I believed in what we were doing. I’d built a new game engine for the Dreamcast (the only nextgen console available at that point), we’d created two good game demos, the team was full of industry veterans and I liked and respected everyone I worked with. I also saw the lengths my boss was going to to make it work (including remortgaging his house to finance the short term).

In hindsight it was obvious where it was going. But I wasn’t being manipulated or abused. And I will argue vigorously and vehemently that we weren’t being taken advantage of. We were fighting to save what we felt was a good thing.

> I'm sure 80% of companies with a temporary cash crunch (but a legitimate business model) can get bank credit to cover salaries

This wouldn’t be an option in the situation I describe. You would need orders and evidence of delayed payments that can be used to cover the loans once they arrive.

That kind of finance is actually quite hard to get in the UK.