announced that they had negotiated a deal to purchase the rights to Vanguard back from Microsoft, and at the same time announced that they had arranged a co-publishing deal between Sigil and Sony Online Entertainment. "Vanguard: Saga of Heroes" was released on January 30, 2007, co-published by Sigil and Sony Online Entertainment. While initial preview coverage was positive the launch lead to disappointing reviews. Acquisition Sigil Games Online had around 150 employees at the time they released their only game, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, on January 30, 2007. The development team continued to address the well-documented technical issues users experienced at launch for several months. On May 14, 2007, the staff of Sigil Games Online were told to meet in the parking lot at 4:30PM and to take with them what they would need for the rest of the day. The employees were told that the launch of the game had not gone well, the company was in financial trouble and they were selling the company to Sony Online Entertainment. Director of Production, Andy Platter, then told the employees "You're all fired." The following day, May 15, 2007, Sony Online Entertainment announced that they had acquired Sigil's "key assets", while further stating that Sony Online Entertainment would hire approximately fifty of Sigil's employees and that Brad McQuaid would be consultant to SOE as a creative advisor for Vanguard. Sony Online Entertainment's President John Smedley communicated the announcement to "Vanguard's" playerbase via the game's official forums. References External links Sigil Games Online at MobyGames Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game development companies Software companies based in California Companies based in Carlsbad, California Video game companies established in 2002 Video game companies disestablished in 2007 2007 mergers and acquisitions 2002 establishments in California 2007 disestablishments in California Defunct companies based in California Defunct software companies of the United States