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R.A. Salvatore details the lack of death in Project Copernicus
"To be or not to be" is not a question asked in most MMOs. Characters don't die permanently, after all. But Project Copernicus wouldn't have waved that fact off as an irrelevant necessity of game mechanics. No, according to R.A. Salvatore, the game world would have explored the meaning behind a world wherein no one truly dies and everyone is functionally immortal. Players who enjoyed Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning will recall that the game opens with the player character returning from death thanks to the Well of Souls. In Project Copernicus, the Well of Souls would have been active not just for one individual but for everyone in the world. Returning from death would be something that happens not just to players but to every part of the world. It's not hard to imagine the ways in which a world would seem different if death was no longer something to be feared or avoided. Salvatore laments that the concept is unlikely to see execution now, even with buyers looking to purchase the 38 Studios assets from the state of Rhode Island.
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.'"
Fallen kingdom: 38 Studios' collapse and the pitfalls of using public money to support tech companies
In a career filled with many clutch throws from the baseball mound, former Boston Red Sox ace Curt Schilling's main calling card was a gutsy post-season performance made even more memorable by a blood-soaked sock. It was a pitch made by Schilling outside of Major League Baseball, however, that would prove to be his most daring one yet. In 2010, Schilling convinced Rhode Island officials to give his video game company, 38 Studios, a $75 million loan guarantee. A self-professed fan of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG), Schilling's dream was to create a worthy competitor to Blizzard's MMORPG juggernaut, World of Warcraft. In 2006, Schilling started Green Monster Games, which was later renamed 38 Studios. Luring the company away from Massachusetts was supposed to bring in more than 400 jobs and serve as the linchpin for launching a new tech-based industry in Rhode Island. Instead, the state's taxpayers found themselves left at the table with a multimillion-dollar tab.
38 Studios' Amalur MMO 'Project Copernicus' would have been free-to-play
Details continue to surface regarding "Project Copernicus," the Kingdoms of Amalur MMO that once dominated development at Curt Schilling's now-defunct 38 Studios. We've seen an early trailer of the game and learned that it wasn't any fun to play, but Copernicus' more tangible bullet points, such as its pricing structure, have remained a mystery."We were going to be the first triple-A, hundred-million-dollar-plus, free-to-play, micro-transaction-based MMO," Schilling told Boston Magazine. "That was one of our big secrets."Schilling went on to say that Copernicus' status as a free-to-play MMO would have been the "atom bomb" that "shocked the world," once the game eventually debuted. Copernicus' non-subscription architecture was also one of 38 Studios' strongest selling points during late-stage negotiations with potential investors, according to Schilling, and that talks could have been kept alive were it not for Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee's disparaging public tone.
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.
Subpoenas issued over 38 Studios deal, Citizens Bank sues Schilling [Updated]
While the fallout from 38 Studios' collapse carries with it a human toll, it also has triggered a legal one as well. State and federal law enforcement agencies have issued subpoenas to both Bank Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation over the loans that enticed the game studio to the state. Currently, the RI state police, the state attorney general's office, the FBI, and the US attorney's office are jointly looking into the situation. Police are investigating the specifics of the deals in an attempt to figure out what exactly happened. The subpoenas requested records of the financial contracts and loans. Both the RIEDC's $75M in taxpayer bonds and Bank Rhode Island's $8.5M loan are unlikely to be repaid following the studio's bankruptcy. [Update: Massively reader Zaken tipped us off to the fact that Citizens Bank has announced it is suing 38 Studios' Curt Schilling to the tune of $2.4 million "in an attempt to recoup its money from the ex-ballplayer's personal assets."]
