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

[Tannhauser]

According to that article Schilling says he's now broke and Salvatore claims that someone else will buy the code and we'll see the game in some form.

I believe one of those claims.

[Paelos]

300-400 people???

I've managed the accounting for high rise developments that had both less people AND less overhead. And at the end of it something actually got built!

[Musashi]

Schadenfreude is something that got built.  And this is the delicious kind.  Asshole Republican Bigmouth Twatweasel Comeuppance.  Worth every penny if you ask me.

[kildorn]

300-400 people???

I've managed the accounting for high rise developments that had both less people AND less overhead. And at the end of it something actually got built!

The reason for the idiocy is that all that money from the state was supposed to fund jobs for the state. In theory, tiny bits to lots of companies who employ a few extra folks.

They all went stupid and gave a ton of money to one company that had no need to employ that many people, and instead tied the money to employing shitloads more folks than they needed. The whole thing from both a business and a government funding new jobs angle was a clusterfuck that should never have been green lit by anyone involved.

[Cheddar]

When you sign an agreement requiring you to have a full-size dev team in place for the prototyping stages of the game, it's easy to blow through that kind of cash. Overheads of $4m a month when you're still at least two years out from launch means that your typical 4-5 year MMO dev cycle is going to be expensive.

$4M a month? The fuck? How many people are they actually employing?

They basically took a loan saying they'd try to employ 300-400 people during the entire dev process. This is what we call being blinded by the dollar figure and not thinking "hey, that clause basically fucks us from having any chance ever to accomplish our goals!"

They were doomed the second the ink dried on that loan agreement, because there was no way they could pull this off with that burn rate.

If they honored that commitment they were fools.  I mean, captain obvious here.

Wage alone is around 30M per year (assuming average salary is 50k).  Christ.

[Lantyssa]

Considering the company went bankrupt in spectacular fashion, I'd say they were fools.  Except whomever managed to walk away with a sweet deal, if anyone.

[Paelos]

Considering the company went bankrupt in spectacular fashion, I'd say they were fools.  Except whomever managed to walk away with a sweet deal, if anyone.

EA.

[UnSub]

300-400 people???

I've managed the accounting for high rise developments that had both less people AND less overhead. And at the end of it something actually got built!

The reason for the idiocy is that all that money from the state was supposed to fund jobs for the state. In theory, tiny bits to lots of companies who employ a few extra folks.

They all went stupid and gave a ton of money to one company that had no need to employ that many people, and instead tied the money to employing shitloads more folks than they needed. The whole thing from both a business and a government funding new jobs angle was a clusterfuck that should never have been green lit by anyone involved.

From what's out in the open, 38 Studios burned at least US$135m - $50m from that state-backed loan (the other $25m was held up on a number of things, like delivery of the game and meeting employment targets and loan fees), $50m from Schilling if you believe him and $35m from EA in the KoA:R publishing deal. Then there are potentially "smaller" investors that are owed more and I've seen a report that says 38 Studios has US$150m+ in liabilities.

When 38 Studios signed the deal with Rhode Island, they had about 90 people (excluding Big Huge Games - don't know how much they cost to buy but also had about 90 people at the time when KoA:R launched) and moved that number to RI. When 38 Studios collapsed about 18 months (? - I'd have to check but our new work filter is very strict about "violating sites") later they had about 300 in RI and about 90 at BHG. They'd already spent their publishing money from EA and possibly had by the end of 2011. If Project Copernicus was actually due out in June 2013, then they would have been seeking massive investment for over a year just to get the title launched.

38 Studios had signed a contract to have 450 people employeed in RI by late 2012, and they were on track to hit that goal, but apparently no-one thought to work out that old chesnut of expenses versus revenue. For every person they fell short of employing I believe the penalty was $7500 per year. So it would have been better business to have hired less people and just paid the fines.

But that's just my opinion and no-one will ever give me US$50m to make a video game, even though I'm sure I could get Piers Anthony and Rob Liefeld to sign on a Executive Producing Consultants.

[HaemishM]

Considering the company went bankrupt in spectacular fashion, I'd say they were fools.  Except whomever managed to walk away with a sweet deal, if anyone.

EA.

And the bank that gave them the loan in the first place (who is guaranteed to get that money from the state of Rhode Island). Rhode Island essentially co-signed on a car loan for a fucking Ferrari that they gave to their drunken, meth-addled baseball pitcher teenage son.

