Wireplay is still up for sale despite speculation that it has been bought by two former directors of Gameplay Plc.

Industry insiders said former Gameplay directors, Tim Gummer and Bruce Heck, had bought the multi-player games service for £150,000 as part of a management buy-out (MBO).

He denied the MBO had been completed but admitted that he was in negotiations with Gameplay to buy the operation.

Gameplay Plc boss, Mark Bernstein - speaking through his financial PR - also denied that the deal had been inked.

"Wireplay's still up for sale," he insisted.

Which leaves us where? Well, if both sides agree that Wireplay's still up for sale then there's little else that can be done except to take their word for it.

However, just because the sale hasn't been signed and sealed doesn't mean it isn't going to happen. Our view is that Bernstein's and Heck's denial is merely a question of semantics.

Time will tell.

Heck's new operation - Arena Teknik - is a business-to-business games service that will provide online gaming and related consultancy to Net businesses who want to run a games service.

The privately funded London-based outfit should start operations on September 1. Heck said he's already holding talks with a number of unnamed operators to provide a games service.

However, Telewest Internet operation, Blueyonder, is not one of them. It will launch its own broadband games service in the autumn after recruiting a handful of former Wireplay staff. ®

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