Quoted from fosaisu:The money from that sale, plus any other cash that could be wrung out of Zidware, would be split up by the court among everyone that Zidware owes money to, based on standard criteria that probably don't favor the current "owners" much (it's conceivable that unpaid programmers and artists that worked on the designs/art might have a priority claim on particular assets, but hard to imagine the pre-order folks would). And whoever bought the IP would be unlikely to owe anything to the current "owners." So a forced asset sale in bankruptcy might be the best chance of Magic Girl, etc. ever being made, but might not do much for those that sent money to JPop.
The priority ranking of claims in bankruptcy might surprise you.
Unless those unpaid programmers and artists can establish a secured claim (e.g., mechanics lien for labor and materials, or judgment lien following a successful lawsuit), or they can establish a priority unsecured claim as W-2 employees owed back wages & benefits, then their claims would likely be classified as general unsecured claims, along with the claims of other 3rd-party trade vendors.
Section 507(a)(7) of the Bankruptcy Code actually gives a 7th priority to "allowed unsecured claims of individuals, to the extent of $̶1̶,̶8̶0̶0̶ $2,775 for each such individual, arising from the deposit, before the commencement of the case, of money in connection with the purchase, lease, or rental of property, or the purchase of services, for the personal, family, or household use of such individuals, that were not delivered or provided." [11 U.S.C. §507(a)(7)]
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011-title11/html/USCODE-2011-title11-chap5-subchapI-sec507.htm
The initial $1,800 dollar amount in the original Bankruptcy Code has been increased numerous times over the years to compensate for inflation, and it was subsequently increased to $2,775 in 2013.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-02-21/html/2013-03998.htm
Pre-order customers who paid deposits would likely have their claims "bifurcated" (divided in two) into: (1) a priority unsecured claim of up to $2,775, and (2) a residual claim for the remainder, which would likely be classified as general unsecured. So the priority unsecured claim would likely be paid after all secured claims and some higher priority unsecured claims like administrative claims of lawyers/professionals in the case (Priority 2), and some wage & benefits claims of employees (Priorities 4 & 5), but before lower priority unsecured claims like taxes owed to governing bodies (Priority 8), and before general unsecured claims (e.g., trade vendors).
For a pre-order customer, this might be better than expected under the circumstances, or for a trade vendor, it might be worse than expected.
Disclaimer: I am not an attorney. The above is just my personal opinion and should not be construed as legal advice. Always speak with an attorney for legal advice.