kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning
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38 Studios auction had 1,000 registered bidders, sold 95% of items
The public auction held yesterday at 38 Studios' former headquarters in Providence, Rhode Island, sold approximately 95 percent of the items available. A gross sales figure for the auction is expected later today.According to a representative for the Rhode Island Economic Development Committee, the quasi-public agency that loaned 38 Studios the $75 million at the heart of the auction, there were over 1,000 registered participants for the auction. The auction had about 600 online participants and over 400 in-person, who had to front a $100 refundable deposit to enter the building.The auction activities ran until 10PM last night, after starting an hour after the planned 10:30AM opening to accommodate the number of people who wanted to get in. There is the chance of another live auction to handle unsold items, which could include "more computers, servers, office furniture, etc."Not up for auction yesterday was the Kingdoms of Amalur intellectual properly, which is the item Rhode Island is hoping to recoup the most return from its failed investment."I anticipate that the IP will be marketed and sold over the next three to six months," attorney Richard Land, the court-appointed receiver who organized the auction, told Joystiq. "Although the process is not yet set in stone, it is unlikely that it will be a traditional auction as you saw yesterday; more likely to be a negotiated transaction."Last week's auction at 38 Studios' Big Huge Games division brought in $180,000. According to the 38 Studios bankruptcy filings, as reported by the AP, the company owes $150.7 million and has assets estimated at $21.7 million.
Rhode Island can't auction off 38 Studios' Xbox dev kits, says Microsoft
Microsoft is requesting Rhode Island return the Xbox developer kits the state is attempting to sell at auction to recoup losses from the defaulted multi-million dollar loan to shuttered 38 Studios. In the listing of items up for bid October 23, the firm hired to facilitate the auction lists "Gaming consoles: Xbox 360 XDK consoles." Only problem is those belong to Microsoft."Xbox 360 Development Kits (XDK) are the property of Microsoft and are only licensed to authorized studios and may not be assigned or sold to any third party without the written consent of Microsoft," the company told Joystiq in a prepared statement. "We will be contacting the appropriate parties involved in the auction of 38 Studios' assets to remove the XDK units from the auction listing and to secure the return of the consoles to Microsoft."SJ Corio Company, a commercial-industrial auction and liquidation company, will hold auctions in Maryland and Rhode Island on October 16 and 23, respectively. Lot listings and photo galleries of items will be posted soon, according to a company representative. Part of the long list of items up for auction are computers, audio and video equipment, consoles and peripherals, pool table, ping pong table, GE side by side stainless steel refrigerators and a video game library.
Upcoming XBL deals: Amalur and Saints Row DLC, Bejeweled 3
In addition to the bizarre, surprising news that Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is getting online multiplayer, Major Nelson has revealed new Xbox Live content including upcoming Deals of the Week. This week's deal features half-price DLC for the ill-fated Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which knocks both 'Teeth of Naros' and 'Legend of Dead Kel' down to $5 each, while a weapons and armor bundle is available for $2.50. Also up for grabs this week is Bejeweled 3 for $7.50.Next week, three bits of Saints Row: The Third DLC – 'Gangstas in Space,' 'Genkibowl VII,' and 'The Trouble with Clones' – will be available for $3.50 each. The 'Missing Link' DLC for Deus Ex: Human Revolution will also be discounted $7.50, while a handful of Just Cause 2 DLC will be available for $1 a pop.
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.
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."
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."
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."
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."]
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."
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning 2 was in 'pre-production'
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning 2 was in "pre-production" at 38 Studios' Big Huge Games in Maryland before all employees were let go last week. Several sources with knowledge of the situation tell Joystiq that the company was in advanced talks with a publisher before the events that led to the dissolution of the team.Even if the Big Huge Games team could be salvaged under a different banner, it is unlikely that they could work on Reckoning 2. The intellectual property, tech and code (the latter used as a springboard) required to make a sequel is still owned by 38 Studios for the time being, but will likely soon be owned by the state of Rhode Island. Sources close to discussions with Rhode Island tell us that the state's asking price to release assets is too high.Elements tested for the sequel were higher graphics quality across the board, no loading screens between zones, expanded and improved combat animations, more branching quests and greater effect on the world by players.
