-phoenix-…