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Since its publication on Monday, June 29th, 2026, the following article has been updated to include replies from Empire Interactive's Işık Şekercigil.
In this job, I'm used to seeing old, defunct companies come back from the dead, typically when some unrelated third party comes along and hoovers up a bunch of rights.
But even I don't really know what to make of this recent post from the publisher Empire Interactive on LinkedIn a few days ago, which claims the company has "the trademark and select intellectual property rights of The 3DO Company."
Why, you may ask? Well, that's because, as far as I was aware, Empire Interactive has also been dead as a publisher since 2009, with the company's back catalogue having been sold off more than a decade ago. So, in other words, this isn't the case of just one old publisher coming back from the dead, but two, making me want to do my best Haley Joel Osment impression, as I fearfully type "I see dead companies."
In the case of The 3DO Company, it's been dead since the early 2000s, with the company going bankrupt in 2003 and the rights to many of its games scattered to the four winds since then. Because of that, I've been cautious to reserve judgment on this new announcement. Though there does seem to be some within the industry who have taken this post at face value.
The former CEO of Limited Run Games, Josh Fairhurst, for example, was among those who replied to the initial post on LinkedIn; he offered Empire the chance to license the 3DO versions of Night Trap, Sewer Shark, Corpse Killer, Quarterback Attack, or Supreme Warrior. Meanwhile, the CEO of Antstream Arcade, Steve Cottam, labelled it "Great news," adding, "I have a lot of love for the brand."
This made me want to dig a little deeper into exactly what is happening, rather than ignore it outright, but the more I dug, the more new questions seemed to appear.
From what I've been able to gather, Empire Interactive seems to have been relaunched earlier this month without the original founders, Ian Higgins and Simon Jeffrey, with an individual named Işık Şekercigil (who we've found next to no information on) now characterising himself rather generously on LinkedIn as the "Founder of Empire Interactive and The 3DO Company." It currently has an active website, but it is extremely light on info and raises a few red flags, claiming, for example, that the publisher received a "2024 Best Agency" accolade, even though it apparently didn't exist at the time.
That's not all, either, as despite stating in the announcement that it acquired the rights to The 3DO Company to "re-establish 3DO as an independent game company and bring some of its legendary titles back to players through carefully crafted remastered editions,” the first title it has announced under The 3DO Company seems to be a pretty blatant Sims clone (as opposed to anything actually 3DO-related), suggesting this could just be a desperate ploy for people's attention. I reached out to Empire Interactive to find out more and received a fairly lengthy email in response that addressed some of my questions, starting with the following: Who is Işık Şekercigil? And what exactly is their background in game dev?
"I am a dual Turkish and British citizen currently residing in the UK," wrote Şekercigil in the email. "To be perfectly transparent, my professional background does not originate from the retro gaming era. While I am a lifelong retro gaming enthusiast, I do not claim to be a veteran or an expert in that specific era; doing so would diminish the incredible achievements of those who genuinely built that industry.
"My expertise lies in the modern mobile gaming sector. As a video game developer and executive, I have spent years working within the mobile industry in Turkey, managing teams and holding leadership roles in several mobile gaming companies that achieved multi-million and billion-dollar valuations (unicorns) from their inception to their peak."
With this nifty bit of additional information in hand, I once again did another search for Şekercigil's name, this time in relation to mobile games, believing that surely, if someone was successful as he was saying, there would be some record of them online. But again, it turned up almost zero results. This suggests that if what he is telling me is true, he is either the most humble man alive or he likely operated with a cloak and dagger, behaving more secretively than some major governments. We've asked Şekercigil for specific evidence of the mobile companies and games he's worked on, and will update if we hear back. But we still can't help but find it a little odd, there's so little information online, especially for someone who was apparently involved in multi-billion dollar companies.
Explaining why he decided to switch from mobile to console gaming, Şekercigil told me he "experienced a turning point.
