Some of the core people behind the first game were fired. They say it's because the owners of the IP were doing something malicious and wanted them out of the way. The company says it's because the main guy (Kurvitz) was impossible to work with and couldn't behave. There are interviews with people who worked with them on the game and it does seem like it was a very toxic environment (that nevertheless produced a masterpiece). It's hard to tell what's really going on.
It's a shame because Kurvitz was behind most of the crazy ideas in the game but I can also understand if people don't want to work with him again. It's also very possible that some dodgy dealings are going on with the ownership of the IP like he claims, but that's not really clear.
IMHO the evidence suggests it's both -- plus, everybody knows the Tortured Artist is always going to lash out, and the Money-Men are always going to scheme. I suspect the one is used as evidentiary justification for the other, and vice versa.
...this is the Moralist analysis, anyway. Hello from the Kingdom of Conscience!
My understanding is that the guys who took over wanted to use DE money to basically push out fruit ninja style mobile games. Even if it turns out that their takeover was completely legal, holding on to the DE property and not developing it to prioritize boring mobile platform shite is a cardinal sin.
