West Realm Shires, Inc., the owner of FTX US, announced on March 22, 2022, that it had acquired Good Luck Games, the developer of Storybook Brawl. FTX US said the studio would join FTX Gaming. The game’s team later announced that its servers would shut down on May 1, 2023.
Who acquired Good Luck Games?
The buyer named in the acquisition announcement was West Realm Shires, Inc., which FTX US described as the owner of FTX US. Its March 22, 2022, announcement said it had acquired Olympia, Washington-based Good Luck Games and that the studio would be integrated into FTX Gaming. In other words, the company identified in the announcement was not simply “the FTX exchange”; it was West Realm Shires, the corporate entity associated with FTX US.
FTX US’s acquisition announcement framed the deal around the game studio and its free-to-play title.
What did FTX say it planned to do with gaming and crypto?
FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried said the company saw an opportunity to explore integrating crypto transactions into games. That was a stated strategic aim, not confirmation that a particular crypto feature launched in Storybook Brawl. Good Luck Games CEO Matthew Place also said the studio wanted artists and players to benefit from, and feel ownership in, the game’s success.
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Those statements describe the companies’ intentions at the time of the deal. They do not establish which features, if any, were implemented in the game.
Why did ‘Storybook Brawl’ shut down?
On April 25, 2023, the Storybook Brawl team announced on Steam that it had explored different options but found “no path forward.” It said servers would shut down on May 1, 2023, and invited players to enjoy the game until then. The post did not give a specific cause for the closure, so it does not establish that FTX’s bankruptcy was the sole reason.
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What does the later court filing say about the deal?
A complaint filed on November 8, 2024, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware says Good Luck Games merged with an entity it calls Merger Sub in 2022 and became a wholly owned subsidiary of West Realm Shires. The complaint alleges that interestholders received approximately $25 million in cash and stock consideration in connection with the merger. These are claims made in a court filing, not a judicial finding.
The same complaint says Storybook Brawl was never formally released and refers to the studio’s shutdown announcement. Read the November 8, 2024 complaint for the filing’s account of the corporate transaction.
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- Join forces to help Frodo make his way across Middle Earth and complete his quest to destroy the one ring
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Can you still play ‘Storybook Brawl’?
The official announcement establishes that the servers were scheduled to shut down on May 1, 2023. It does not establish whether any offline version remains playable, so the server closure alone is not enough to make a definitive claim about offline access.
Quick Recap
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