[ALL] 38 Studios and Big Huge Games lay off entire staffs

[Handleit_44]

38 Studios and Big Huge Games lay off entire staffs

38 Studios and Big Huge Games have both let go of their entire staffs, a source with knowledge of the situation tells Joystiq. Following reports that 38 Studios stopped paying staff on May 1, and just an hour before a scheduled press conference in Rhode Island addressing the recent 38 Studios financial debacle, both the Providence, RI-based 38 Studios and the Baltimore, MD-based Big Huge Games are no more.

"Big Huge Games was home for my wife and me for our adult lives so far. I'll miss it terribly, but so proud. Good night and good luck," former Big Huge Games lead world designer Colin Campbell said on his Twitter account. Big Huge's latest release was the moderately successful Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The studio was picked up by 38 Studios back in 2009, and it crafted the first entry in 38's ambitious new universe: Amalur.

The recent financial tumult arose following a defaulted payment from 38 Studios to the Rhode Island state government on May 1, indicating much larger financial issues that could ultimately lead to Rhode Island taxpayers owing up to $112.6 million between 2013 and 2020. We expect to hear more at a scheduled press conference this evening held by Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee.

 

[Maynard]

what games are they noted for?

 

[Twigg4075]

They made Kingdoms of Amalur and were working on a MMO based on the KoA world.

This sucks. I haven't played KoA yet but I've heard it's pretty damn good.

 

[FedEx227]

View attachment 1287

 

[Twigg4075]

And as FedEx eluded to, 38 Studios is owned by none other than former MLB pitcher Curt Schilling.

 

[FedEx227]

Who somehow was able to get public money from a state to fund a video game company. Boggles the mind.

 

[SethMode]

Wow, this has all happened so fast from the initial announcement of 38's financial "potential" problem. Those books must have been super cooked, methinks. Such a shame. I don't care about the MMO, but Reckoning was a pretty cool game despite its flaws. Such a shame when these things happen, even if Schilling always seemed like a no-it-all prick.

 

[SethMode]

Who somehow was able to get public money from a state to fund a video game company. Boggles the mind.

At the time I think that 38 had a LOT of pretty well known programmers on board, AND it was an attempt to stimulate tech jobs in RI. It didn't seem like a bad idea.......6 years ago. MMO's are crazy, but 6 years ago I don't think we knew how crazy they were to make.

 

[FedEx227]

From RI's perspective though, video game companies are about the most unstable companies in the tech environment. I'm assuming someone came to them with charts and graphs showing the amount of money EA and Activision made while ignoring the thousands of companies that are created and die within the year.

 

[SethMode]

From RI's perspective though, video game companies are about the most unstable companies in the tech environment. I'm assuming someone came to them with charts and graphs showing the amount of money EA and Activision made while ignoring the thousands of companies that are created and die within the year.

Maybe so, don't know. I was just responding to the notion of it boggling the mind of them giving 38 studios this money. MMO's were just becoming big. They had the talent there. Their problem was they were trying to make an MMO without basically hundred of millions already in the bank. But this was in 2005-2006 when no one realized how hard these fuckers were to pull off.

 

[Twigg4075]

Wow, this has all happened so fast from the initial announcement of 38's financial "potential" problem. Those books must have been super cooked, methinks. Such a shame. I don't care about the MMO, but Reckoning was a pretty cool game despite its flaws. Such a shame when these things happen, even if Schilling always seemed like a no-it-all prick.

I just told my cousin about this. He actually preferred KoA over Skyrim and he's a big Bethesda fan. He actually has a friend that works at Bethesda and gives him a copy of their first party games for free.

 

[BigBucs]

Not Rockstar, Ubisoft or, sadly, EA sports.... dont care. :kanye:

 

[SethMode]

I just told my cousin about this. He actually preferred KoA over Skyrim and he's a big Bethesda fan. He actually has a friend that works at Bethesda and gives him a copy of their first party games for free.

In retrospect, I preferred it to Skyrim too. Skyrim gets too many points for its world, which is awesome at first but becomes pretty ho hum after you realize that the gameplay, story, and point of the game are shit (it is so easy to over level in that game it is absurd -- which means loot becomes pointless because whatever crazy shit you can make for yourself you can kill everything with anyway -- nevermind, I'll stop for fear of derailing the thread).

I really liked Reckoning's story, even if it contradicted itself a little bit. And the combat was a lot of a fun. You did get over leveled in it too, but hey, I'd rather be over leveled and feel like a bad ass than be over leveled and hold right trigger to strong swing be my most powerful attack.

KoA was a good game with a lot of flaws, I really wish it had sold more.

 

[FedEx227]

Not Rockstar, Ubisoft or, sadly, EA sports.... dont care. :kanye:

Just like with small businesses that probably don't matter, in time lack of competition will hurt those major companies.

 

[Chrispy]

More bad news for some employees

38 Studios passes second mortgages onto some former employees

 

Some of the hundreds of 38 Studios employees laid off yesterday were hit with a second round of bad news this week when they were told that homes they thought the company had sold for them hadn't been, and that they may be stuck with a second mortgage, Polygon has learned.

Several sources directly impacted by the mortgage issue confirmed the news today and a 38 Studios official, who asked to not be named, said the company is working to try and get to the bottom of the notifications and find a resolution.

One former employee said they discovered this week that their Massachusetts home, which they had been told was sold last year, actually hadn't been. The bank contacted them this week to ask why they mortgage wasn't being paid.

It is unclear how many of 38 Studio's 288 Rhode Island employees may be impacted, but it will likely only affect some of those who were part of the company's relocation program. The program, we were told, was used to help employees moving from Massachusetts to Rhode Island when the company relocated.

