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Curt Schilling's "38 Studios" in trouble, skips payroll, bounces check to RI

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mattp

Member
my friend works at 38. when they moved to rhode island they went on an insane hiring spree. thy've got like 400 employees or something insane like that
pretty easy to burn through cash when you've gotta pay 400 people
 
Z

ZZMitch

Member
I really want this studio to succeed. Amalur was a great game. If their next offering is an MMO I probably won't be interested however.

I hope they figure this all out!
 
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HamPster PamPster

Member
How can a new studio with nothing to show get a $75 million loan from the state? It annoys me on some level that Curt can use his fame to grease the wheels and get such financing (and probably use it to get out of what ever penalties are coming their way). I'm sure there were a number of garage developers that would love a small loan to start a studio, but can't get it since RI blew all that money on 38

Amalur is on my list to buy, but didn't want to spend $60 on it. I just check and its still $60, at least at my local gamestop. I do want to play it at some point though
 
P

Patryn

Member
mattp said:
my friend works at 38. when they moved to rhode island they went on an insane hiring spree. thy've got like 400 employees or something insane like that
pretty easy to burn through cash when you've gotta pay 400 people
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But if you read, they had to go on that insane hiring spree. The agreement they made specified that they'd be fined by the state for every employee below 375 that they were at.

HamPster PamPster said:
How can a new studio with nothing to show get a $75 million loan from the state? It annoys me on some level that Curt can use his fame to grease the wheels and get such financing (and probably use it to get out of what ever penalties are coming their way). I'm sure there were a number of garage developers that would love a small loan to start a studio, but can't get it since RI blew all that money on 38

Amalur is on my list to buy, but didn't want to spend $60 on it. I just check and its still $60, at least at my local gamestop. I do want to play it at some point though
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I think Rhode Island is desperate to steal some of the tech companies in the area away from Massachusetts/Boston area.
 
M

mattp

Member
Patryn said:
But if you read, they had to go on that insane hiring spree. The agreement they made specified that they'd be fined by the state for every employee below 375 that they were at.



I think Rhode Island is desperate to steal some of the tech companies in the area away from Massachusetts/Boston area.
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yeah, im not necessarily saying staffing up was bad(they had to), but it doesn't change the fact that people are expensive haha. it's easy to see how they could spend money very quickly


edit: they moved to providence in jan 2011

edit #2: like everyone said, 38 studios is the team working on the MMO. they own big huge studios, the guys in mass who made amalur
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
I had no idea about that 400+ employee requirement. Sounds like an absolute clusterfuck trying to manage a studio with that many people in it, especially when you're a start-up and didn't gradually build up to that point.
 
P

Patryn

Member
mattp said:
yeah, im not necessarily saying staffing up was bad(they had to), but it doesn't change the fact that people are expensive haha. it's easy to see how they could spend money very quickly


edit: they moved to providence in jan 2011

edit #2: like everyone said, 38 studios is the team working on the MMO. they own big huge studios, the guys in mass who made amalur
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Big Huge is in Maryland.
 
N

NervousXtian

Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
Limanima said:
Something has to change when selling half a million copies of a game doesn't seem to be enough.
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Well, you have 2 different things going on. BHG doing KoA:R, and 38S sinking cash in a huge MMO.

The huge MMO is the problem right now, not KoA:R.
 
H

HamPster PamPster

Member
W

WallJump

Banned
Patryn said:
They have to kill the MMO at this point and fast-track a Reckoning 2 at this point, don't they?

Or will they try to fast-track the MMO and commit suicide?
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A real shame they probably lose either way. This was probably my favorite new IP in the last year and I actually wanted Reckoning 2 with some better balance.
 
L

Lagspike_exe

Member
Curt saw easy money and took the risk of bloating the studio to take advantage of the offered funding. He should have done the game with a small team, tested the waters for the new IP and then went into expansion if it proved to be successful. Leveraging to this extent on the basis of an unproven IP in a genre not known for huge blockbusters (until Skyrim, which was after he took the money) is crazy.
 
