lastplayed
Member
Well yeah it helps that there was nothing (still is nothing) on the market like WoT.
They'll be releasing World of Warplanes and World of Battleships too, will be interesting to see how well they do.
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Curt Schilling's '38 Studios' lays off entire staff, Big Huge Games to be closed
- Thread starter duckroll
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Well yeah it helps that there was nothing (still is nothing) on the market like WoT.
They'll be releasing World of Warplanes and World of Battleships too, will be interesting to see how well they do.
HarryDemeanor
Member
This really fucking sucks. Hopefully everyone will land on their feet soon.
jimi_thing
Neo Member
3 million copies to 'break even'?
That can't be right.
That can't be right.
Now that would make more sense because that would include the company's total amount of employees and the money sink their MMO was causing.
Captain Tuttle
Member
Or 38 Studios was just a very poorly managed company.
The thing is, F2P is a big advantage for smaller known games. Even "smaller" games like Lord of the Rings online and D&D Online see big profit jumps when switching to F2P. Subscription really only works for very specific situations, like being the biggest kid on the playground (WoW) or having the appropriate staff size and costs in comparison with a dedicated fan base (EVE).
The thing that happens is you're not looking to convert people to paying customers with a F2P model, but just not limiting how much money your fanatical users can give you so they make up for the non-paying users. Most subscription games have a max total they can give a developer (the sub fee plus maybe some additional microtransactions), F2P games have a much higher income ceiling per user.
SlipperySlope
Banned
Yet another reason why the government shouldn't give money to private firms.
Commanche Raisin Toast
Member
"you didn't hear it from me" style confirmation of these guys getting new jobs is enough for me.
i would be lying though if i said i wasn't still wishing there was a patch coming out for KoA:R.
i would be lying though if i said i wasn't still wishing there was a patch coming out for KoA:R.
ElectricThunder
Member
It boggles the mind just how deep the ridiculous of this whole affair is turning out to be...crazy sums, agendas----the whole lot of it is worse than fiction.
Mutanthands
Member
You realize that the Rhode Island studio has yet to release anything? The game you bought was made in Maryland by BigHuge Games, with superficial 38 Studio support, right?
If you're talking about Introversion they only have around five employees, I don't think a Steam sale will save two full studios, although i wish it could, KoA was a pretty solid game from what little I played of it. Best of luck to everyone.
wondermega
Member
It's been bizarre to say the least. Someone looked at Blizzard and wow and said "it makes sense to do this, and our state gov't can easily suck this HUGE steady stream of money off of such an investment" - clearly someone who got sweet-talked into thinking it was a good idea, with zero knowledge of the history of MMOs (and why most of them fail, if they even make it to release)
I don't think that is difficult to imagine.
Baconsammy
Banned
Mitch Williams is laughing at you, Curt
Life continues laughing at Mitch Williams.
As for the story, I feel bad for everyone that didn't get paid and is now most likely never going to get paid. Making an MMO your first post-baseball career game simply because you played them a lot while you were in baseball was not a smart move, and now Rhode Island and all Curt's employees are paying the price. Sad.
Deified Data
Banned
Well shit. KoA was great. This upsets me greatly.
say bye bye to patch however.
Mr. B Natural
Member
probably. If you make today what you spent yesterday that leaves nothing for tomorrow, leaves nothing for investments, leaves nothing for growth. Especially the case when you keep hiring people...lots of people.
That or that number was pulled out of someone's poopy area.
that's why I didn't get it in the first place, heard PS3 version was shit so I try to not support that crap
It isn't really all that bizarre. Crytek was funded by the German government for example, even though our government and our media hates first person shooters.
Again -- 3 million needed to keep the company afloat. Not 3 million to cover development costs of Reckoning.
It is nice that there are some developers landing on their feet after this, but having to lose your jobs (and benefits) for any period of time is harsh. Especially if anyone has health care lapse for any period of time and has a preexisting condition. Then they're out of health care for basically half a year for that issue. And you have to consider any people that started their careers at 38 Studios, its going to be extremely difficult to get a new job with little to nothing to show for it.
