Amalur – MMO Fallout

38 Studios Lawsuit Will Continue

Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios may go down in history as one of the worst managed video game companies, but history hasn’t yet finished with the developer or its executives. The last we heard, the state of Rhode Island was still intent upon bringing a lawsuit against the former Red Sox pitcher and news commentator as well as the executives of the failed game developer. The Associated Press is now reporting that a judge has ruled in favor of the state, allowing them to go ahead with most of a planned lawsuit.

The lawsuit in question accuses Schilling and his executives of fraud, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, among other acts, misleading the state into approving a $75 million loan. Last year, 38 Studios went bankrupt to the tune of more than $100 million, leaving the bill to be paid by the taxpayers of Rhode Island. The judge declared that the state could seek financial damages for fees and salaries collected by the defendants, damage to reputation and credit, but could not seek damages on the bonds issued until the money had been spent.

Schilling has maintained that the lawsuit is purely political and that the developer had no intention of wrongdoing when it sought the loan and that Rhode Island was well aware of the risks of investing in the game developer.

(Source: Associated Press)

38 Studios Is DOA, Entire Staff Laid Off

The 38 Studios saga may come to a close faster than we thought. According to Fox 25 out of Boston, 38 Studios may be out of commission by this weekend at the earliest. If reports are to believed, employees aren’t being paid and are either leaving or being laid off in large quantities. The state of Rhode Island has refused to give any of the money requested, according to Curt Schilling, and many high-up employees have already announced their resignation (including the chief executive and senior vice president).

I am willing to bet that Electronic Arts will likely buy up Big Huge Games as well as the Amalur IP, but this is all speculation.

(Source: Fox Boston)

38 Studios Unveils Project Copernicus

We’ve known about 38 Studios’ plan to bring forth an MMO for quite some time, and with the bad news of late (money trouble, not paying loans, meeting with the governor, not paying employees, etc) it may be rather difficult to focus on the fact that 38 Studios is still working on said MMO. While very little is known about the game, 38 Studios released the above fly-through which showcases (at the very least) the art-style that we can expect.

Hopefully we see plenty more from 38 Studios in the future. With an impressive array of names including Todd McFarlane and a story written by none other than the man who owns my very soul, R.A. Salvatore (the monolith crumbling was not my fault, that contract was still fulfilled). Kingdoms of Amalur was a fun game, despite some criticisms, and it would be a grave disappointment to see such an amazing team lose out because of the bean counters.

More on 38 Studios and Project Copernicus as it appears.

Rhode Island Working To Keep 38 Studios Solvent

Let’s talk history. Back in 2010, Rhode Island lured 38 Studios from Massachusetts to their own state with the promise of a $75 million loan, under the promise that 450 jobs would be created. The loan was a product of controversy among Rhode Island politicians, especially as the loan would be hedged on a studio that had yet to put out a product.

Earlier this year, 38 Studios put out Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, a single player RPG meant to fund the company’s ongoing production of an MMORPG set in the same universe. The game sold, although it received some harsh criticism for being generic, and while fun doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel or innovate the genre.

The Providence Journal states that Governor Chafee has met with 38 Studios to discuss keeping the company solvent. There are no further details to report at this time other than remarks that 38 Studios has been put on a “tight timeframe.”

(Source: Providence Journal)

Kingdoms of Amalur Online Perhaps Later This Year

“From the mediocre game that nobody bought and doesn’t really like that much, comes a big giant version of that game!”
-Todd McFarlane

Todd has a point. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning released one month ago and sales figures place the title at over one third of a million sales. Now that gamers are well versed in the realm of Amalur and the inner working concepts of fate, the team at 38 Studios is instituting phase two of Operation Franchise: Release an MMO. Labeled Project Copernicus, the Kingdom of Amalur MMO is set for release later this year, 2012.

I have my own concerns over Amalur’s prospects for a 2012 release. Assuming the game can hit its 2012 release, the folks at 38 Studios will be competing against The Secret World, TERA, Guild Wars 2, the new World of Warcraft expansion, Neverwinter, and more. Never mind the recent and future free to play transitions of existing MMOs, of course the existing market as it is.

I have high hopes for Amalur Online (my name), but I also recognize the kind of risks that are taken when a developer puts out an MMO for the first time. Crafting an MMO is very different from creating a single player game, and 38 Studios did the smart move by creating a fan base and setting out a base expectation for quality.

More on Amalur Online (not the actual name) as it appears.