Cisco pulls proposed 20% stake in Gameplay

Loose talk costs investment

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Games Industry, 16th February 2001 18:39 GMT

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Cisco has pulled out of a deal that would have seen it take a 20 per cent stake in the troubled British dotcom Gameplay.

Cisco's interest in Gameplay lay in its Jive multiplaying games platform - a way to play games on anything from mobile phones, through to computers and TVs.

Even though negotiations were reportedly at an "advanced stage", sources close to the companies claim Cisco was annoyed that news of the possible investment leaked out and appeared in the press.

El Reg understands Cisco blamed Gameplay for the leak - which is why it decided to pull out of the deal.

Gameplay insists its lips were sealed. And for once, Gameplay was probably right.

Mark Strachan, executive chairman of Gameplay, declined to comment on Cisco's move when El Reg spoke to him this morning.

Commenting on earlier press reports tying the two companies together, Strachan said: "That story did not emanate from here."

And since the original story was simply based on rumour and speculation, so the argument goes, there's little point commenting on more "rumour and speculation" that Cisco has pulled out.

Which is fair enough.

No one at Cisco was available for comment by press time. ®