Ulster gaming firm seeks chapter safety

An Ulster County digital and tabletop gaming enterprise whose gross sales had been disrupted when its Facebook account was hacked two-and-a-half years in the past has filed for chapter safety.

OuiSi Inc., of Stone Ridge, a hamlet close to New Paltz, petitioned in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Poughkeepsie for Chapter 11 reorganization on April 24. It declared $91,692 in property and $1.6 million in liabilities.

“Reliance on social media advertising, while instrumental to OuiSi’s early success,” CEO Paul Brillinger states in an affidavit, “would later prove to be a critical vulnerability when the debtor’s Meta accounts were compromised.”

Brillinger, knowledgeable photographer, co-founded OuiSi in 2017. The identify is pronounced as We See, and interprets as Yes Yes in French and Spanish.

Players mix photograph playing cards right into a photologue, based mostly on shade, texture, form, content material or “anything that can be creatively justified.” The recreation is supposed to foster collaboration and creativity and encourage curiosity, in keeping with its web site. A recreation based mostly on wildlife images, for instance, invitations gamers to attach with the great thing about our planet.

Brillinger says the sport surged in recognition through the Covid-19 pandemic as households on lockdown had been on the lookout for conscious actions.

OuiSi marketed its video games on social media channels reminiscent of Meta’s Facebook and Instagram. The technique spurred fast progress, however in October 2023 its Facebook account was hacked. The takeover disrupted gross sales through the crucial vacation season, Brillinger says, and left the enterprise considerably weaker going into 2024.

Strained funds prevented OuiSi from investing in advertising, personnel, product growth, and channel diversification. It grew to become overly depending on Facebook, “which resulted in further unprofitability in 2024.”

OuiSi made almost $3.3 million in 2024, $1.8 million in 2025, and $106,000 within the first 16 weeks of 2026, in keeping with the petition.

OuiSi’s largest collectors are Meta Platforms, for promoting, $869,525, and Panda Manufacturing, Hong Kong, for making the video games, $367,635.

“While Panda Manufacturing is not the root cause of OuiSi’s distress,” Brillinger states within the affidavit, “its current demand for immediate payment is the forcing event that necessitated this court-supervised restructuring.”

OuiSi’s technique is to proceed working as a going concern. It must cease creditor pressures, Brillinger says, protect worth, preserve operations and restructure its obligations.

OuiSi nonetheless has “significant opportunity to grow,” he mentioned, “and to fulfill its mission.”