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38 Studios loan could impact state elections
If you've started to forget about the saga of 38 Studios' collapse, rest assured that Rhode Island politicians certainly have not. With the election coming soon, many in the state are scrambling to offset the blame for the $75 million loan decision and protect their positions. The Associated Press is reporting that it's being seen as a "liability" among candidates. One candidate, Mark Binder, addressed the continued furor over the issue: "If I don't bring it up, other people bring it up. Everyone is infuriated. There's this game going on in Rhode Island right now called 'pass the blame on 38 Studios.'" While many of those directly responsible for voting the deal through have since resigned from their positions, the search to pin the fiasco on one of the state's leaders is still underway. Another 2012 candidate, Laura Pisaturo, said that the public is demanding more answers: "People read in the paper about 38 Studios and think 'we elect these people and expect they will lead and ask tough questions.'"
Rhode Island possesses 38 Studios' games, looks to sell
While 38 Studios is finished, its employees laid off, and its projects canceled, there's really only one thing left to be done: figure out what to do with the leftovers. The court granted the state of Rhode Island all of 38 Studios' assets, including rights to its single-player RPG and the unfinished Project Copernicus. The Rhode Island Economic Development Corp said that it will attempt to sell these assets to recoup as much of the loan made to the studio as possible. This may be a slight blessing in disguise for fans of the studio's projects, as the move was made to keep the intellectual property intact instead of having it be lost due to the company's dismantling. The games are being transferred to servers for safe-keeping and constitute a majority of the studio's remaining net worth.
A look at Curt Schilling's management of 38 Studios
The dust has more or less settled around the demise of 38 Studios, but much of the information about what happened to lead the company so deep into the hole is fragmented. Some fans admonish the Rhode Island governor, some admonish Curt Schilling, and some admonish the management team that led to several poor decisions. A new piece in Boston Magazine goes into depth about where Schilling's management caused problems and how the culture at the studio slowly deteriorated. The article paints Schilling as being relentlessly optimistic and dedicated to his employees but at the same time unfamiliar with business and the realities of running a game company. He also wound up with a bloated staff and disregarded information from management, leading to conflicting demands and a general lack of progress on major deadlines for Project Copernicus. If you've got any interest in the game industry, it's a fascinating look at how a game company can start with high hopes and dissolve under financial realities.
38 Studios Rhode Island deal still up in the air
Just when we thought 38 Studios' epic quest to move its guild headquarters to Rhode Island was nearing its conclusion, a posting on the blog of a local television news outlet casts a bit of doubt on the successful outcome of the proceedings. Reporter Ted Nesi writes that the state's Economic Development Commission is itching to close the $75 million loan it's taken out for 38 Studios. However, if Lincoln Chafee wins the governorship in today's election, it could trigger a showdown, given the candidate's outspoken criticism of the deal. The other leading candidate, Frank Caprio, has said that if elected, he will "march down to EDC headquarters on Wednesday to do something unspecified about 38 Studios." In other 38 Studios news, Amazon has recently published the official box art of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, the first official game to come out of Curt Schilling's company (currently slated for a September 2011 release). Check out the details, as well as a new screenshot, at 38gamers.
38 Studios announces official Rhode Island relocation
The lengthy saga of 38 Studios' relocation looks to be drawing to an end, as the fledgling game company has published a press release touting the impending lease of an office building in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Originally headquartered in Massachusetts, the developers behind the eternally cryptic MMORPG code-named Copernicus were offered a loot bag full of $75 million in loan guarantees by the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. The relocation will generate 450 high-paying tech jobs, and state governor Donald Carcieri lauds it as a move that will "provide job opportunities for our college graduates in a fast growing industry, and will attract other interactive and entertainment companies to Rhode Island."
38 Studios relocation loan in jeopardy
Democratic Rhode Island gubernatorial candidate Frank Caprio has flip-flopped in his stance towards a $75 million loan from the state's Economic Development Corporation to fledgling game maker 38 Studios. The development house, founded in 2006 by former Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling, is hard at work on the top-secret Copernicus MMORPG and was offered the lucrative deal in exchange for moving the company's headquarters from Massachusetts to Rhode Island (and bringing a proposed 450 high-paying jobs to the state's economy). Caprio, who currently serves as Rhode Island's general treasurer, is one of several political candidates condemning the deal, a marked change from his views in past weeks, notes the Boston Globe. "I am not going to stand by and watch us gamble taxpayer dollars on a bad deal when there are thousands of small businesses in need of more access to capital," Caprio said in a press release dated August 31st.
GDC10: Copernicus' Project Mercury being published by EA
If you have been eagerly awaiting news on the top-secret Copernicus over at 38 Studios, you'll be pleased to hear that 38 Studios broke the silence today. "Project Mercury," a single-player title set in the Copernicus universe, will be coming to the PC, XBox 360 and PS3. 38 Studios signed a publishing deal with EA to bring the game to market. "Project Mercury" is described as "an epic single-player role-playing game," and is being developed by 38 Studios-owned Big Huge Games under the guiding hand of Ken Rolston (Morrowind and Oblivion). This will be the first Copernicus project launched by Curt Schilling's team after years of anticipation and heavy speculation. As NASA's Project Mercury set out to test the boundaries of space by putting a man into orbit, "Project Mercury" looks to be testing the waters of single-player RPGs before diving into the realm of MMOs, similar to the approach of fan-favorite Torchlight. Stay tuned to Massively, as we meet with Copernicus' R. A. Salvatore later this week at GDC to pick his brain.
