Company News 38 Studios Entire Staff Laid Off, Amalur Needed 3mil Sold To Break Even

[Alex_Steel]

Shitty management, a shitty deal and a shitty game. No wonder everything went that way. I really hope the managers would get the hardest punishment for the whole deal, but I doubt it. They will probably blame the 3d artists or something.

 

[abnaxus]

Joystiq has some quotes from the press conference. In any case, whatever Curt Schilling is up to with the sudden radical layoffs, now we know 3 million copies were needed for Kingdoms of Amalur to break even, but the game "only" sold 1.2 million.

"A Promise Never Fulfilled".

 

[Azalin]

“I’m stunned, and I’m heartbroken,” said R.A. Salvatore, a Leominster fantasy author who was a consultant to 38 Studios and whose son worked at the company. “This is one of the best teams I’ve ever seen assembled. They were doing amazing work.”

Well those 5 mill you got will probably ease the pain Robert

 

[Commissar Draco]

They should make game in some thirdwordia where people take 1/10 of Kwans paychecks.... like Red and TWitcher with its 1,4 million sold did. How much you have to be gready and dumb to expect every game to sell as good as Skyrim? Without Beth promo campaign to boot.

 

[Davaris]

“I’m stunned, and I’m heartbroken,” said R.A. Salvatore, a Leominster fantasy author who was a consultant to 38 Studios and whose son worked at the company. “This is one of the best teams I’ve ever seen assembled. They were doing amazing work.”

Well those 5 mill you got will probably ease the pain Robert

People these days are so damned cynical.

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

Someone ran off with the fucking cash.

 

[Stinger]

It's sad Ian got caught up in such a terrible studio.

Yeah it's a real shame, here's hoping he finds a job amongst devs with better uses for his talents.

 

[Monolith]

The most astonishing is how such a lackluster game could achieve 1.2 mil sales. Perhaps that 5 mil spent on Salvatore weren't such a bad business decision after all...

 

[RK47]

Oh Im sorry everyone, he didn't get 5mil. It was only promised when the MMO launch.
When KoA launched, he only got 1.3 mil. It's no wonder he's upset. Poor, poor RA Salvatore.

 

[Shannow]

How much money has Ewe Boll gotten from the German Govt to make his movies?

I don't know. But since it's you who is trying to make the point, perhaps you should find out. While you're at it you can also check Rhode Island's GDP. Germany has the third largest GDP in the world. So then you have to compare the 10-20 million Boll might have gotten to the 75 million for an unknown studio, while taking GDP into account...

I'm not saying governments don't waste money on stupid shit, but usually they have "experts" or "friends" "advising" them there. And even then it's usually not so outrageous sums on obvious pipedreams...

 

[IronicNeurotic]

It's sad Ian got caught up in such a terrible studio.

It's sad regarding the entire stuff of Big Huge. The majority of its games is still p. good (Rise of Nations, the Catan game).And who knows? Pre-Amalur it might even have been a better game than what we got.

Though, they should have died after THQ. At least then they would have saved a lot of dignity. Or bought by someone better.

 

[Executer]

How much money has Ewe Boll gotten from the German Govt to make his movies?

I don't know. But since it's you who is trying to make the point, perhaps you should find out. While you're at it you can also check Rhode Island's GDP. Germany has the third largest GDP in the world. So then you have to compare the 10-20 million Boll might have gotten to the 75 million for an unknown studio, while taking GDP into account...

I'm not saying governments don't waste money on stupid shit, but usually they have "experts" or "friends" "advising" them there. And even then it's usually not so outrageous sums on obvious pipedreams...

Yes but Uwe Boll, Uwe Boll... that's all I have to say.

 

[Spectacle]

So apparently Big Huge Games is for sale. Maybe we should do another codex fundraiser and collect the cash to buy them? Having our own game development studio would be a great opportunity to get some old-school RPGs on the market.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Burning Bridges]

Until 5 minutes ago I didn't even know that 38 Studios exist.