'38 Spouse' explains decision to speak now, never heard of 'EA Spouse'
Late Tuesday night an email blast went to several media outlets from '38 Spouse,' offering up an inside look into the collapsed 38 Studios "through the eyes of a spouse of one of the employees." The allusions to the EA Spouse (Erin Hoffman) incident of 2004, a watershed moment in the industry regarding working conditions, gave us pause in printing the full letter. Turns out "38 Spouse" had never even heard of her predecessor."No, I was not aware at the time, but have now been enlightened," she told Joystiq. Although 38 Spouse has verified her identity to us, she wishes to remain anonymous to not "cause any problems" with her husband getting a new job. He remains unemployed, she said, "But there's lots of interest and we are hoping to have something soon.""It took me some time to get over the shock to be honest. Also, I have been looking for a temporary job, since I am not sure if we are moving or not," she told us when asked why she sent the open letter. "It's been a month and I really felt that now was the time to hear a different side of this story. I wanted to explain and make people aware in any industry, not just gaming, that this kind of thing happened. These employees were not a statistic, but real people with families and they believe in what they do."Asked who her husband blames for the situation she said, "He really doesn't blame anyone specifically as there were a lot of different reasons things weren't working."The full 38 Spouse letter can be found after the break.
38 Studios liquidation valued in tens of millions by RI, gov. will get every penny he can for taxpayers
38 Studios declared bankruptcy earlier this afternoon and Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee held a press conference this afternoon to discuss the company's assets, which now belong in part to Rhode Island taxpayers. "We have had in recent days discussions with investors that were and, to my knowledge, are discussing substational numbers, which indicate that there could be significant value to the assets," said Jonathan Savage, council to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. "I can say that discussions we've had have been in the tens of millions of dollars." "We are going to do everything possible to maximize return on our investment," declared Governor Chafee. "Taxpayers in Rhode Island can have full confidence that if there's a penny that we can get, or a nickle or a dime, we'll get it." Earlier this year, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told us that he expected 38 Studios' IP to be worth approximately $20 million.
38 Studios declares bankruptcy, formal investigation begins regarding finances
Curt Schilling's embattled 38 Studios declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy (liquidation), as Rhode Island and federal authorities open an investigation into how the company handled its finances.WPRI reports the state police, attorney general's office, US Attorney's office and the FBI will investigate 38 Studios, "both the money that came from the state as well as the money that came from Bank Rhode Island." The Providence Journal confirmed the bankruptcy this afternoon.Beyond the controversial taxpayer backed loan of $75 million to 38 Studios, the Bank Rhode Island reportedly loaned the developer $8.5 million earlier this year against tax credits that haven't materialized.
Schilling says he could lose $50 million of his own money in 38 Studios implosion [update: Chafee responds]
Embattled 38 Studios co-founder and head Curt Schilling finally broke his weeks of silence on the Rhode Island studio's recent implosion in an interview with The Providence Journal. "Frustration" seems not strong enough a word to describe his feelings toward Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee – Schilling called Chafee's commentary surrounding 38 Studios "devastating," and claimed it "scared off private investors."Schilling also said that he could lose $50 million due to the studio's failure – money which he earned as a professional baseball player, and which he later invested into 38 Studios. That money, as well as approximately $50 million of a planned $75 million loan co-signed by the state of Rhode Island, was eaten by 38's long-in-development MMO, "Project Copernicus."38 Studios' Baltimore-based subsidiary, Big Huge Games, was working on a sequel to this year's Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The project was depending on private investment to go into production – to the tune of $35 million from an unnamed publisher – which Schilling said was pushed away by Chafee's statements."Curt was committed to us as a community and as people, he wanted the best possible work environment for the team he cared so much for, and as a result none of us wanted to let him down," one former 38 Studios employee, speaking under condition of anonymity, told us. "He had invested so much into us financially and personally, we were not about to betray that trust. We were not going to take the chance of speaking to the press and accidentally ruining any chances with outside investors. Unfortunately, it didn't matter if the employees spoke and ruined things with the investors as the Governor beat us to it."Last week, 38 Studios laid off its near-300 person staff in Rhode Island, as well as its approximately 100-person studio in Baltimore, Big Huge Games.Update: Governor Lincoln Chafee responded this morning to Schilling's comments in a short Q&A session with Rhode Island reporters. "As a business person, he was new at it, and so I always had some reservations," Chafee said. "I have to verify everything, I can't just take it as a leap of faith," he told one reporter asking about the alleged $35 million that 38 Studios was on the brink of acquiring to create a sequel to this year's Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. "Hope springs eternal, but I won't misrepresent to the Rhode Islanders how dire the situation is," Chafee added. "I understand that being involved in this very risky industry that, when things aren't going well, there's gonna be blame. But this isn't accurate to be blaming the state in this case."
