38 Studios knew $75M loan wasn't enough to finish Project Copernicus
Emails surfacing from the legal fracas concerning 38 Studios and its loan from Rhode Island indicate that the studio knew the loan was not nearly enough to fully fund the game but decided to hide that from outsiders.
38 Studios Vice Chairman Thomas Zaccagnino allegedly sent one the damning emails, urging a few studio execs to remain mum on the financial situation: "I really do not think we should highlight the fact that we might be under-capitalized... [it] won't go over well with the staff or board."
The email was in response to CEO Jen MacLean, who wrote that she was concerned that the state wasn't delivering the full $75 million from the agreement and that the project would fall short of funding because of this.
One lawyer involved in both the deal and the lawsuit said that the state knew that the deal wasn't enough to fully fund: "The [EDC] Board was acutely aware that the capital needs of 38 Studios where [sic] in excess of $125MM as acknowledged in the 2010 EDC Inducement Resolution[.] The Board also knew that the net proceeds of the EDC Loan would be less than $75MM."
