After failing to secure venture capital at acceptable terms, Hassabis had pitched his startup to 15 different publishers at E3 1998 in Atlanta, eventually signing a three-game deal with Eidos Interactive.
The company, citing "the current risk averse publishing climate", concluded that its goal of exploring new territory was not possible.
In a press release, Hassabis said: "It seems that today's games industry no longer has room for small independent developers wanting to work on innovative and original ideas.
Elixir stated that it had sufficient resources to pay redundancy packages to its staff and ensure that the company was wound down in an orderly manner.
[3][4][5][6] Rebellion Developments bought Elixir's intellectual property in March 2006, including Evil Genius.