Loki punters left out in the cold

Geek gaming favourite Loki Software has revealed that it will be suspending operations.

Three years ago the company announced that it would be porting the popular Civilisation game to the Linux platform. Following that success, it also embarked on ports of Quake III, Sim City 3000, Unreal Tournament and Tribes 2, and quickly became a favourite gaming resource of the tens of millions of Linux users out there.

But last summer Loki filed for bankruptcy following poor sales of the Quake III port and speculation that it had overestimated its target audience.

"There are probably still not enough willing to stick to Linux full time to keep Loki's sales high," read one report on Linuxgames.com.

Then today an email to Loki resellers purporting to be from company president Scott Draeker appeared on dotcom doom watcher FuckedCompany.com.

The email read: "After three wonderful years, Loki will be indefinitely suspending operations on 31 January. We understand that many of you have come to rely, at least in part, on reselling Loki products.

"In order to protect your ongoing business, we are granting you the first opportunity to purchase our existing inventory."

The email went on to say that, effective immediately, Loki would cease technical support for all of its products. "Remember that after 31 January these products will no longer be available anywhere," it said.