[HaemishM]

But that's just my opinion and no-one will ever give me US$50m to make a video game, even though I'm sure I could get Piers Anthony and Rob Liefeld to sign on a Executive Producing Consultants.

Pedophiles with Ginormous ShoulderPads Online!

[koro]

It'll be a smash hit in Japan.

[UnSub]

But that's just my opinion and no-one will ever give me US$50m to make a video game, even though I'm sure I could get Piers Anthony and Rob Liefeld to sign on a Executive Producing Consultants.

Pedophiles with Ginormous ShoulderPads Online!

Every time you level, 3 things get automatically bigger.

Five if you play a female character.

[Sjofn]

I wanted to make a Tera (TERA?) joke when I read the Piers Anthony line this morning but my brain refused to cooperate. :(

[shiznitz]

I swear I am not trying to turn this into a Piers Anthony thread but I couldn't resist sharing this from an Amazon review of Book 8 of the Incarnations of Immortality series (2007):

I tried twice to read past the first chapter, and failed. That's saying something! But when a 13 year old girl uses a magical device on her genitals so she can accommodate any sized man-- I get this was taking place in the middle ages and brides were quite young, but come on. I'm not a prude-- I even (sorta) late-era Heinlein books, even when they go off the deep end. But if you have to have pedophilia, can it just be somewhat glossed over and not dwelled on entirely, please?

http://www.amazon.com/Under-Velvet-Cloak-Incarnations-Immortality/dp/1594262942/ref=la_B000APX5IE_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1342196260&sr=1-3

[Bzalthek]

Holy shit, he made another one?  The II series was awesome when I was what 12?  But by the time I hit book 7 I was like "thank god it's finished" ...

[UnsGub]

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/2012/07/38-studios-end-game/

[Lantyssa]

 

[Chimpy]

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/2012/07/38-studios-end-game/

Fuck him and the chariot of stupid he rode in on.

[Cheddar]

Fucked up on every level.  No wonder he feels like shit.

Squandered his fortune, ruined lives on multiple levels, and blew through millions of state cash.

I mean, even if someone had bought into his attempt to keep the lights on it wouldn't last. 

I feel really bad for the workers.  I wonder if there is recourse for civil law suits?

[trias_e]

It's fascinating to see the work and mindset of someone who never had to face a reality check before.  Curt's mindset was both juvenile and almost impressive (or insane) in it's unwavering positivity. Most of us realize at some point fairly early on that everything in life can't be had just with positive thinking and hard work.  Sometimes, you need good luck.  Sometimes, you need good sense.  Sometimes, shit just isn't going to work the way it does in your mind, and you need to adapt and form new expectations.  For most of us, it happens young when, for instance, we realize we won't become the next Micheal Jordan (or in my case John Stockton.  He's short and white too, so if he could do it, why couldn't I?)

But what if you actually become that one in a million athlete through positive thinking and hard work?  It makes sense that you might not learn this lesson.  And Curt certainly didn't.  Totally oblivious to reality.  And reality checked him and everyone he dragged with him pretty fucking hard.  It's just too bad it couldn't have happened earlier, in a less terrible situation.  It's almost sad, because there's something admirable about such ambitious and positive thinking.  I think it is really necessary to make something great, and so many people are on the opposite side of the spectrum in that regard.  But it absolutely has to be tempered with wisdom.  

[Abelian75]

Honestly, the only thing that really pisses me off is the politics angle, and the fact that he still seems to be clinging to that "blame the government" thing.  If he wasn't such a fiscal conservative I would just think he was a kinda naive, but otherwise good dude.  But it's hard for me not to think of him as a prick if he thinks a game company should get 75 million dollars, but that it's wasteful to give people health care.  Or, for that matter, for any other game company to get money, I imagine.

[UnSub]

A great article and one that shows why 38 Studios employees were so upbeat about the company.

It's probably expected that 38 Studios management would be railing at Schilling, but interesting that the CEO says she was kicked out in March.

[Ingmar]

I wonder if there is recourse for civil law suits?

There would have to be money for them to recover.

[Lucas]

It's fascinating to see the work and mindset of someone who never had to face a reality check before.  Curt's mindset was both juvenile and almost impressive (or insane) in it's unwavering positivity. Most of us realize at some point fairly early on that everything in life can't be had just with positive thinking and hard work.  Sometimes, you need good luck.  Sometimes, you need good sense.  Sometimes, shit just isn't going to work the way it does in your mind, and you need to adapt and form new expectations.  For most of us, it happens young when, for instance, we realize we won't become the next Micheal Jordan (or in my case John Stockton.  He's short and white too, so if he could do it, why couldn't I?)

