38 Studios
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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.
Kingdoms of Amalur MMO 'wasn't fun,' Take-Two was mystery Reckoning 2 publisher
Despite being "in love" with the Kingdoms of Amalur MMO before its developer filed for bankruptcy, 38 Studios head Curt Schilling worried "the game wasn't fun." Schilling opens up on a variety of subjects in a recent Boston Magazine feature story, saying, "It was my biggest gripe for probably the past eight to 12 months." Even 38's own employees weren't playing it in their free time, apparently.Additionally, Take-Two Interactive – publisher of everything from BioShock to Grand Theft Auto – is fingered as the mysterious publisher vying for rights to a Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning sequel. For its part, Take-Two calls Schilling's claim "rumor and speculation." Schilling contends the sequel deal was close to "final sign-off" when Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee's mid-May public statements gave Take-Two cold feet.Finally, in a last minute effort to save his company, Schilling and other executives spoke with an unnamed Chinese investor about potentially working together, as well as South Korean MMO company Nexon. Neither deal panned out, and the company declared bankruptcy this past June.The Boston Magazine piece is quite a thorough examination of the history of 38 Studios, and contextualizes much of the sordid tale we've seen play out over the past eight months. Get a delicious beverage and a comfy seat – it's gonna be a while.
MMO subscriber numbers have peaked, says industry analyst
Whether you love him, hate him, respect him, or ignore him, when Michael Pachter speaks, his voice carries. So it's of note that everyone's favorite videogame analyst is back with a few more controversial remarks concerning the growth -- or lack of it -- in the MMO market. Speaking at the Evolve Conference, Pachter said, "It looks to me as though the MMO market is as big as it's ever going to be -- as far as subscription MMOs. People willing to play $15 a month, there are six or seven million of them. Period. If Star Wars couldn't expand it, when it's made by BioWare, nothing can do it. That's why Curt Schilling's 38 Studios went out of business, because he couldn't get financing." In May, Pachter proclaimed that nobody was buying MMOs after Star Wars: The Old Republic's launch.
Former 38 Studios Creative Director provides context for leaked trailer
Steve Danuser is the ex-Creative Director at the shuttered 38 Studios, and in light of that leaked trailer seen earlier today he's posted a few bits of context for the video. As you might have guessed, the posted trailer was entirely a work in progress, with most assets and even the script likely set to be replaced before it appeared before the public.The trailer itself would have been a launch trailer, likely also released with some in-game or hands-on footage, and the illustrated look seen in the trailer was planned to be a characteristic of the game itself, used to introduce the game's various races and factions.As for the tri-circle logo, which seems very similar to the recently revealed Elder Scrolls Online logo: Danuser says the design is coincidental, and that the two MMOs were using the same themes. 38 Studios' logo was put together before anyone from the team saw what Zenimax Online was working on. "That's what you get," says Danuser, who fondly remembers working on putting the trailer together, "for basing your IP on classic themes."
Project Copernicus announcement trailer released [Updated]
For those interested in twisting the 38 Studios knife just a little bit more, Kotaku has posted what would have been Project Copernicus' official announcement trailer had Curt Schilling's development house not imploded dramatically earlier this year. The clip runs just over two minutes and features a series of stylized vignettes that morph into brief snippets of gameplay footage. All of this is set to a cryptic voiceover repeating something about a circle still turning. It's an interesting if slightly depressing look at what might have been. Head over to Kotaku for all the drama. [Update: Steve Danuser, formerly of 38 Studios fame, has published a context-driven explanation of what's shown in the video.]
Trailer leaked for 38 Studios' Amalur MMO
An anonymous source has released a work-in-progress version of a trailer for Project Copernicus, the Amalur MMO that 38 Studios worked on right up until declared bankruptcy. Kotaku reports that the source wanted the work from 38 Studios to be "appreciated."Shortly before the collapse, we saw an environment flyover video, followed by set of screens from the abortive MMO. Those two releases, and the above trailer, represent the totality of released media for the game to date.Update: the video is currently not embeddable, but you can see it on Kotaku.