WRUP: A moment of silence for 38 Studios
Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW Insider staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" -- otherwise known as: WRUP. Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game, and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too! In case you've been living under a rock the last 24 hours or so, one of the biggest stories in the gaming world right now is the collapse of 38 Studios and Big Huge Games. We didn't really cover it, since we're a World of Warcraft-focused site, but we're all gamers here. It stings to see an MMORPG crash and burn, but it hurts even more to see the devastation that the sudden fall of two companies in the industry has caused. The situation for folks at 38 Studios is somewhat grim right now, though that's nothing new. Most of them had been working without pay since the beginning of the month. A lot of them were depending on the health insurance their job provided -- coverage which has since expired. All of them were just like us -- gamers at heart who just wanted to do something really cool to entertain you. Twitter has been rallying to help, but it's impossible to look at the situation without wishing there was something more you could do. Beyond the employees, there are a lot of other victims of this debacle too. The taxpayers of Rhode Island are on the hook for a massive loan made to keep 38 afloat -- a loan which could total over $112 million by the time all is said and done. That's a $100 charge to every man, woman, and child currently living in the state. A number of Rhode Island officials who stuck their necks out for 38 have resigned in disgrace, though arguably, they had a lot to be disgraced over. I guess what I'm saying is that it's a bad situation all around. Well, almost all around. One of the few people who got away clean, ironically, is company founder Curt Schilling, the baseball player who inexplicably started a video games company. He wrote himself a $4 million check from the 38 Studios bank account a few months ago, money that could have -- and should have -- gone to pay his employees that he watched work without pay. As someone from "Red Sox Nation," I feel I have the right to say this: Screw that guy. So yeah, before we head into this week's WRUP, I want to have a brief moment of silence for 38 Studios and all the folks who were hurt by its downfall.
Rhode Island: Fired 38 Studios staff are highly skilled, will find new work
Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training director Charles Fogarty said today that the staff of 38 Studios, all of whom were laid off yesterday, will be able to find new jobs because they are "highly skilled.""The individuals in question, most of them are pretty highly skilled," Fogarty said. "They've already been contacted by a number of employers. Our department has been contacted by folks looking for people with that type of skill."Governor Lincoln Chafee and his team today held another press conference to address 38 Studios' financial situation, leading with the information that his office wasn't informed of the layoffs yesterday. Chafee held a press conference one hour after news of the firings broke yesterday; about 300 people in Rhode Island and almost 100 from Big Huge Games in Maryland lost their jobs.Today, Fogarty said he didn't think it would be difficult for these former employees to find new work."I don't expect that they're going to be unemployed for all that length of time," he said. "So far there's only been a small number who've actually applied for unemployment benefits at this point."Fogarty didn't say how many former 38 Studios employees had applied for unemployment. To allay concerns of the wider economic impact of supporting an influx of people on unemployment, Fogarty said the following: "Don't forget, a number of them are not Rhode Islanders. They worked here but they were not Rhode Islanders."Of the unspecific number of people who filed for unemployment, about half were Rhode Islander residents, he said, responding to questions about the "jobs for Rhode Islanders" pitch that came with 38 Studios' founding.Gov. Chafee doesn't think it's futile to attempt to find investors in 38 Studios, saying that when a studio is basically defunct and has no employees, "some might argue that that's the time for an investor to come in, when you can get it for pennies on the dollar, but we're still fairly pessimistic."Unfortunately, even if an investor did jump in, Rhode Island would be the "pennies" part of that analogy, not the dollar.