F

Fine Ham Abounds

Member
The Fires of Heaven Copernicus thread sure is an interesting read now. Hard to tell what's trolling and what's insider rumors, as usual.

Edit: Well, this was interesting.

In July 2010, the same month the EDC approved the loan guarantee, 38 Studios established a revolving line of credit with Schilling so it could borrow up to $4 million from him, according to the disclosure filing obtained by WPRI.com. Part of the taxpayer-guaranteed loan money was used to pay Schilling back.

R.A. Salvatore, a fantasy writer who helped develop the games, is slated to receive $1.46 million from 38 Studios in October under the terms of a consulting agreement he signed with the company in 2007. He is also eligible to earn up to $5 million in royalties from sales of “Reckoning” and other 38 Studios products.

The General Assembly increased the size of the Job Creation Guaranty Program from $50 million to $125 million in early 2010 after Schilling approached the state. A WPRI 12 poll later that year showed 54% of Rhode Island voters opposed the $75 million loan guarantee to 38 Studios, with just 28% in favor of the deal.
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S

sparky2112

Member
What could possibly go wrong? Take a huge amount of public money, throw it at what's probably the LEAST stable industry there is, and demand that the studio hire x number of people so a few clips about increasing employment can make for some nice p.r., oh and there's some highly overpaid semi-famous people involved too.

Mushroom cloud.
 
H

HP_Wuvcraft

Banned
I always knew he was hardcore Republican, but I just read he was Tea Party, or at least close to that... and yet he used tax payers money to... make a video game?

People confuse me.
 
H

HamPster PamPster

Member
Oh wow

If 38 Studios does shutter, beyond Rhode Island taxpayers having to pay off the $75 million bond (plus interest) through 2020, it appears the state will also own the intellectual property of the developer as a parting gift. Reviewing updated documentation released by the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) today, it appears 38 Studios put up all present and future IP by the company as collateral.

...

Methenitis continued, "So, the RIEDC could then sell the rights in all of the Kingdoms of Amalur to another developer to offset the millions owed by 38 Studios, and this sale would typically be an auction-style sale to the highest bidder. As a secondary issue, if the sale of all those assets repossessed ends up being more than is owed, the RIEDC will theoretically owe those funds back to 38 Studios."
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http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/16/r...intellectual-property/?a_dgi=aolshare_twitter
 
F

FieryBalrog

Member
I'd love to know how they managed to become insolvent before the game was even anywhere near completion. They haven't shown off anything about the game at all. Even Hellgate London managed to actually, you know, get released.
 
T

tim.mbp

Member
HP_Wuvcraft said:
I always knew he was hardcore Republican, but I just read he was Tea Party, or at least close to that... and yet he used tax payers money to... make a video game?

People confuse me.
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I'm sure he'll come up with something, maybe the old States' rights mantra.
 
F

funkystudent

Member
FieryBalrog said:
I'd love to know how they managed to become insolvent before the game was even anywhere near completion. They haven't shown off anything about the game at all. Even Hellgate London managed to actually, you know, get released.
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With the MMO market collapsing on it self in recent years I wouldn't be shocked if there MMO got retooled and changed direction a few times just to not fall into the traps every other WoW clone falls into. They always sounded like they wanted to make something new and ambitious.

Eventually they ran out of money because they never released anything from the main team and I guess Reckoning wasn't a giant hit that could have brought in significant funding that could be used to compete the MMO.
 
H

HP_Wuvcraft

Banned
HocusPocus said:
The game had no soul. Fun combat, but no soul. Not sure why people want to defend it on this board.
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A few of the various reasons I've seen around here and other parts of the net:

1) New IP
2) RPG
3) People still think R.A. Salvatore is a good writer (my firend, before knowing who wrote it, went "this is like something Salvatore would write")
4) Shilling was very vocal about EA
5) New studio
 
M

markot

Banned
I doubt this has anything to do with KOA really, I mean how much were they expecting to sell?

Smells more like mismanagement on a big ass project.

Also we dont know how much talent the 38 studios had, did they release anything? I mean if KOA was dont by BHG...
 
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