The Soapbox: The death of AAA
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. I think we're all pretty familiar with the tragic story of 38 Studios by now. If not, take some time to familiarize yourself with it. Essentially it is a tale of massive dreams, botched plans, and hundreds of job losses. I'm not yet sure exactly what went wrong, but I have a feeling that the lackluster response to the studio's stand-alone title might be to blame on top of the poor performance in the high-end of the company. Either way, I have seen many comments exclaiming the end of the big-budget title or at least more trepidation from governments that feel the need to get into a game (no pun intended) they were unfamiliar with. If we could take a poll of the several million "AAA" MMO players in North America, it's my bet that most of them simply go from one title to the other. The RIFT players who are now enjoying Star Wars: The Old Republic came from World of Warcraft, and before that (if they played MMOs before WoW) they might have been City of Heroes fans and EverQuest players before that. For a long time, large studios held all of the players. Then, AAA started rolling down the steep hill to where it is now.
Schilling 'tapped out' after loss of 38 Studios
Curt Schilling has spoken to a Boston radio station about the lingering effects of 38 Studios' demise. The former Red Sox pitcher has been vilified by some gamers who assume that he's living the high life while former employees are suffering, but he tells WEEI that that's pretty far from the truth. "The money I saved and earned playing baseball was probably all gone... life is going to be different," he says. Rhode Island taxpayers will also be tightening their belts, as they'll pay nearly $12 million annually through the year 2020 to cover 38's $150 million debt, according to Joystiq. Schilling also revealed that 38 Studios was close to signing a deal to produce a Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning sequel prior to remarks made by Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee that supposedly damaged the negotiation process. Schilling also expressed remorse at the plight of former 38 Studios employees. "The employees got blindsided," he said. "They have every right to be upset. I always told everybody if something were going to happen, you're going to have a month or two of lead time, and I bombed on that one in epic fashion."
Schilling says he's 'tapped out' in first interview since 38 Studios collapse
38 Studios founder and former Red Sox star Curt Schilling said he was "tapped out" of cash in his first interview since the studio's demise. In a sympathetic radio interview on WEEI (via Boston Globe) this morning, Schilling said he told his family last month, "The money I saved and earned playing baseball was probably all gone ... Life is going to be different."Documents released after the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy (liquidation) show that the studio owed $150 million to more than 1,000 entities, most of that debt to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp., and that the developer had less than $22 million in assets. Rhode Island taxpayers will now have to spend approximately $12 million annually until 2020 to repay the 38 Studios debt to bondholders."The employees got blindsided," Schilling said. "They have every right to be upset. I always told everybody if something were going to happen, you're going to have a month or two of lead time, and I bombed on that one in epic fashion."Schilling also confirmed they were on the verge of signing a $35 million deal for a sequel to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, the company's RPG project by Big Huge Games, but talks collapsed once RI Gov. Lincoln Chafee made statements about the studio's precarious financial situation. He also said Reckoning didn't bring in revenue to the studio because it still had to repay an advance to publisher Electronic Arts.
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.
Ryan Shwayder revives MMO lessons series
Former 38 Studios designer Ryan Shwayder is using his time off to work on his personal blog and share his perspective as a developer. He's revived a series from years ago called MMO Lessons, adding the 37th and 38th entries over the past two days. His 37th lesson is to create memorable moments. "It is impossible to make every adventure in your game memorable, exciting, and unique," Shwayder writes. "But you can create incredible moments for your players and purposefully distribute them throughout the experience so players experience highs as they play the game." Shwayder also defends kill quests but says that they usually need context or a twist to keep them fresh and fun: "Kill quests get a bad rap, but there's nothing inherently wrong with them."
Alleged 38 Studios spouse outlines family's financial struggles after company's closure
38 Studios stories continue to circulate through the gaming media this week, with the latest arriving courtesy of Gamasutra. The industry news site has published an anonymous letter from an alleged former employee's wife that details the challenges inherent in supporting a large family that is subject to the whims of the game industry. The letter outlines the family's financial struggles in great detail, and it serves as a cautionary tale to game industry hopefuls who are thinking of uprooting a family to follow a dream. Though the author is unnamed and could quite literally be anyone, Gamasutra says it has "verified her husband's name and former position at 38 Studios."