EVE Evolved: Lessons from 38 Studios
This week we heard the news that Kingdoms of Amalur developer 38 Studios shut down and let go all 379 full-time staff. It's always a tragedy when good developers are made jobless, especially if the job losses come out of nowhere and hit people who have only recently been hired. 38 Studios was still hiring people shortly before it collapsed, and some of those recent hires were ex-CCP developers who were part of the 20% of staff fired at the end of last year. The shutdown of 38 Studios is a sobering reminder of the problems in EVE Online's development that led to monoclegate. Both studios were mismanaged, with the jobs of hundreds of developers gambled on the outcome of poorly researched business decisions. EVE Online thankfully survived CCP's failed microtransaction gamble, but 38 Studios' Project Copernicus may never see the light of day. In this week's EVE Evolved opinion piece, I look into the similar circumstances that forced CCP Games and 38 Studios to fire staff, and draw some lessons from them for which I believe the industry should take heed.
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.
Industry rallies to get former 38 Studios, Big Huge Games staff new work
The sudden firing of all 379 employees at 38 Studios and Big Huge Games today was a blow to the industry, even for those of us who expected it. Soon after news broke, many developers, artists, designers, PR people, journalists and fans took to the Internet to express frustration and anger -- and to help.On Twitter, the hashtag "#38jobs" rose to trending in the US, with people shouting out which studios were hiring and generally sending support to those let go today. A Facebook group titled "38Jobs" popped up around the same time. Freelance games journo Alex Rubens gathered all of these jobs tips into a Google Doc that currently sports 84 studios with openings, including Irrational Games, Bungie, Activision, Klei Entertainment, Rockstar and other major and indie companies.Access the full list here; it is still in the process of being updated and refined, courtesy of Rubens and The Side Of The Gaming Industry That Proves We're Not All Trolling Douchebags.
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.
The politics of making games: Disconnect between 38 Studios and Rhode Island in quotes
Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee gathered his experts on finances and bond laws to discuss the dire situation of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning publisher 38 Studios today, opening with a clear summation: "It's not a good situation; I'm not here to deliver good news."Just an hour before the conference, news broke that all 379 staff of 38 Studios and its property Big Huge Games had been laid off. Chafee's adviser John Savage answered the first question regarding the layoffs: "In my conversations today, there were no discussions about layoffs."Chafee agreed, saying "nothing changed today," and the tone of the conference was effectively set.Of the layoffs that his administration wouldn't acknowledge, Chafee suggested, "Well, they could be rehired. Some investor might come in."In a related optimistic response, Chafee said he believes 38 Studios will be able to hit its payment benchmarks, banking on the "emotional attachment" of gamers to the Amalur universe. "I would suspect that they are going to be on time and at the proper amount," he said. "All that investment, all that adherement to benchmarks. I think is going to be accurate in the end."At the moment, Chafee said he couldn't assign blame in the situation to anyone specifically, but he did say "that's gonna come over time if we're not successful in getting this company financially solvent."To keep 38 Studios solvent will be "very, very expensive," Chafee said, taking "tens of millions of dollars" in marketing alone. These projections come from "industry experts," who also told Chafee that he was doing the right thing the entire time. "Every indication I got from all this process is that everything is going according to the business plan," Chafee said."I asked the experts: What could have we done better? And they were telling me, 'You did everything right. You put your money in, you supported the game, and you're better off not meddling.' If I had meddled there wouldn't be all this violence in these games, all the sexism."Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning sold 1.2 million units in its first 90 days, but for 38 Studios to break even it would have had to sell 3 million, Chafee said. Even though 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling said the game "outperformed EA's projections," Chafee was forced to disagree."The game failed," he said.
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 lays off entire staff, sells Big Huge Games [Updated]
The 38 Studios disaster continues to unfold today, as the troubled studio laid off its entire staff and may be selling off its Big Huge Games division in Boston. Boston's Fox 25 News speculates that the studio may close by this weekend. 38 Studios CM Charles Dane confirmed being laid off on Twitter: "Now on the market. I had an awesome run with 38 Studios, but this dream is now ending." Word is that the company is also selling its subsidiary, Big Huge Games. Big Huge Games is the maker of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, 38 Studios' single-player prequel to its Copernicus MMO. This would not be the first time that Big Huge Games was sold by its parent company, as the studio experienced the same event back in 2009. Oh his Facebook page, Curt Schilling stressed that Reckoning did quite well in sales. "I wanted to clear up some misinformation around 38 Studios' first product, Reckoning. Sales of Reckoning outperformed EA's expectations and sold more than 1.2 million units in the game's first 90 days in the market." [Update]: Developer Ryan Shwayder has also confirmed the layoffs via his personal blog.
First video of 38 Studios' 'Project Copernicus' MMO flies over Amalur
38 Studios released a "Project Copernicus" sizzle reel this afternoon, featuring locales in Amalur's MMO game world. The timing of this video is certainly interesting, since it comes on the same day that 38 Studios handed over an overdue check to the state of Rhode Island and its governor, Lincoln Chafee, announced "Project Copernicus" would launch in June 2013.
