Former employees of Phoenix Labs and Rumble Games say they were told to keep blockchain platform Forte Labs' purchase of their employers an absolute secret.
Behind the scenes, the company was quietly funding and purchasing game studios, with the apparent intent of producing games it could integrate on its own blockchain platform.
How many is unclear. When asked what game studios it has purchased, Forte’s spokesperson confirmed its purchases of Rumble Games and Phoenix Labs, but said the company “hasn’t been announcing investments and partnerships for some time now, but more news will be coming from Forte soon.”
This secrecy does not appear to break any laws. KUSK Law partner Don McGowan, former general counsel at Bungie and chief legal officer at The Pokémon Company, told Game Developer that there’s nothing illegal about keeping these purchases a secret, but that it is “fucking weird.”
Forte Labs is super sketch.