Software. The game's success allowed Neo Software to begin moving to the more central Business Park Vienna in 1994, which made it easier to hire international employees. The Clue!, released later that year, became the company's first game to sell more than a million copies, accelerating the relocation. In the following two years, Neo Software worked on Prototype, Dark Universe, Whale's Voyage II, and Cedric (all released in 1995), as well as Mutation of J.B., Spherical Worlds, Black Viper, and Fightin' Spirit (all 1996). During 1996, the company discontinued its publishing activities and established a consulting branch, Neo Consulting. By 1997, Baustädter had left the company for Digital Domain while remaining a shareholder. While developing Rent-a-Hero in 1997, Neo Software's first year without a release, the company underwent structural changes to improve its development capabilities and strengthened relationships with publishers for future releases. Rent-a-Hero was released in 1998. Neo Software worked with the nascent Austrian company JoWooD to release Alien Nations in 1999, which sold over a million copies. Acquisitions and closure (1999–2006) Computec Media, a German media company that produced magazines and online games, announced on 1 June 1999 that it had agreed to purchase a 51% majority stake in Neo Software, citing the success of Rent-a-Hero and Alien Nations as a motive for the acquisition. The deal was to close by the end of the year, with the studio to receive shares worth of Computec Media's stock. The company expected Neo Software and its eleven employees to develop two online games and generate in revenue each year. However, it proceeded to sell off Neo Software, alongside three other subsidiaries, to Gameplay.com in February 2000 for a combined in cash and in Gameplay.com shares. Under its new owner, Neo Software had commenced work on the Sid Meier's Pirates! spin-off Online Pirates (or Pirates! Online) by September that year. In October, Gameplay.com acquired Take-Two Interactive's subsidiary Toga Holdings (the parent of developer Pixel Broadband Studios). Alongside paying cash and shares, Gameplay.com entered into a "joint exploitation agreement" that allowed Take-Two to purchase Neo Software. The studio's valuation of was pre-paid in this transaction. Take-Two completed its acquisition of Neo Software on 31 January 2001, officially paying , while assuming in liabilities. The new parent company envisioned that the studio would act as a localisation studio for the German language in addition to developing games. Later in 2001, JoWooD published Neo