But what if you actually become that one in a million athlete through positive thinking and hard work?  It makes sense that you might not learn this lesson.  And Curt certainly didn't.  Totally oblivious to reality.  And reality checked him and everyone he dragged with him pretty fucking hard.  It's just too bad it couldn't have happened earlier, in a less terrible situation.  It's almost sad, because there's something admirable about such ambitious and positive thinking.  I think it is really necessary to make something great, and so many people are on the opposite side of the spectrum in that regard.  But it absolutely has to be tempered with wisdom.  

impressive article linked above, and I trias' post totally reflects what I'm thinking after reading it, especially the "winning mindset" in sports that doesn't necessarily mean you'll have a great career as an entrepreneur.  It's just scary to see the damage he did because of his lack of company management skills

[Numtini]

OMG it's not easy to become a billionaire? Who would have thunk it.

[Lantyssa]

It's almost sad, because there's something admirable about such ambitious and positive thinking.  I think it is really necessary to make something great, and so many people are on the opposite side of the spectrum in that regard.  But it absolutely has to be tempered with wisdom.  

Positive thinking is great.  It's not positive thinking if it leads to over-confidence and delusion though.

In Curt's case it's so overwhelming that he ignored all warnings, didn't reign in problem behaviors, never made contingency plans, and when things started looking bleak was so overwhelmed that he was unable to to give any warning to those who would be most affected.

Oh no!  He has to go back to work because he is 'broke'.  With his multi-million dollar house and fame that lands him back on ESPN instantly (anyone want to speculate on how much they're paying him?).

[Chimpy]

Too much. He should have to start from scratch and use those bootstrap skills that all his former employees are forced to.

[satael]

He projected that Copernicus would debut by 2010, or in four years — an aggressive timeline for even an established video-game studio.

(scheduled release was summer of 2013 when 38 Studios went finally bankrupt)

I think that about covers it all.

[Outlawedprod]

This article is relevant to Mr. Schilling.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/report-many-rappers-may-suffer-from-unrealisticall,1531/

[Soln]

It quickly became apparent that Schilling was new not just to video-game development, but to the basic concept of working in an office...

 “He really needed Company 101... the whole concept of vacation was foreign to Curt. He actually said, ‘People get weekends off, right?’” Schilling at one point suggested that people work 14 straight days and then take five days off. It jibed with his baseball experience."

.

[HaemishM]

That article pisses me off. I get that Schilling was a goddamn neophyte to business or working in an office or fucking reality. That's why you hire good people to manage your money and your company AND THEN YOU FUCKING LISTEN TO THEM. When consultants and potential investors are telling you they won't give you a dime unless they get 20% equity stake, and they do that FOR YEARS, you change your shit. You don't just throw another meaty fastball down the middle of the plate and expect your sheer force of will means they'll miss the ball this time. He should know about how to adapt, yet he refused to.

And the financial people he hired with him should have quit in disgust rather than let people's paychecks and insurance premiums go unpaid.

What is it about "I have a $40 to $50 million budget" could Curt not understand? Did he not know the meaning of the word BUDGET? If your original budget was $50 million, you should never have needed a $75 million loan from the state. When people like investors are willing to give you milllions if only you'll give up a little of the equity, you do that instead of getting a loan. Idiot.

[Amaron]

That bit about the 50/50 profit sharing blew my mind.  He played a lot of games so I could understand him maybe overriding some of his game people.  But why the fuck would he have any opinion on how to run a business?

[Malakili]

Just catching up on this thread.  Egads, what a trainwreck.

[UnSub]

I also appreciate how Schilling keeps blaming RI Governor Chafee, as if it was that guy's fault they couldn't limp along for a few months longer before collapsing.

I don't believe for a second that Nexon or Take Two (iirc) were going to invest in Project Copernicus without taking a big chunk of equity in the IP. I'm sure they would have kept pulling Schilling along, but that's because they want to see as much of the title as possible / get it further to completion without paying for it before signing on as publisher.

[Goumindong]

That article is just amazing shocking thing after amazing shocking thing.

OK, hiring family members. I can see that. The guy in IT yea, whatever. Sucks to be the guy they didn't hire instead of him, but he won't be working with his family and so you probably don't have to worry much about it. Putting your wife on the board. Bad, but you own 80% of the company and the board doesn't really do all that much. Both is a little ifff... did you just make your uncle COO? And you call him "uncle" at work?

Wow and it got worse from there