Editorial: 38 Studios and the Dunkin delusions
The Providence Journal sat neatly presented on the counter at the Dunkin Donuts across the street from 38 Studios in Rhode Island, its headline clear as day: "Loan-guarantee fallout costs EDC chief his job." Further down the right column of the page was the other harbinger headline: "Too little cash to cover the check."This was last Friday, May 18, the day after the head of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, the quasi-government group responsible for co-signing the $75 million loan to 38 Studios, was fired. It was also the day after the state couldn't deposit a $1.12 million check the studio delivered as a payment because the company's chief financial officer called to say there were insufficient funds.A man walked up to the counter for his morning caffeine fix. I guessed he worked at 38 Studios because he had 'the look.' The lady working the counter confirmed my egregious profiling by asking, "How are things going over there?"
Our own Alexander Sliwinski talks 38 Studios with Fox 25 News
Here at Joystiq, we spend most of our time hunched over laptops pumping out a steady stream of news for you to consume. But every now and again, one of us is ripped out from behind the comfort of our mobile workplace to talk gaming news with a mainstream outlet – today is such a day.Following the unfortunate events at 38 Studios and Big Huge Games, News Editor Alexander Sliwinski took to Boston-area affiliate Fox 25 News to talk all things 38 and Rhode Island. We're hoping that his dashing suit and suave demeanor will help to convince you that our whole staff is made up of debonair jetsetters, even if we know in our hearts that's a stone-cold lie.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning had to sell 3M 'just to break even,' RI governor says
Despite Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning selling "1.22 million copies in its first 90 days" according to 38 Studios head Curt Schilling, it apparently never crested the 3 million mark it needed to break even. "The game failed, the game failed," Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee told attendees of a press conference this afternoon.According to "experts" speaking with Chafee's office, Reckoning needed to sell over 3 million copies "just to break even," never mind profit. The action RPG was released this past February to critical praise and modest initial financial success. It was credited with saving Big Huge Games from destruction back in 2009 when 38 Studios picked up the Baltimore studio, primarily for repurposing an already-in-production RPG into what we now know was Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.Both 38 Studios and Big Huge Games laid off their staffs this afternoon amidst major financial trouble at 38.
38 Studios and Big Huge Games lay off entire staffs [update]
38 Studios and Big Huge Games have both let go of their entire staffs, a source with knowledge of the situation tells Joystiq. Following reports that 38 Studios stopped paying staff on May 1, and just an hour before a scheduled press conference in Rhode Island addressing the recent 38 Studios financial debacle, both the Providence, RI-based 38 Studios and the Baltimore, MD-based Big Huge Games are no more."Big Huge Games was home for my wife and me for our adult lives so far. I'll miss it terribly, but so proud. Good night and good luck," former Big Huge Games lead world designer Colin Campbell said on his Twitter account. Big Huge's latest release was the moderately successful Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The studio was picked up by 38 Studios back in 2009, and it crafted the first entry in 38's ambitious new universe: Amalur.The recent financial tumult arose following a defaulted payment from 38 Studios to the Rhode Island state government on May 1, indicating much larger financial issues that could ultimately lead to Rhode Island taxpayers owing up to $112.6 million between 2013 and 2020. It's unclear whether today's layoffs mean 38 Studios is unable to pay back the approximately $50 million its owes Rhode Island of a planed $75 million loan. If that's the case, Rhode Island will take over ownership of the Amalur IP, valued at around $20 million.We expect to hear more at a scheduled press conference this evening held by Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee.Update: WPRI got ahold of the internal memo to employees at 38 Studios, which reads: "The Company is experiencing an economic downturn. To avoid further losses and possibility of retrenchment, the Company has decided that a companywide lay off is absolutely necessary. These layoffs are non-voluntary and non-disciplinary. This is your official notice of lay off, effective today, Thursday, May 24th, 2012." Big Huge Games and 38 Studios collectively employed 379 full-timers as of March 15, according to the report.
38 Studios employees unpaid since May 1, health insurance ends on Thursday
38 Studios employees have not been paid since May 1 and their health care will end Thursday at midnight, a source with knowledge of the situation tells Joystiq. Employees are normally paid on the first and 15th of each month.When asked if the studio would be shutting down this week, the source could only say, "Unknown at this time. Outlook is not good."We're informed that 38 Studios' MMO, "Project Copernicus," announced by Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee as launching in June 2013, did have that date as its internal target. However, "Whether this is realistic or not is up for debate."Gov. Chafee said in a press conference today that he would do what he could to prevent the studio from shutting down. Will the studio still exist within a month? "I have no idea," our source replied.