Steve Danuser weighs in on the 38 Studios debacle
It's been one hell of a month for the folks at the now-bankrupt 38 Studios, but so far we've heard precious little from anyone directly involved with the Project Copernicus developer. Today, 38 Studios' former Creative Director, Steve Danuser, has broken that silence with a post about the matter on his personal blog. The post doesn't really do much to shed any light on the events that led to the studio's fall, but it does provide one thing that has been lacking: A look at the people affected by the debacle. Danuser takes the time to talk about the rollercoaster of emotions that he and other 38 Studios employees have been riding for the better part of the last month, stating that "the only people who really understand are the ones who make up this now fractured fraternity that was once a great team." It really is a very personal read, but it adds a fresh, human perspective to a story that has, until now, been addressed only from the angles of finance and industry. To read it all for yourself, head on over to Danuser's blog. Oh, and if you're the emotional sort, it may help to have some tissues handy.
Epic's Rein on Epic Baltimore and saving 'awesome guys' from 38 Studios' Big Huge Games
Epic Baltimore, the new studio formed by Epic Games from the senior staff of 38 Studios' Big Huge Games, was a surprise announcement this past Sunday. Well, it's not like there was much warning for anyone, really, as Epic's VP and co-founder Mark Rein explained to us today at E3, giving much of the credit regarding the studio's creation to Epic president Mike Capps."Mike is the total hero there. They called him on Wednesday, interested in using one of our IPs. He flew them up the next day and they met with a whole bunch of people, and the board of directors of Epic. We made the call right there: 'These guys are awesome, we need to work with them.'""We don't have a final headcount yet. It's a decent number," Rein replied when asked about how many of the approximately 100 employees of Big Huge Games were going to be employed by Epic Baltimore. He told us they already had 40 resumes from BHG employees before the deal even went through. "Many of the people there had already gone on to places. This was just the core group of really experience guys who already had savings saved up that they tried to build a team and find a deal."Rein also emphasized that they "wanted to work with one of Epic's IPs" and "it was a very good, natural fit."With Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning 2 already in pre-production, we asked if Rein had any interest in buying Amalur from Rhode Island?"We don't buy IP, we make IP."
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, law enforcement investigating [Updated]
38 Studios, in a move surprising absolutely no one, has declared bankruptcy. This report comes hot on the heels of the news that the Project Copernicus developer has laid off all of its employees and sold Big Huge Games. In addition to covering the bankruptcy, the Providence Journal revealed that "state and federal authorities have launched an investigation into [the company]." State police Col. Steven G. O'Donnell states that the inquiry is taking place "to investigate activities that have recently come to light at 38 Studios." According to the Journal, these activities include taking out loans totaling $8.5 million US "based on state film tax credits that had not yet been issued." Things are looking pretty grim for Curt Schilling and his studio, but we'll just have to stay tuned to see how the rest of this plays out. [Update: Our sister site Joystiq reports that the Rhode Island governor has stated, "We are going to do everything possible to maximize return on our investment [...] 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." The company is suspected to be worth "tens of millions of dollars."]
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.
Trion Worlds CEO pinpoints the failings of 38 Studios and Star Wars: The Old Republic
Trion Worlds' CEO Lars Buttler has never been one to pussyfoot around his competition, and at this year's E3, Buttler bluntly addressed what he saw as the failings of both 38 Studios and Star Wars: The Old Republic. Buttler talked about said studio and game in light of the perceived crumbling of the AAA MMO segment. Citing different issues between the two companies and projects, he said that "process management" was 38 Studios Achilles' Heel: "38 Studios had a concept they couldn't deliver on... It was too big of a scope. It was too much. It just went broader and never narrowed. They never even came close to the finish line." In the case of SWTOR, Buttler sees BioWare fumbling where Trion's RIFT has stayed consistently strong: "I don't think [SWTOR's] business model was necessarily the issue, but I think it was content updates, and what to do in the game, and how you can play it without it becoming repetitive." So what is the key to success for an MMO? "You have to be able to keep people interested," Buttler concluded. "The key about an online game is that it's a live service. If you make it more like a packaged goods game, people will stay about as long as they stay with a packaged goods game."
