38 Studios is Working on a Game, Apparently, Afterall (Kingdoms of Amular)

[Draegan]

That's a shame, I thought it was a solid title.

I guess we have yet to see the McFarlane, R. A. Salvatore ETC.. output though.

How is it a solid title when we have zero proof or examples of work from the Studio?  All we have is a game Real Big Games reskinned for Amalur.

[Lantyssa]

The same way APB and a host of other ideas were going to be amazing hits...

[schild]

That's a shame, I thought it was a solid title.

I guess we have yet to see the McFarlane, R. A. Salvatore ETC.. output though.

How is it a solid title when we have zero proof or examples of work from the Studio?  All we have is a game Real Big Games reskinned for Amalur.

Big Huge Games.

Also, generally if a company has anything "good" in development - I hear about it. I know people at 38 and I've heard precisely fuckall.

[Rasix]

I don't see the MMO even hitting some sort of NDA free beta.  They're sunk, IMO.  Time to sell the desk chairs.

[Mrbloodworth]

That's a shame, I thought it was a solid title.

I guess we have yet to see the McFarlane, R. A. Salvatore ETC.. output though.

How is it a solid title when we have zero proof or examples of work from the Studio?  All we have is a game Real Big Games reskinned for Amalur.

I....., was referring to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning in response to its low sales?

The second line refers to the title we haven't seen "fuck all" about.

Great example of how some like to jump down peoples shit for simple misunderstandings...... Stay classy guys.

[Draegan]

That's a shame, I thought it was a solid title.

I guess we have yet to see the McFarlane, R. A. Salvatore ETC.. output though.

How is it a solid title when we have zero proof or examples of work from the Studio?  All we have is a game Real Big Games reskinned for Amalur.

Big Huge Games.

Also, generally if a company has anything "good" in development - I hear about it. I know people at 38 and I've heard precisely fuckall.

Woops right.

I know one or two people over there and I haven't heard anything either.

Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=BZ_6PkeO_g8

I....., was referring to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning in response to its low sales?

The second line refers to the title we haven't seen "fuck all" about.

Great example of how some like to jump down peoples shit for simple misunderstandings...... Stay classy guys.

What simple misunderstanding?

[Numtini]

ROTFL I'm listening to a report on the local NPR station, they're apparently seeking to get a film credit from the state, based on the cut scene videos being "film," to pay off the loan.

[Mrbloodworth]

ROTFL I'm listening to a report on the local NPR station, they're apparently seeking to get a film credit from the state, based on the cut scene videos being "film," to pay off the loan.

Oh my...

[Numtini]

Keith Stokes has resigned as head of the state's Economic Development Corporation, amid controversy over a $75-million loan guarantee the EDC gave retired Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's video-game company that is now in default on payments owed the state.

This is starting to get a ton of coverage. Apparently this isn't even a loan payment, it's just a good faith payment, the actual loan payments are far larger and start next year. In addition to paying himself back his investment, apparently RA Salvatore is getting paid $5 million just for the already shipped game.

[schild]

Why would anyone offer RA Salvatore more than a new Bic pen to write with? He's horrible :(

[Chimpy]

Gotta love that the state has no way of forcing Curt to pony up and pay this out of his pocket, he basically gets off scot-free regardless of the outcome.

[HaemishM]

Keith Stokes has resigned as head of the state's Economic Development Corporation, amid controversy over a $75-million loan guarantee the EDC gave retired Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's video-game company that is now in default on payments owed the state.

This is starting to get a ton of coverage. Apparently this isn't even a loan payment, it's just a good faith payment, the actual loan payments are far larger and start next year. In addition to paying himself back his investment, apparently RA Salvatore is getting paid $5 million just for the already shipped game.

I almost fucking shit my pants when I read that. FIVE FUCKING MILLION DOLLARS TO WRITE BACKSTORY FOR AN MMOG? Are you fucking shitting me? Goddamn, I'd do it for 1% of that, probably take less time to do it, and goddamn, it would be better. Fuck me, I need to find me a goddamn idiot sugardaddy.

What little respect I had for Schilling just went right the fuck out the window.

[schild]

Don't let your respect go out the window because you fancy yourself a writer. Don't compare yourself to Salvatore, he doesn't deserve that.

Just flat out call him a hack, fan-service piece of fantasy shit.

Edit: That doesn't parse very well. What I was getting at is that he's bad and should fucking feel bad.

[HaemishM]

I thought it was bad enough he brought Salvatore on at all. But to pay him that much fucking money is just CRAZY unless the contract is for a fee + % of the profits. To pay him that as a flat fee... I just cannot comprehend it. I wouldn't pay William Gibson that much for rights to make Neuromancer into an MMOG (and that much for movie rights is approaching the upper bounds of what I think is reasonable), much less a tie-in series hack responsible for one of the most annoying munchkin characters on the planet. I mean, $5 million? I'm sure McFarlane got around that much or more. It's an extremely bad use of money.