And only a fool takes a loan with the stipulations that were attached to that $75 million without understanding the financial structuring needed for a company to pay it back. It puts your employees lives at risk if you fail, and its worse if they managed to get any employees to leave existing jobs and relocate. If you have a loan that stipulates you need X employees, you better damn well have a solid schedule for paying those people, releasing a product, and turning some sort of profit to maintain operations. Otherwise you don't just take the lone and say 'fuck it'.
I don't see what is so "Occupy 1% nonsense" about holding incompetent people responsible for dragging 400+ people through this shit while making sure they're protected from it.
Yeah, there is a lot that we don't know. I would not be surprised to hear of fraud on some level. This whole thing just stinks to me, but I guess I just hate to think that they were really that incompetent on every level of planning.
InsaneLuchador
Member
Did anyone really expect them to dig themselves out of this hole?
NathanMcMahon
Banned
What a fucking nightmare.
wondermega
Member
well, the ignorance about "why making an MMO if you aren't Blizzard" (or at the very least, of some seriously competent pedigree, in that you've done something like that before) wouldn't be such a wise idea to take on such a big investment. Its like they were irresponsible as far as the risk was concerned.
..although I strongly suspect this happens all the time in smaller cases which don't become quite so publicized.
evil solrac v3.0
Member
no bloody sock to save you this time Curt.
mclaren777
Member
Time to go work at Giant Bomb
I would support that move.
Management should really be held legally/financially accountable when this shit happens. But they won't. Shows how much they actually valued their employees though.
EDIT: and taking Big Huge Games with them. Damn.
You've done the industry a disservice Schilling - please don't show your face around here again.
EDIT: and taking Big Huge Games with them. Damn.
You've done the industry a disservice Schilling - please don't show your face around here again.
Given how much egg is on the face of Rhode Island right now, I do not think management is going to escape this.
Yeah definitely not. Schilling is going to be reeling from this for a long time to come.
Please welcome Rich Gallup to Giant Bomb.
I remember an interview with Curt leading up to the KOA launch. He said, "This is not just a place to work, but a place to belong." Sure thing there, Curt.
BGH would've been long dead without Schilling, wouldn't it?
I wonder why they created a new game instead of finishing that one.
AgentChris
Member
This sucks. I hope everyone lands on their feet.
piratepwnsninja
Member
BGH would've been long dead without Schilling, wouldn't it?
I wonder why they created a new game instead of finishing that one.
They didn't create a new game. That game was essentially shelved when BHG and THQ parted ways, and 38S picked BHG back up and had that game reskinned to be in the Amalur universe.
Maybe they could have kept afloat on their own with lower budgeted RTS games?BGH would've been long dead without Schilling, wouldn't it?
I wonder why they created a new game instead of finishing that one.
You're right though, Big Huge probably would have disbanded by now. Still, this is a shitty way to go. At least if they were on their own they likely could have transitioned people out a little more gently.
BGH would've been long dead without Schilling, wouldn't it?
I wonder why they created a new game instead of finishing that one.
Unfortunately yes, THQ was going to shut down Big Huge until 38 bought them. Also the game released KoA: Reckoning is pretty much the same game with a different coat of paint.
Ah forgot about that.
semiconscious
Gold Member
i'm still convinced the guy was gamed by his 'financial advisers', who were happily pocketing money & telling him everything was fine right up till the end (as their kind are often prone to do)...
sorry, curt, & sorry, everyone else...
Baconsammy
Banned
As a gamer, what hurts most is those two patches they promised that will never see the light of day, which essentially means Amalur will never be playable to me again.
I don't know, for a simple reskinning it took way too long (3 years). To me, it looks like they've taken the basic gameplay and built a new game around that with a new visual direction, expanded gameplay, new areas.
Edit: Woah, this still looks gorgeous: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04J-QP5Sr2o&feature=related