 

[Bulba]

They required 3 million copies sold to break even? Were they on drugs when they planned out their budget?

It's a normal thing to have massive overestimates of their future sales if you are working with goverment. The same thing happens constantly, like with a millenium dome in London where they used to make massive increase in visitor expectations whenever they run out of money and went back to the goverment to get more. Same thing here - no surprises. Goverment should be banned from all business models.

 

[Untermensch]

I'm sorry for all the people that got fired, but they(38 studios leaders) got what they deserved.
They expected 3mil from an new IP in a crowded genre, from an unproven dev.
What the fuck?
And seriously, more than 350 employes? Probably 60-70 worked on KoA, the rest on the MMO.

There's that old saying: Don't make the stew while the rabbit is still in the wood.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=7991

Lastly, what do you think about the current direction of the cRPG genre? There seems to be a continuing trend of publishers favouring action gameplay and the removal of character statistics. Do you believe there is a market out there for modern cRPGs in a style similar to the great cRPGs of the past?

I think there’s still a place for hardcore RPGs in today’s market, yes, but I don’t think that action gameplay is necessarily at odds with that. You can very definitely have traditional RPG stats, depth, and sophistication, while still having action gameplay, and I think there’s a place for games that combine those elements in today’s marketplace.

If what you’re really asking me about is purely turn-based RPGs (i.e. no action elements at all), then I’d say yes there’s a place for it, but it’s not in the mainstream, at least not in the West (JRPGs are a different story). I doubt we’ll see another completely turn-based AAA RPG in the West. But I think there’s plenty of opportunity for them in the growing markets of tablet, phone, social, and handheld games, where costs of development (and the amount you need to sell to be successful) are considerably smaller. I’m definitely expecting to see some sweet old-school-style RPGs appearing on my iPad over the next couple of years.

Who doesn't have a place now, huh?

QFT


However, all will be forgiven in exchange for Ultima IV Remake Kickstarter

 

[villain of the story]

Sucks to be Rhode Island taxpayers. Hopefully they have an election coming up.

State got its money back. 38 Studios repaid the debt and then announced going under.

The most astonishing is how such a lackluster game could achieve 1.2 mil sales. Perhaps that 5 mil spent on Salvatore weren't such a bad business decision after all...

Yeah this. From the first very moment the game and the retarded ideas behind the game were unveiled and the first screenshots and game footage were released, it was obvious the game would simply suck. I'm very surprised it sold that many at all. I was expecting it to sell under 500K but 1.2 million retards paid for a shitty Disney game in the end. Who would have thought.

And then they wanted to make an MMO, based on a shitty Disney game that sold 1.2 million in an already saturated market, saturated especially with other kiddie Disney shit.

A simple reality check shouldn't cost anyone $75M or their jobs.

 

[DraQ]

I'm sorry for all the people that got fired, but they(38 studios leaders) got what they deserved.
They expected 3mil from an new IP in a crowded genre, from an unproven dev.

...and an excruciatingly generic and unexceptional game.

They should make game in some thirdwordia where people take 1/10 of Kwans paychecks.... like Red and TWitcher with its 1,4 million sold did.

Haven't the first Twitcher sold close to 2M overall?

And it was considered huge success.

 

[Commissar Draco]

I'm sorry for all the people that got fired, but they(38 studios leaders) got what they deserved.
They expected 3mil from an new IP in a crowded genre, from an unproven dev.

...and an excruciatingly generic and unexceptional game.

They should make game in some thirdwordia where people take 1/10 of Kwans paychecks.... like Red and TWitcher with its 1,4 million sold did.

Haven't the first Twitcher sold close to 2M overall?

And it was considered huge success.

Yes but TWICHER 1 cost was 10 millions jewgold max? 1-2 millions sold copies was Huge success for thirdwordia studio with unknown IP outside Potatolands.... but it would tank if costed more. Mainstream Games cost too much to have any kind of ambition or .... they have to be as banal and dumbed down as possible.