RI Gov. Chafee working to prevent 38 Studios shutdown, unaware of any new cash for company [update]
The situation faced by troubled MMO developer 38 Studios is not improving. According to Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, the company has not received any new investment. In a sudden press conference late today, he said the studio had not received any outside investment nor any of the new tax credits it has applied for. NBC10 reports that, when asked if 38 Studios would be closing, Chafee said he would do what he could to prevent it.WPRI reported today that CEO Jennifer MacLean removed the title of chief executive from her LinkedIn profile and listed her departure as having occurred in March. John Blakely, senior vice president of product development, also revised his LinkedIn profile to show that he left the company this month. Joystiq has also been informed of continuing layoffs at the company, and that health insurance has run out.The value of 38 Studios' Amalur intellectual property is estimated to be in the range of $20 million, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. 38 Studios put up the IP as collateral against its $75 million loan, which could end up costing RI taxpayers $112 million if 38 Studios shutters.Update: 38 Studios employees have not been paid since May 1. WPRI reports 38 Studios may be ineligible for the millions of dollars in state tax credits because it isn't incorporated in Rhode Island.
Analyst estimates Amalur IP worth $20 million, 38 Studios employees head to job fair
The value of 38 Studios' Amalur intellectual property is estimated to be in the range of $20 million. We asked Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter for his valuation following confirmation of layoffs at the studio and coverage of 38 Studios employees flocking to Turbine's recruitment drive in Providence last night."Nobody is buying MMOs after Star Wars fizzled. I think value is low, probably $20 million or so," Pachter said. "There is just no demand for game assets right now, as THQ proved when it tried to sell the Warhammer MMO. I think [Electronic Arts] could step in, since they are the publisher, so you might see some alternative way to get 38 some bridge financing."Electronic Arts had been the publisher on the Big Huge Games developed Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, but has yet to confirm it would publish 38 Studios' "Project Copernicus.""Nope – never been an announcement on that," Jeff Brown of EA corporate communications told Joystiq. "We don't have any new announcements to make regarding 38 Studios. We enjoyed working with Curt and his team on their first game, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Like game fans all over the world, we look forward to what 38 Studios creates next."With reports out of Providence delivering an uncertain near future for the studio, it wouldn't be surprising if publishers tried to pick up the Amalur IP for pennies on the dollar. However, with documents showing that 38 Studios put up the IP as collateral against the $75 million loan, anybody trying to pick up the IP will be negotiating with the state of Rhode Island for control of Amalur.
RI governor confirms 38 Studios layoffs
Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee has confirmed layoffs at 38 Studios. The governor made the statement this evening following a scheduled meeting of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC), where about as little happened to resolve 38 Studios' troubled situation as at last Wednesday's "emergency meeting."On Friday Gov. Chafee held a surprise press conference about 38 Studios, in which he said the government was done providing easy money for the developer, and gave "Project Copernicus" a launch window of June 2013.WPRI reporter Ted Nesi told Joystiq that Gov. Chafee confirmed the layoffs, but was ambiguous about whether employees at the studio were being paid.38 Studios continues to remain silent and has not made any official statement about anything since this whole mess started early last week. According to the AP, 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling brushed past reporters on his way out of the meeting this evening, saying there was "misinformation" he couldn't clear up in a sound bite.Not at all coincidental, Warner Bros. owned Boston-area MMO developer Turbine will hold a recruitment event at the Hotel Providence Tuesday night from 5-9PM. The studio currently has over 50 open positions.We continue to leave the line open if 38 Studios or any employees wish to share their side of what's going on at the developer.Update: Avalanche Studios, which opened up a studio in New York last year, will also hold a recruitment drive at the Westin Providence Hotel on Thursday, May 24, from 12-7PM.
