Absorbation of MsgStuff.com writes:
With the new year comes change and the world of Messenger is no exception. Messenger Plus! Live is Windows Live Messenger's most popular add-on with over 60 million users. Recently Patchou has stepped down as distributor of the extension and now Messenger Plus! is privately developed by Yuna Software. This post should elucidate the details to what this may mean for the program's future.

Specifics are somewhat obscure, as Patchou himself created this company some years ago. What does appear to be the case is his control over development and management of the software and its community. Maybe this can be considered a buy-out of Messenger Plus! although this idea certainly lack clarity.

So what do we know? Well yesterday Patchou sent out a lengthy email to his beta tester team to elaborate on the new developers role and sponsor strategies for his Messenger extension. It appears he will be developing the next milestone of the software (it is his code and he has the contextual knowledge of the Messenger API), however his control over the approach appears to have been narrowed.

Patchou quote: I need all of you to understand that I am not personally associated with Messenger Plus! anymore.

This simple statement summarizes the situation at hand and although Patchou can't explain the reasons why in explicit detail for legal reasons, it is important to understand Messenger Plus! Live is no longer Patchou's project and will be taking on a new direction.