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Curt Schilling's '38 Studios' lays off entire staff, Big Huge Games to be closed
- Thread starter duckroll
- Start date
I have the feeling that Curt's Woes are far from over.
He did seem pretty passionate about it, at the very least.
Exactly what I thought. We probably never would have seen a true RoN sequel, but now we know 100% that we never will so the last glimmer of hope is gone. I seriously hoped and prayed it would come back at some point and reclaim its status at the top after RoL let people down.
THE BEST RTS GAME OF ALL TIME.
themadhatter444
Neo Member
Why didn't they turn to Kickstarter to raise additional funding when in trouble? I know I would have given a few shekles to support a company with an interesting project and to prevent (if not only delay) financial collapse. KoA fans seem dedicated enough to shell out a few extra coins to save the jobs of many for the hope that Copernicus turned out okay.
Sad times.
Sad times.
The largest gaming Kickstarter raised $3.3m and they need $4+m per month to keep the studio going, so I don't think a KS campaign could have raised enough to see this thing through (especially since they were targeting a June 2013 release).
They were burning through $4 million a month. Beyond the legal reasons, they never would have raised near enough money to go a month, much less the year until launch.
Crazymoogle
Member
It's quite possibly true, considering the amount of time the game was in the works pre-RI and the sheer cost of operations before and after. The line of credit thing was probably that he reached whatever investment number his financial advisor told him was end of the line (in sports terms, that being the point where you end up with nothing investment wise and have nothing but memorabilia left to make a living.)
The_Darkest_Red
Member
Terrible, terrible news. Kingdom's of Amalur is a very solid game and Curt is a great guy, I really hate to see things end up like this.
ReturnOfTheRAT
Member
Terrible mismangement.
Lactose_Intolerant
Member
Should have opened a studio in China or something if he really wanted to make an MMORPG. There is just no way to do that for your first game in North America without huge funding. I'm sure he though he could get that funding.
I'm willing to be they paid heavily to bring in some sort of industry veterans to help them get some sort of structure, peeling them away from current jobs. It looks like they tried to plan a release right for when they ran out of money which is a horrible business plan.
The plan was to change the name of 38 Studios to "New Rhode Island" once the MMO was finished.
Big-ass Ramp
hella bullets that's true
dude, for effectively a new IP, selling that amount is pretty damn good. sad to see mismanagement rear its ugly head
It does if they lost 80+ million because of it.
cartoon_soldier
Member
Traditional RTS Games 
I don't even know how that is possible.
I don't even know how that is possible.
Gully State
Member
Sell three million just to break even? Geez...I really hate the way things are going this gen with this AAA mentality...
Its all about the mmo... not the single player game they launched and probably at least broke even on.
Uh, if they had to break 3 million to make their money back... then yeah, they were just horribly run.
379. But rent, equipment, etc isn't free so you can't just do 4m/379 and assume it's the average salary.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Hard to say how much they spent on buying Big Huge Games and paying for the studio's continued operation in order to develop Reckoning.
Ninja Scooter
Member
If they were forced to shut down the studio that made KoA, then it's about KoA too.
Well, what else is it going to be? If the game was a smashing success, they wouldn't be in the predicament, they'd have enough funds to keep them going for years. That's how it works. And when the product doesn't sell, the company goes away. This isn't the first time this has happened, and it sure as hell won't be the last.
Makes me feel kind of guilty because I stopped playing the game. Then again, I remind myself that I did buy it in the first place.
Well, its not like they are seperate companies. They dont have any money, they cant keep BHG going on air alone >.>
Huh?
They were making an mmo, thats were all the money went, they were mismanaged completely.
Yes, if KOA had sold 10 million it would still be running, but it was never going to... I am guessing at 1 million sold it did as good as expected or better.
Gully State
Member
The impression I get at this point is that 38 Studios is still alive but only the sales arm exists right? So basically they're going to try to sell as many copies of Amular as possible in order to break even or recoup costs?
Ninja Scooter
Member
yeah but they are a part of this whole ordeal. Positive or negative. You can't just subtract BHG and KoA from this story and act like they didn't exist.
Unregistered007
Banned
wait Kingdom of Amalur developer is dead?
They make a very good rpg, better than utter shit Fable games. I wish Microsoft should have stepped in to save the studio.
This is the first time I have felt sad for a developer.
They make a very good rpg, better than utter shit Fable games. I wish Microsoft should have stepped in to save the studio.
This is the first time I have felt sad for a developer.
FINALFANTASYDOG
Member
Amular just got announced for an august release in Japan, that profit goes to pay it's loans now?
RPGCrazied
Member
I guess the game bombed. I still want to play it, but want it cheap. The demo was okay, but had a lot of bugs.
It has nothing to do with this generation. Trion Worlds was a completely new company who made an MMORPG within their reach. 38 Studios threw millions of dollars at celebrity writers for their lore.
Pretty sure it was published by EA though
Except... you guys dont seem to realise how much money the MMO was sucking up. And they needed money to throw into that suckage, but they ran out, so they all got sucked up into it.
Swtor cost like 200+ million bucks (hard to know how much exactly), sold probably 2 million copies, and isnt close to making its money back. But EA is going to survive, and no one will get fired except for the peons.
38 was built for the mmo, thats where 99% of the money went.
No, we need the used market so games like this don't have to vanish along with their developers/publishers. Plus I seriously can't see how killing used games would actually have saved 38 Studios, don't see that generating another 2 million sales or fixing their gross mismanagement.
Ironically given that Curt Schilling quote earlier, this convinced me (even more) that, yes, nationalized health care is a good fucking idea. Your health isn't going to patiently wait for a good financial situation or job in order to get you covered.
lolololol
Big-ass Ramp
hella bullets that's true
I am wrong? Look at how many posts that said, "mismanagement"
Gully State
Member
I think the Steam version is published by 38 studios (maybe the PC version overall as well?)
I wont list how many multi million dollar salary having ceos exist currently in mismanaged companies.
and I can double that number with well managed company that does. Your point being?
Is that the same reason that CEOs get big fat paychecks when they're fired and generally don't stand to lose anything but reputation if their company goes tits up?