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38 Studios, run by ex-Baseball star Curt Schilling, has effectively closed down today according to a report on the verge. The company, which reportedly employed some 379 staff as of March this year, was working on Project Copernicus, an MMO based in the same world as the company's earlier Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
38 Studios had previously purchased Rise of Nations and Settlers of Catan developer Big Huge Games from THQ and, according to a report on Kotaku, Big Huge Games have suffered the same fate as their parent studio, with all of that team laid off as well.
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Comments (10)
This sucks man. Kingdoms of Amalur was an IP with such massive potential, and Reckoning was a great game just begging for a little more work.
Rumour? No, this is now truth.
A horrible, horrible truth...
A horrible, horrible truth...
I'm worried about the implications - like, what about other lesser known devs starting on new IPs? Will this be a deterrent? Will we ever get any new and innovative games ever again?
But then again, there are things like Kickstarter in place?
:
But then again, there are things like Kickstarter in place?
:
25 May 2012, 01:15 PM
Reply to strawpeople
I'm worried about the implications - like, what about other lesser known devs starting on new IPs? Will this be a deterrent? Will we ever get any new and innovative games ever again?
But then again, there are things like Kickstarter in place?
:
The industry is in an interesting place right now. It's going to be pretty hard to convince the people who hold the purse strings to spend the kind of money a next-gen game will cost on an unproven IP. I'm worried about the implications - like, what about other lesser known devs starting on new IPs? Will this be a deterrent? Will we ever get any new and innovative games ever again?
But then again, there are things like Kickstarter in place?
:
Sales of 1.2 Million (which is what KoA:R achieved in the first 90 days on sale) aren't even close to high enough to offset the cost of production, and those costs are only going to go up.
I suspect this will lead to a creative drought at the top end, but an upsurge in the availability of fairly high-profile and creative games at the bottom end (download-only, iOS, etc); Something that is already being addressed by the likes of Kickstarter.
How long gaming will remain tiered like this is anyone's guess at this stage.
man thats a huge bummer. i wish the best for those out of work. why did they release the teaser? surely they must've seen this coming
25 May 2012, 01:23 PM
Reply to phantom
The industry is in an interesting place right now. It's going to be pretty hard to convince the people who hold the purse strings to spend the kind of money a next-gen game will cost on an unproven IP.
Sales of 1.2 Million (which is what KoA:R achieved in the first 90 days on sale) aren't even close to high enough to offset the cost of production, and those costs are only going to go up.
I suspect this will lead to a creative drought at the top end, but an upsurge in the availability of fairly high-profile and creative games at the bottom end (download-only, iOS, etc); Something that is already being addressed by the likes of Kickstarter.
How long gaming will remain tiered like this is anyone's guess at this stage.
A major issue it seems was also the fact they took a $75 million loan from the state to finance it. So, instead of a traditional publisher approach where losses could be absorbed if need be by the (presumably established) publisher, they were completely responsible for them.
The industry is in an interesting place right now. It's going to be pretty hard to convince the people who hold the purse strings to spend the kind of money a next-gen game will cost on an unproven IP.
Sales of 1.2 Million (which is what KoA:R achieved in the first 90 days on sale) aren't even close to high enough to offset the cost of production, and those costs are only going to go up.
I suspect this will lead to a creative drought at the top end, but an upsurge in the availability of fairly high-profile and creative games at the bottom end (download-only, iOS, etc); Something that is already being addressed by the likes of Kickstarter.
How long gaming will remain tiered like this is anyone's guess at this stage.
The $75M loan was to fund the MMO (Copernicus) set in the same universe. It wasn't for Reckoning.
Check out this comment and images posted by Curt Shilling.
http://www.38watch.com/forums/showthread.php?2786-You-guys-deserve-this
Holy cow it looks good, it'd be a shame if it was never finished.
Check out this comment and images posted by Curt Shilling.
http://www.38watch.com/forums/showthread.php?2786-You-guys-deserve-this
Holy cow it looks good, it'd be a shame if it was never finished.
True, didn't realise that. Dunno why you've been downvoted.
Nonetheless, it still stands as a stupid decision (from both parties) that led to their collapse.
Nonetheless, it still stands as a stupid decision (from both parties) that led to their collapse.
What's up with all this unjustified downvoting guys, I keep thumbsing people up because I honestly have no idea why their comment is going negative.
Say it ain't so. I still haven't finished the game and have already run into a few bugs.
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