 

[DraQ]

I'm sorry for all the people that got fired, but they(38 studios leaders) got what they deserved.
They expected 3mil from an new IP in a crowded genre, from an unproven dev.

...and an excruciatingly generic and unexceptional game.

They should make game in some thirdwordia where people take 1/10 of Kwans paychecks.... like Red and TWitcher with its 1,4 million sold did.

Haven't the first Twitcher sold close to 2M overall?

And it was considered huge success.

Yes but TWICHER 1 cost was 10 millions jewgold max? 1-2 millions sold copies was Huge success for thirdwordia studio with unknown IP outside Potatolands.... but it would tank if costed more. Mainstream Games cost too much to have any kind of ambition or .... they have to be as banal and dumbed down as possible.

But how can you convince anyone who isn't a *complete* retard to shell out his money on a completely new game opening a completely new franchise that has no single distinctive thing about it?

What will be your selling point?
"Hey guys we have this SP game that, umm... sort of looks like WoW, only derpier, and it's very generic, and you fight evil elves in there except everything has stupidly contrived names! You need to buy it! Really! Oh, by the way, we cannot guarantee it will have anything that makes WoW or anything else successful, because we're a bunch of newcomers and this is the first game we have made. Will you buy it?"

I can't imagine anyone but salvatards, few misguided and desperate Morrowind fans and a bunch of clueless moms buying such a game.

 

[Infinitron]

I'm sorry for all the people that got fired, but they(38 studios leaders) got what they deserved.
They expected 3mil from an new IP in a crowded genre, from an unproven dev.

...and an excruciatingly generic and unexceptional game.

They should make game in some thirdwordia where people take 1/10 of Kwans paychecks.... like Red and TWitcher with its 1,4 million sold did.

Haven't the first Twitcher sold close to 2M overall?

And it was considered huge success.

Yes but TWICHER 1 cost was 10 millions jewgold max? 1-2 millions sold copies was Huge success for thirdwordia studio with unknown IP outside Potatolands.... but it would tank if costed more. Mainstream Games cost too much to have any kind of ambition or .... they have to be as banal and dumbed down as possible.

But how can you convince anyone who isn't a *complete* retard to shell out his money on a completely new game opening a completely new franchise that has no single distinctive thing about it?

What will be your selling point?
"Hey guys we have this SP game that, umm... sort of looks like WoW, only derpier, and it's very generic, and you fight evil elves in there except everything has stupidly contrived names! You need to buy it! Really! Oh, by the way, we cannot guarantee it will have anything that makes WoW or anything else successful, because we're a bunch of newcomers and this is the first game we have made. Will you buy it?"

I can't imagine anyone but salvatards, few misguided and desperate Morrowind fans and a bunch of clueless moms buying such a game.

Fighting game fans?

 

[DraQ]

"Hey guys we have this SP game that, umm... sort of looks like WoW, only derpier, and it's very generic, and you fight evil elves in there except everything has stupidly contrived names! You need to buy it! Really! Oh, by the way, we cannot guarantee it will have anything that makes WoW or anything else successful, because we're a bunch of newcomers and this is the first game we have made. Will you buy it?"

I can't imagine anyone but salvatards, few misguided and desperate Morrowind fans and a bunch of clueless moms buying such a game.

Fighting game fans?

You got me to wonder - how do sales of Banalur split among different platforms?

 

[Infinitron]

"Hey guys we have this SP game that, umm... sort of looks like WoW, only derpier, and it's very generic, and you fight evil elves in there except everything has stupidly contrived names! You need to buy it! Really! Oh, by the way, we cannot guarantee it will have anything that makes WoW or anything else successful, because we're a bunch of newcomers and this is the first game we have made. Will you buy it?"

I can't imagine anyone but salvatards, few misguided and desperate Morrowind fans and a bunch of clueless moms buying such a game.

Fighting game fans?

You got me to wonder - how do sales of Banalur split among different platforms?

Don't know. In fact, we don't even know if it's 1.2 million copies sold or just shipped. I suspect the latter, in which case the game is an even bigger failure