38 Studios Declares Bankruptcy, Investigation Begins
Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningThings just aren't going well for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning developer 38 Studios.
The company has officially declared bankruptcy and on top of which, the Rhode Island State Police and federal authorities have launched an investigation into the company ex professional pitcher Curt Schilling founded.
As for the bankruptcy move, here's a statement from a 38 Studios spokesperson:
"This action comes after several weeks when the company has reviewed, considered and received the recommendations and advice with respect to potential avenues for relief that are currently available. After ongoing negotiations with the State of Rhode Island and potential investors and other interested parties, the Company has been unable to find a solution to the current stalemate."
And unfortunately, the investigation into possible mismanagement of funds is under way, as state authorities, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney's office "are working together to investigate activities that have recently come to light at 38 Studios." We hate running stories like this, especially when it's about a company that produced a pretty good game that sold relatively well (1.2 million in the first three months isn't too shabby, but they needed 3 million just to break even).
Oh well. Here's hoping all the former 38 Studios peeps can find new jobs fast. Good luck to them all.
Tags: 38 studios, big huge games, kingdoms of amalur reckoning, 38 studios bankrupt
6/7/2012 11:01:56 PM Ben Dutka
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Comments (15 posts)
Laguna
Saturday, June 09, 2012 @ 12:37:21 PM
Then 38 studios went under, taking Big with it.
Epic now offered many big huge games employees part of the whole "Epic Baltimore" section.
38 studios are the ones who screwed up, not big huge games.
0 up, 1 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, June 07, 2012 @ 11:22:47 PM
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3 up, 0 down
LimitedVertigo
Thursday, June 07, 2012 @ 11:23:13 PM
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2 up, 2 down
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Thursday, June 07, 2012 @ 11:36:28 PM
2 up, 0 down
LimitedVertigo
Thursday, June 07, 2012 @ 11:59:57 PM
2 up, 0 down
Sir Shak
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 6:51:59 AM
Last edited by Sir Shak on 6/8/2012 6:55:19 AM
0 up, 0 down
jimmyhandsome
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 8:44:41 AM
1 up, 2 down
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 1:24:33 PM
Stll, I'm not sure I'm "happy." ;)
1 up, 0 down
The CEO
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 12:00:34 AM
Reply
Last edited by The CEO on 6/8/2012 12:05:17 AM
0 up, 1 down
kraygen
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 2:41:29 AM
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Plus let's be honest it's not as if the game used breakthrough technology for graphics or anything, so it does seem a bit odd.
I realize some games sell more than 10 million copies, but most don't.
1 up, 0 down
___________
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 4:56:36 AM
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but that said this is not exactly a bad thing considering their ridclious expectations of kingdoms!
i mean if they spent so much money on it that they needed 3M units sold to just break even how much money would of they sunk into their MMO?
almost like a god send that they went bankrupt now instead of further down the line once there in even more debts.
still cant see where the hell all the money went too!
i mean lets be honest, games are 60 bucks at the least!
once you do all the conversion rates for every country its roughly 60USD so 3M copies at 60 bucks a piece thats 180M!
while some of that will go to retailers and the publisher, transport, publishing costs whatever else.
point being, well, its hard to believe kingdoms would of cost 30M to make!
i mean the graphics, sound design, mo cap, animation, everything felt sounded and looked like a bloody ps2 game!
how can you make such a sh*t game and spend so much money on it?
just does not make any sense!
1 up, 1 down
Qubex
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 7:24:38 AM
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Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
1 up, 1 down
Underdog15
Friday, June 08, 2012 @ 10:55:38 AM
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I almost hope there was some sort of mismanagement...
5 up, 0 down
Qubex
Saturday, June 09, 2012 @ 12:43:43 AM
This will also swell the need for more storage, and downloadable content will creek under the weight of very large file sizes to sustain that quality...
Long live the PS3 then... for a while longer at least!
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
0 up, 0 down
Geobaldi
Reply
Thursday, June 07, 2012 @ 11:15:30 PM
Epic Games has already hired some of them, and they're starting a new studio "Epic Baltimore" where they will be working. Shame it made it to this point, but at least there's a silver lining.