Look at the MMOG's that are out there and are successes. Their IP's are not what you'd call strong sources of literature. Anarchy Online, Age of Conan and SWTOR are about the closest things we have to big-time worthwhile IP's. The Conan stuff was probably licensed for a song in comparison, Anarchy Online was written by one of the guys at the company already so it was mostly cheap, and SWTOR was licensed for too much money from the king of genre hacks. You could probably hire no-name game writers to come up with a world as interesting as what Salvatore comes up with, for $75k a year plus bennies. Hell, if they'd pay Salvatore $5 million for the rights to the Drizzt world, at least that would make more business sense because despite its levels of shittiness, it does at least have a built-in audience.

I really hope that article was wrong about the dollar figure.

[schild]

The idea that McFarlane and Salvatore are going to get filthy rich (compared to their popularity and ability - both of which are probably at an all-time low), well, let's just say it disgusts me and I wish them the worst.

[Soln]

Getting rich through public monies no less.


1. get investors
2. get govt cash since no VC money
3. put in modest private investment
4. get personal investment repaid
4. cash out buddies
5. taxpayer covers failure
6. profit
7. go on FoH and proclaim innocence and might

[naum]

I guess Curt won't be coming back here to hang out… 

[Numtini]

I guess Curt won't be coming back here to hang out… 

Why wouldn't he? He's probably going to have a lot of time to kill soon.

[Modern Angel]

I'm wondering if the way this story is blowing up a bit in more mainstream press will lead to more scrutiny of the industry as a whole. Because it's just as chock full of grifters and idiots fleecing customers and local governments as it was ten years ago, if not more. For an industry which pulls in more than Hollywood there's remarkably little in the way of interest from the real press.

[HaemishM]

The only way the mainstream media treats this as anything significant for any length of time is if Curt shoots someone.

[Ingmar]

I'm pretty sure I read something about him kicking around plans to run for office, so he's apparently following the Carly Fiorina path.

[Modern Angel]

They don't have to treat it as significant for an extended length of time. They simply have to treat it as significant at all.

[Kail]

Things be getting weird, looks like the studio tried to make their loan payment by pulling money from payroll.

http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/politics/local_politics/38-studios-pays-edc-not-employees

[Modern Angel]

Yeah, see, that's what I'm saying. There are a lot of goof off or downright dirty game makers, either entire corporate entities or individuals in positions of power, who can do their shitty business with zero repercussions in part because the "adult" world doesn't pay attention. Schilling isn't the first video game guy to get a loan or a tax break or special treatment only to crap out in spectacular fashion. But he might be the first to get popped in the wider media for it, due to his fame and the delicious hypocrisy on display as a self-styled rugged conservative bootstrapper. And that can only be a good thing, however brief this particular instance lasts.

[Jobu]

At this rate, this is gonna be front page news on a major news website. Maybe even a Daily Show bit.

[Kageru]

It sounds like they're running on empty if they're messing about with whether or not they can actually pay their staff. The trigger for it coming to light being KoA selling poorly and EA ruling out any investment in the next game I assume.

You would think, if they had a nearly completed product, finding some investment to finish it off would be possible even if he has to sell some control in the company (possibly a good thing anyway), but they might not even be far enough that's possible... which is pretty impressive.

[koro]

Things be getting weird, looks like the studio tried to make their loan payment by pulling money from payroll.

http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/politics/local_politics/38-studios-pays-edc-not-employees

Note that the operative term is "tried" to make the loan payment.

The EDC had to return the check because 38 Studios didn't have the funds to cover it.

This is fucking slapstick at this point.

[Modern Angel]

Not just that but the check was hand delivered to the government office.

[sickrubik]

"Hey guys, here's that check... but if you could do use a huge favor, don't cash it until Friday, k?"

[Hawkbit]

Now they're really fucked.  Add a $40.00 returned check fee to that bad boy, shit starts accruing fast.

[Margalis]

If 38 Studios goes down (when?) none of those people are going to stay in RI and help the economy, so that money spent will have been totally wasted. AFAIK there are no other video game companies in Rhode Island.

[satael]

I thought that buying the Big Huge Games was the reason 38 Studios was in trouble now but considering they got the loan a year after that it's hard to see how they could have miscalculated so badly that they've run out of cash this far from launching the mmo (their next source of income).

[Malakili]

it's hard to see how they could have miscalculated so badly that they've run out of cash this far from launching the mmo (their next source of income).

Well we're hearing, what, 600k copies of KoA sold?  That strikes me as a bit low for a game that got as much press as this one did.  I'm not sure how much they spent to make it, or how many copies they anticipated selling, but it would surprise me if they needed to sell a lot more than they did.

[Yoru]

I thought that buying the Big Huge Games was the reason 38 Studios was in trouble now but considering they got the loan a year after that it's hard to see how they could have miscalculated so badly that they've run out of cash this far from launching the mmo (their next source of income).

Keep in mind that the MMO has been in development since at least 2007. And I don't mean "concept sketches and word docs" development.

That's a lot of time and money wasted.

[satael]

Keep in mind that the MMO has been in development since at least 2007. And I don't mean "concept sketches and word docs" development.

That's a lot of time and money wasted.

What I mean is they got the loan at the end of 2010 which means they either used it to pay off their other loans or on operating costs in the last 18 months (the sales from Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning should atleast cover its marketing costs?). Either way 38 Studios must have been walking a tightrope before the loan was approved and pretty much betting on the game to sell alot more to actually finish the mmo.