We have it on good word that the project may finally be completely cancelled.  After recently laying off another 40, and delaying the project until Q2 2008, Perpetual may have finally reached the end of the road with Gods & Heroes.

UPDATE: It is indeed official as WarCry announced yesterday - DOH - regardless it's a sad day for a lot of folks who put their heart and soul into that game.  We wish them all the best. 

And the story has been evolving non-stop with the most recent updates talking about Foundation9 (who yesterday soaked up The Collective and Shiny) plays the role of the BORG buying up what's left of Perpetual and potentially continuing development of G&H.

Word is - Star Trek Online may not make it - life support is officially in place.

BackStory:
This all comes after a year of rough riding for the struggling MMO developer who only last year laid off some 35 employees attached to the project - with some of the layoffs actually reaching into the team on the Star Trek Online project which was not a good indicator of their financial standing. 

At the time this all seemed rather odd as the company had taken on a recent investment by Korean-based Gravity Co., to the tune of $9million dollars in shares, as reported by Gamasutra, and had over 20 job openings listed on it's site. 

Only last month the company experienced a second round of layoffs attached to the project though Perpetual CEO Chris McKibbin was quick to point out that a "formal ship date has never been solidified" thus attempting to brush off rumors of a cancellation.

Further rumors plagued the company as some saw Sony Online's shift from co-publisher to marketing partner as a sign of concern with the product from their viewpoint.  Again McKibbin labelled this a "non-story that people spun a little" going ton to explain that Perpetual had always been in the publishers chair with SOE providing distribution and marketing through the online channel.

If the cancellation is true, it cannot bode well for the company or its Star Trek MMO project as it would imply a deeply rooted financial issue requiring yet another influx of cash to resolve.  The Star Trek IP is strong enough to attract additional investors but they may have trouble throwing money into a sinking ship.

As I said we're still awaiting confirmation from Perpetual but the source is solid.