Dear Cherbert,
This question has been asked before, and this is the answer:
Although we represent a young company, then again we are a subsidiary of a highly successful and well-established business entity in the field of computer games. It is, as you are well aware, the same company that is responsible fot the UBOOT PC game, and it is a parent company to more than 40 (!) game dev subsidiaries. It is listed on the stock market, it is making deals with such entities as Discovery Channel, Mazda, Dodge, etc., and it continues to grow (and quite rapidly at that, if you ask me).
Their strategy is to seek out creative talent, and then provide it with all the tools and resources that they need to make new and exciting products. One of their newest areas of interest is board games, and we have been invited to join the party.
In summary, when we presented our signed papers at the bank, the reaction was: 'Well, gentlemen! You've got some pretty powerful people on your side!'
The bottom line being: Playway isn't going anywhere any time soon.
Hope that answers your question
http://www.playway.com/
Oh, and the app is fully integrated with the game, so there is no way you can play the board game without it (I guess you could fool around with the app on its own, but then it's gonna be totally lacking in the crew management department (which is going to be a major component of the game as such). All in all, it is probable that after some time on the market there will be an option to release the source code for modding, etc. We are also taking that opportunity into consideration so as to extend product life further and allow prospective fans to play around with the content. In general, time will tell
