Rhode Island explores ditching 38 Studios debt

To pay back or not to back, that is the question that Rhode Island is exploring after being saddled with $112.6 million in combined debt and interest when 38 Studios went kaput, taking Project Copernicus with it. RI governor Lincoln Chafee still believes that lenders should get their due according to his spokeswoman Christine Hunsinger, but the administration is gathering data to explore the cost of not paying back to get an understanding of "the ramifications of what that decision would be."

Currently the state is planning to pay investors back over the course of 10 years, with a $2.5 million payment the first year and subsequent installments of $12.5 million thereafter.