38 Studios going down the shitter (Kingdoms of Amalur devs)

[Metro]

So, who will buy the intellectual property? Surely the state isn't stupid enough not to sell it, since it won't ever increase in value.

It's going to be auctioned off shortly -- they already have a law firm handling it. If anything EA might low ball it.

 

[Mother Russia]

Amalaur was not a failiure, technically. It just didn't sell $3 million...and AFAIK the reason for needing to sell that much was partly because of the resources going into the MMO of Amalur.

 

[IDtenT]

Amalaur was not a failiure, technically. It just didn't sell $3 million...and AFAIK the reason for needing to sell that much was partly because of the resources going into the MMO of Amalur.

Exactly, but you mean 3 million copies.

 

[Rahdulan]

Amalaur was not a failiure, technically. It just didn't sell $3 million...and AFAIK the reason for needing to sell that much was partly because of the resources going into the MMO of Amalur.

It was a new IP co-produced by a developer mainly known for their RTS games and a newly founded studio aka both totally unknown in this day and age. Expecting it to sell that many copies was some serious EA level delusion. Not to mention the game was outright bland and forgettable. Extra points for hiring the literary genius that is R. A. Salvatore and paying him serious money to churn out one of the most generic settings I've seen in a long time. Yeah, that was a smart investment.

 

[Mother Russia]

Amalaur was not a failiure, technically. It just didn't sell $3 million...and AFAIK the reason for needing to sell that much was partly because of the resources going into the MMO of Amalur.

Exactly, but you mean 3 million copies.

Whoops, yes that's exactly what I meant. 3 million copies just to break even...somethie seriously went wrong somewhere, and you can blame the MMO for it all. Basically, Curt started doing MMOs at the worst possible time...when even a MMO with the brand names of Bioware and Lucasarts and ofcourse, STAR WARS is have severe issues with succcess, you can bet your ass there is a huge paradigm shift in the MMO market coming up that you need to watch out for. The switch from subscriptions to F2P models is just one of the major things. I bet you there will be major changes in the way the gameplay is done. I think MMO players are burnt out with the way MMOs play...it was a new thing for the last decade, but now everyone has had enough. WoW was where they finally played their fingers to the bone, after UO, EverQuest, Asherons Call and DAOC. WoW was in essence, the culmination of the Golden Age of the MMORPGs. It's all downhill for them from here. Also, another generic fantasy setting is probably the last thing WoW fags are look

So basically, Curt should initially just have focused on Amalur single player, and tried to establish a respectable franchise and brand name for his product line/setting, as well as his company and himself. RA Salvatore was a pretty good idea to be honest. It got a lot of ppl interested, and made the project quite visible. And Salvatores pay, $3 million I think, is just peanuts compared to the amount of publicity and fanbase he brought in. However, an even better idea might have been to bring in a more established author, and try to do something different, if a MMO is really what he had his heart set on.

Ppl will groan but honestly, I think he should have gone for GRRM if he really wanted the game to be a hit, because a GRRM designed world in a similar vein to the ASOAF novels would have made for a unique and multifaceted game. Instead of grinding and quests, you could hang out in court and play verbal politics. Death could have real consequences. Many gameplay styles would be available, with the ability to form a cohesive whole. Magick would be vile, have long lasting impact, and be different. Most importantly, the game would totally ditch the established and mind numbingly boring paradigm of strikers, tanks, DPS, stealth rogues, mobs, etc etc etc

Even if the game had been a hit though, it still would not have made him Bill Gates rich, because a game like the above will never get the fanbase a high fantasy turn like WoW will get (except today ofcourse, when fans are burnt out on that thing. But in another 10 years....)

 

[IDtenT]

The MMO was really the problem, yeah.

 

[Jaesun]

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/11/01/Rhode-Island-38-studios-lawsuit/?a_dgi=aolshare_twitter

The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (EDC), the quasi-public group that granted the $75 million taxpayer-guaranteed loan to 38 Studios, has filed a lawsuit against the architects of the 2010 deal. WPRI reports the defendants include 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling and CEO Jennifer MacLean, former EDC executive director Keith Stokes, Wells Fargo Securities, Barclays Capital and many, many more.

"I know you work hard for your paychecks, and for your tax dollars to be squandered is unacceptable. The board's legal action was taken to rectify a grave injustice put upon the people of Rhode Island," said Governor Lincoln Chafee in a prepared two-and-a-half-minute statement posted on YouTube (found after the break, with text transcript).​

 

[skuphundaku]

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/11/01/Rhode-Island-38-studios-lawsuit/?a_dgi=aolshare_twitter

The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (EDC), the quasi-public group that granted the $75 million taxpayer-guaranteed loan to 38 Studios, has filed a lawsuit against the architects of the 2010 deal. WPRI reports the defendants include 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling and CEO Jennifer MacLean, former EDC executive director Keith Stokes, Wells Fargo Securities, Barclays Capital and many, many more.​

"I know you work hard for your paychecks, and for your tax dollars to be squandered is unacceptable. The board's legal action was taken to rectify a grave injustice put upon the people of Rhode Island," said Governor Lincoln Chafee in a prepared two-and-a-half-minute statement posted on YouTube (found after the break, with text transcript).​

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/11/01/Rhode-Island-38-studios-lawsuit/?a_dgi=aolshare_twitter

The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (EDC), the quasi-public group that granted the $75 million taxpayer-guaranteed loan to 38 Studios, has filed a lawsuit against the architects of the 2010 deal. WPRI reports the defendants include 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling and CEO Jennifer MacLean, former EDC executive director Keith Stokes, Wells Fargo Securities, Barclays Capital and many, many more.​

"I know you work hard for your paychecks, and for your tax dollars to be squandered is unacceptable. The board's legal action was taken to rectify a grave injustice put upon the people of Rhode Island," said Governor Lincoln Chafee in a prepared two-and-a-half-minute statement posted on YouTube (found after the break, with text transcript).​

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

 

[IDtenT]

It'll be settled out of court for peanuts.