"I realised that while mobile games can reach millions of downloads and generate staggering monthly revenues," he said. "They often lack narrative depth, longevity, and cultural value. Five years from now, players are unlikely to remember the names of those games or the companies behind them, because the mobile market operates heavily on a 'fast production, fast monetisation' model. In contrast, PC and console companies that made significant contributions decades ago are still remembered, respected, and celebrated today, even if they closed down.
"I could not see that kind of lasting legacy or artistic value in the modern mobile unicorn ecosystem. This realisation led to a discussion with my team. We decided to research dormant, historical gaming brands that held a special place in our hearts. Naturally, Empire Interactive and The 3DO Company were at the top of that list, as we grew up playing their games and shared an emotional connection with them."
Giving some insight into the digital necromancy required to bring Empire Interactive back from the dead, he told me, "We revived Empire Interactive first by acquiring the trademark and legal rights through a legal firm. This process was relatively straightforward because we acquired the brand asset rather than an active portfolio of intellectual properties (IPs).
To clarify the IP situation: even during its peak in the 2000s, Empire Interactive’s wholly owned IP library could be counted on one hand. Empire operated primarily as a mid-tier (AA) publisher. Many of the games they released belonged to external studios, and Empire merely held temporary publishing rights. Their most famous owned IP, FlatOut, was sold off years ago when the original company collapsed. The status of Empire's historical IP catalogue is highly fragmented—in some cases, it remains legally ambiguous who currently holds the rights to certain obscure titles.
"Our primary goal in reviving Empire Interactive is not just to remaster old titles, but to position it as a modern, active AA developer and publisher. We want Empire to develop its own high-quality AA games while also publishing indie titles that meet that same standard. Because the general gaming community views Empire as a respected but historically neutral brand—rather than one bound by intense nostalgia like 3DO—we believe the best way to honour its legacy is to build it into a forward-looking company that creates new experiences tailored to the modern generation.
"To answer your question regarding the '2024 Best Agency' mention on our website: our websites are currently under construction," he added. "The mentions of a "2024 Accolade" and other placeholder text are simply default components of the pre-made website theme that we have not yet updated or cleaned up due to time constraints. The websites are undergoing active revisions and updates over the next few days to accurately reflect our official corporate timeline and structure."
Honestly, this last point seems kind of ridiculous to me. As someone who has put together a very basic website using pre-made templates in the past and hasn't been involved in any billion-dollar companies, it's not hard to pick a website theme that doesn't mislead people about your history, so to see it happen here is a little bit stunning, but again, mistakes do happen sometimes, so maybe it's worth cutting them some slack.
As for the 3DO brand, Şekercigil explained that its goals are "entirely different" from Empire's, as the current CEO "intends to reactivate [3DO] across multiple fronts." This includes "New versions of legacy 3DO games, modern internal AA projects, and closely integrated developments." This explains why it is being used for the company's Sim-clone Simoria.
As Şekercigil states, Empire Interactive has not yet provided a definitive list of the 3DO IPs it owns, and this seems deliberate on the company's part, as negotiations and community outreach are still ongoing.
Şekercigil, for instance, tells me that it is currently in "active negotiations for one of the major, historic 3DO properties" and that "several lesser-known companies and independent individuals contacted us, stating they hold certain niche 3DO copyrights and wish to discuss licensing."
Şekercigil has even expressed long-term ambitions to re-enter the hardware space, arguing that "If we can navigate the hardware rights—which, quite frankly, are even more legally complex than the game IPs—we aim to launch two types of hardware: a Retro Console: Newly manufactured hardware dedicated to playing classic retro titles; a Modern 3DO Ecosystem: A modern console platform that will host our new titles, updated legacy games, and an open storefront ecosystem where indie developers can self-publish their games."
It claims this "may take several years to materialise," adding that "holding the rights to The 3DO Company does not automatically grant immediate, unrestricted rights to manufacture hardware, and we are working carefully through those complexities."
Given that the company can barely make a website at this point, I wouldn't hold my breath.