Videos
(58)Screenshots
(39)Cheats and Walkthroughs
Videos
(58)Screenshots
(39)Cheats and Walkthroughs
Videos
(58)Screenshots
(39)Cheats and Walkthroughs
In a press conference held earlier today in Rhode Island, the governor of the state discussed gaming for a bit. At issue: the fate of now-defunct development house 38 Studios and its subsidiary Big Huge Games. The studio, founded by baseball great Curt Schilling, laid off all of its workers today.
When asked why the company had such disastrous financial trouble, Lincoln Chafee replied: "The game [Kingdoms of Amalur] failed. The game failed."
Interestingly, Chafee did not confirm the reports of layoffs, saying 38 hasn't told R.I. about them. Chafee also said he doesn't know whether 38 is planning to file for bankruptcy.
Chafee said Amalur would have needed to sell over 3 million copies to make back its investment, a goal the game did not meet. It reportedly sold over a million copies.
When asked if further oversight by the state might have resulted in a more successful company, Chafee doubted it, pointing out that bureaucrats meddling in creative matters would likely not work out. "If I had meddled there wouldn't be all this horrible violence in games. All this sexism," Chafee told reporters.
As reported by WPRI, the employees of 38 Studios recently received an email today that read:
"The Company is experiencing an economic downturn. To avoid further losses and possibility of retrenchment, the Company has decided that a company-wide lay off is absolutely necessary.
These layoffs are non-voluntary and non-disciplinary.
This is your official notice of lay off, effective today, Thursday, May 24th, 2012."
The company had 379 full-time employees at its two studios as of March 15.
Since the company owes Rhode Island nearly $75 million that it looks increasingly like it won't be able to pay back, it's likely that R.I. will end up the owners of Amalur and the rest of 38's intellectual property.
Among that property: "Project Copernicus," 38 Studios' MMO planned for release in June. While it seems pretty likely that it will never be released in the form that it was originally planned for, 38 Studios did release a few screenshots today. Here's a gallery of Project Copernicus screens.
And take a look at the world of Copernicus:
More as the the story develops.
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Comments
Displaying 1–16 of 16
EEAGLEEYE07
I think it is disturbing that people think that the Gov't of Rhode Island should have done something, like oh let say "take over the company"! WTF! I don't want gov't making my entertainment choices for me. I would not play a gov't made /owned video game. Government should not be loaning money to people to make video games! This is like gov't loaning to Hollywood to make movies.
edugamez
Seems like a lot of folks lost out on this company going down including the state.
sheryl021
my neighbor's half-sister makes $70 hourly on the internet. She has been laid off for five months but last month her paycheck was $17706 just working on the internet for a few hours. Here's the site to read more NuttyRich.com
JustTheBeginning
I am sorry but that is extremely foolish to NEED to sell 3 million copies JUST to keep your jobs on BORROWED money . It was a brand new IP from a brand new developer and they were expecting it to sell as well as Gears of War? No wonder they failed miserably, they put all their eggs, and Rhode Island's eggs in one basket and expected a miracle to happen.
BrenLeahey
This is terrible news. KoA is really good. It's not the best game ever made but it's still damn good.
agartum
like Edwin answered I'm amazed that a stay at home mom can make $9306 in 4 weeks on the computer. have you seen this web link ===>> http://LazyCash38.com <====
BoydofZINJ
Looks like the review from G4tv was more accurate than not. It was a good first attempt; however, it surprised me how bad the computer version was... likewise, the story was... too classic MMO-ish.
Tmidiman
This is just bad news.
Has any company ever stopped to think that if everyone is laid off that no one can buy their products?
Twitchin
Very sad news :*( KOA:Reckoning immersed me in an extremely vibrant world, not to mention the refreshingly new mythology (for those growing tired of sequels), and the entertaining combat/stealth system. The dialogue was exceptionally well written (R.A. Salvatore is simply the best fantasy writer). I enjoyed every minute of it, and was looking forward to revisiting their future worlds. It sounds like a lot of people missed out on this one.
It's a shame the demo was so buggy/glitchy. It misrepresented the game's quality. I found none of the demos problems in the actual game.
g4fan247
I bought K.O.A Reckoning and it is good game. It is sad to hear this studio close and my conolences go to all of the employees who were layed off today.
Wozman23
Sad news. I really liked the game, and I'm not even a big RPG fan.
cwbys21
"If I had meddled there wouldn't be all this horrible violence in games." $5 says this twit has seen the transformers movies and didn't complain about the violence.
Otherwise, shame the studio closed. The lesson we can take from this is, don't make games with actual color and with good combat because it won't make money. Make a game where the color palette is as boring as the combat and you will.
Sagacious_Otaku
3 million copies for a new IP? That's ridiculous. I bought K.O.A.: Reckoning and it was ok but when has a new title ever sold that many copies? Very unrealistic & shame on the management for even thinking something like that was possible.
macross2012
Glad to see this studio close. Game was a poor quality PC demo, and the xbox demo was not much better. Problems with missing heads and god knows how many other issues. I was so glad I forced to play the demo to get ME3 items that If I hadnt played the demo I probably would have bought the game. Felt really outdated.
Should be at target on closeout for $5.00 soon
zombie_prime
That's a shame! I hate to hear when a studio closes, especially one that had such great potential as they did! I loved K.O.A: Reckoning, it was a heck of a first game, I wanted to see more! Good luck to all the employees who were fired!
zombie_prime
That's a shame! I hate to hear when a studio closes, especially one that had such great potential as they did! I loved K.O.A: Reckoning, it was a heck of a first game, I wanted to see more! Good luck to all the employees who were fired!
Displaying 1–16 of 16