 

[Infinitron]

Peanuts are all that is left.

 

[Jaesun]

Did at least Lazarus BRO Ian find a new job?

 

[Infinitron]

Did at least Lazarus BRO Ian find a new job?

Yes, all of the main BHG guys are working for Epic now...making mobile games.

 

[Jaesun]

Have you actually like checked his linkedin profile? Fuck. I need to figure that shit out someday heh.

 

[Metro]

Where the fuck is the 90% off Steam sale?!?!

 

[Gerrard]

Why not just pirate it like a normal person? Why would you be giving money to EA?

I actually saw an ad for the Japanese version a while ago, and it was only released in September over there. Of course at full price.

 

[evdk]

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/11/01/Rhode-Island-38-studios-lawsuit/?a_dgi=aolshare_twitter

The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (EDC), the quasi-public group that granted the $75 million taxpayer-guaranteed loan to 38 Studios, has filed a lawsuit against the architects of the 2010 deal. WPRI reports the defendants include 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling and CEO Jennifer MacLean, former EDC executive director Keith Stokes, Wells Fargo Securities, Barclays Capital and many, many more.​

"I know you work hard for your paychecks, and for your tax dollars to be squandered is unacceptable. The board's legal action was taken to rectify a grave injustice put upon the people of Rhode Island," said Governor Lincoln Chafee in a prepared two-and-a-half-minute statement posted on YouTube (found after the break, with text transcript).​

That is political grandstanding.

 

[Infinitron]

Polygon reports on NYTimes article: http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/22/4251780/38-studios-loan-wasnt-micromanaged-state-other-problems

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee was "reluctant to micromanage" the state's investment in now-defunct developer 38 Studios, saying the state had its hands full with other problems at the time, according to a recent New York Times feature.

The state's main reason for pushing ahead with funding for former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's studio was tocreate more jobs. The deal between Schilling and the state started in 2010 under then-governor Don Carcieri, and was already underway when Chafee took office.

"They were telling us we could have unemployment of 13 or 14 percent!" Democratic House speaker Gordon D. Fox said. "And you've got a population saying: ‘OK, lookit, we need something to happen now. We need jobs now.' And OK, what is government's role in that?"

Chafee spoke out against funding Schilling's company in July 2010, while he was still a candidate for the governor's office, accusing Schilling of painting the red onto his famous bloody sock.

"I just remember his own teammates didn't like him," Chafee said in an interview after the governor election. "They thought he was a bit of a salesman. I remember one of his teammates said he painted his sock, the bloody sock, he painted it. I don't know if I trust Curt Schilling."

The New York Times reports Chafee told them he did "everything [he] could" to keep 38 Studios from going under, but that he did not make any "consequential changes" to the Economic Development Corporation board, which was overseeing the studio's funding, until after it was defunct.

Chafee told The Times that he left corporation executive director Keith Stokes to monitor the deal because he was a "longtime friend" of the president of the state Senate and removing him would have negative political ramifications. Between September 2010 and May 2012 the board held 63 meetings but never discussed 38 Studios' financial status, according to a report by the Providence Journal. The New York Times says the board though one of IBM's consulting arms was monitoring the investment, but in reality 38 Studios and not the state were paying IBM.

The company shared no reports on the studio's progress with the board, and Chafee did not "despute the suggestion" that more could have been done to keep an eye on 38 Studios, according to the Times. Chafee said Rhode Island had a full plate at the time, dealing with a $450 million budget shortfall, the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, a town going bankrupt and a "battle" to reform the state's pension system as just a few items he was facing at the time.

"I had so many reservations about this being a bad deal, that I was reluctant to micromanage, to have it be ‘Chafee screwing this up,' " he said "And don't forget, we had our hands full in this state."

Earlier this month AP reported Rhode Island legislators are considering having the state default on its debt inherited from 38 Studios' closing. The studio closed last June and declared bankruptcy shortly after missing payments to the state and laying off its entire staff.

Full NYTimes article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/b...e-island-and-the-fall-of-38-studios.html?_r=0

 

[IDtenT]

Anyone bought the license yet?

 

[Modron]

Why would anyone want to?

 

[IDtenT]

You never know.

 

[Roguey]

Kingdoms of Amalur was profitable for EA and now that it's an established brand it has nowhere to go but up, assuming they maintain quality.

Funny stuffs from earlier this month http://www.readingisforsnobs.com/2013/04/curt-schillng-just-as-much-of-teabagger.html

 

[Jashiin]

Might be something for Chris Taylor

 

[Excommunicator]

Polygon reports on NYTimes article: http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/22/4251780/38-studios-loan-wasnt-micromanaged-state-other-problems

So in other words there was serious mismanagement in the state council as well and partially their own fault that the money just disappeared. I'm sure no one is surprised.

 

[~RAGING BONER~]

how much would the license for "I'maLoL" go for?