jen-maclean
Latest
38 Studios appears to be getting no new help
The bad news continues to accumulate for Rhode Island developer 38 Studios. According to Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee, the company has received a grand total of no outside investment. It also has not received any of the tax credits that it requested, leaving the studio still deep in the hole. Chafee has stated that he is doing everything in his power to prevent the studio's closure. Staff members are also leaving the company at an alarming rate, with CEO Jen MacLean and senior VP of product development John Blakely both confirming their departures from the company. The hiring of both individuals was trumpeted as a mark of success as recently as March of this year, and Blakely was still employed by 38 Studios as recently as Monday evening. There's even talk of the company's health insurance running out. None of this news suggests that Curt Schilling's company will make a quick turnaround -- if indeed it makes a turnaround at all.
IGDA calls Mythic 'disrespectful' for not crediting all Warhammer devs
In a turn of events that doesn't really surprise us given its source, IDGA chairperson Jen MacLean has said in the group's recent newsletter that Mythic's choice to not credit all those who worked on Warhammer Online is, "disrespectful of the effort of the game developers who worked on the game, and misleads both consumers and game industry peers," While the choice doesn't particularly sit well with us either, the IDGA is taking the news very gravely. And so they should, seeing as they represent game developers around the world. "Some people claim that providing complete credit information...encourages people to leave their job before a game is complete," continued Chairperson MacLean. "These reasons are simple window dressing for policies that are arbitrary, unfair, and in some cases even vindictive, and they simply don't hold up." Finally, she made her case against those who would call credits unimportant because nobody reads them by saying, "The number of people who read a game's credits is irrelevant. Even if only one person reads the credits of a game, integrity demands that all work be accurately and honestly represented." Our stance on the issue is the same as it was before. If Jon Doe worked on a game for eight months before leaving a development team for whatever reason, that should not suddenly make his hard work null and void.
