After speaking with an anonymous Radical Entertainment employee, we now know something of the rocky financial health of Radical Entertainment, developer and publisher of both PC and console games and the current holder of the ESPN Digital Games license.

　　A combination of circumstances brought Radical to its end. According to a source, Radical's CEO Mike Ribero got the ESPN Digital Games license about a year and a half ago due to a friendship at Disney Online, and Radical received a chunk of development money from Disney as part of the deal - "an awesome deal". A fantastic deal for Radical, indeed. But the source says the Disney investment was spent unwisely. Radical went on a wasteful spree of spending, especially in San Francisco - lavish offices, a gym, expensed lunches, plenty of munchies for the employees, and - most disastrous to the bottom line - development teams that sometimes numbered as many as 30 employees working on a single game. "It was a corporate culture of waste," the source told us.

　　A turning point in the health and well being of Radical occurred when the Disney contact of Ribero's left Disney. Soon after the departure, the source says, Disney pulled back its support, and Radical was left to its own devices. At that point, the source says, "Disney hated us, and we were the unwanted children."

　　All along, Disney has held on to the rights to transfer and administer the ESPN Digital Games license. So now, with the possibility that Radical may go out of business (a point numerous sources address), the license will revert to Disney (since Radical won't have any money to enforce the license agreement).

　　Electronic Arts is apparently ready to step in and pay for the license, but wants it for 10 years. Currently, Disney's limit on the length of the agreement is six years. One rumor at Radical is that Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner himself has been observing the negotiations and doesn't want the license to be granted to anyone for more than two years. The idea is to let the value of the ESPN license increase, thereby allowing Disney to renew at a higher cost to the licensee or find someone else who'd pay more. The feeling at Radical is that when the license moves from Radical, if it does, the games already completed with the ESPN Digital Games license won't see the light of day. Where's the value to Disney? Disney would rather sell a license that's never been used, the source suggests.

　　Whether or not Radical has the foundation to bring itself back to life or flounder will most likely be determined in the next 48 hours.