The bank notifications raise the specter of how the financing for the relocations was handled. If the company used state-backed money to finance homes or pay mortgages while the homes were being sold, it could mean that 38 Studios violated the terms of the agreement with the state.

Reached for comment this afternoon, state officials told Polygon they had no independent knowledge of the mortgage issue.

During an afternoon press conference today, Gov. Lincoln Chafee told a gathering of press that because 38 Studios didn't alert the state ahead of time about the layoffs the company is once more in default on the agreement.

Chafee spent much of the conference answering increasingly hostile questions and reminding the gathering that he opposed the deal, which was made under another governor.

He also said that celebrity may have played a factor in the state making the agreement, but that it never impacted his opinion on the deal.

"When I looked at him I saw a business man, not a baseball player," he said.

38 Studios laid off all 379 employees, 288 of them in Rhode Island, yesterday afternoon in a terse email. Sources tell Polygon that the company had not been communicating with employees, or paying them, for nearly a month prior to the mass layoffs.

Schilling's only public response to the financial turmoil that has embroiled both his company and the state of Rhode Island had been a tweet thanking people for sending "prayers and well wishes" to the team and families of 38 Studios.

Curt Schilling@gehrig38
Thank you to everyone sending prayers and well wishes to the team and families of 38 Studios.
25 May 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite
A similar post on his Facebook account was met with a tide of well wishers including a number of former employees and John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment who wrote, "Curt – the game you are building is amazing. Find a way. I'm sorry you're having a tough time right now."

The studio's financial turmoil came to light earlier this month when it first missed and then later made a $1.125 million payment to the state of Rhode Island.

Founded in 2006 in Massachusetts as Green Monster Games, 38 Studios was lured to Rhode Island in 2010 by a $75-million loan guarantee from the state. At the time state officials argued that the studio would bring hundreds of jobs and millions in tax revenue to the state.

While 38 Studios made its first partial payment, it then missed a $1.125 million loan payment to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation on May 1. During a series of meetings with the state, 38 Studios said it couldn't pay its employees and asked for more help from Rhode Island. The studio later delivered a payment to the state, but then said it couldn't cover the check. On May 18, it made good on the payment.

"WHEN I LOOKED AT HIM I SAW A BUSINESS MAN, NOT A BASEBALL PLAYER."

Schilling, and the state, both continue to hunt for private investors for the company.

If 38 Studios remains closed, the state says it has the money to make the first year of payments on the loan from a reserve they set aside from the loan amount. But after that the state would then have to start making the payments to the bank.

The developer was working on a massively multiplayer online game codenamed "Project Copernicus." It released Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning through publisher EA in February. The game reportedly sold 1.2 million copies in the first 90 days, according to Schilling, and was positively received by critics. Last month, 38 Studios released a downloadable expansion pack for the game titled "Teeth of Naros."

Gov. Chafee dismissed the possibility of the state taking over the studio during a press conference earlier this week, saying it would be too costly to create and maintain an MMO.

The director of the Economic Development Corporation resigned earlier this month, two other members of the board have asked not to be reappointed, and yet another resigned this week. The state is also discussing asking for the resignation of other board members who supported the decision to back 38 Studios.

A slew of developers from around the country have been Tweeting that they are hiring in hopes of finding the hundreds of displaced employees jobs.

Catch up on the history of the studio and its deal with Rhode Island here.

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012...-leads-to-second-mortgages-for-some-employees

 

[PP]

More bad news for some employees

38 Studios passes second mortgages onto some former employees

 

Some of the hundreds of 38 Studios employees laid off yesterday were hit with a second round of bad news this week when they were told that homes they thought the company had sold for them hadn't been, and that they may be stuck with a second mortgage, Polygon has learned.

Several sources directly impacted by the mortgage issue confirmed the news today and a 38 Studios official, who asked to not be named, said the company is working to try and get to the bottom of the notifications and find a resolution.

One former employee said they discovered this week that their Massachusetts home, which they had been told was sold last year, actually hadn't been. The bank contacted them this week to ask why they mortgage wasn't being paid.

It is unclear how many of 38 Studio's 288 Rhode Island employees may be impacted, but it will likely only affect some of those who were part of the company's relocation program. The program, we were told, was used to help employees moving from Massachusetts to Rhode Island when the company relocated.

The bank notifications raise the specter of how the financing for the relocations was handled. If the company used state-backed money to finance homes or pay mortgages while the homes were being sold, it could mean that 38 Studios violated the terms of the agreement with the state.

Reached for comment this afternoon, state officials told Polygon they had no independent knowledge of the mortgage issue.

During an afternoon press conference today, Gov. Lincoln Chafee told a gathering of press that because 38 Studios didn't alert the state ahead of time about the layoffs the company is once more in default on the agreement.

Chafee spent much of the conference answering increasingly hostile questions and reminding the gathering that he opposed the deal, which was made under another governor.

He also said that celebrity may have played a factor in the state making the agreement, but that it never impacted his opinion on the deal.

"When I looked at him I saw a business man, not a baseball player," he said.

38 Studios laid off all 379 employees, 288 of them in Rhode Island, yesterday afternoon in a terse email. Sources tell Polygon that the company had not been communicating with employees, or paying them, for nearly a month prior to the mass layoffs.

Schilling's only public response to the financial turmoil that has embroiled both his company and the state of Rhode Island had been a tweet thanking people for sending "prayers and well wishes" to the team and families of 38 Studios.

Curt Schilling@gehrig38
Thank you to everyone sending prayers and well wishes to the team and families of 38 Studios.
25 May 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite
A similar post on his Facebook account was met with a tide of well wishers including a number of former employees and John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment who wrote, "Curt – the game you are building is amazing. Find a way. I'm sorry you're having a tough time right now."

The studio's financial turmoil came to light earlier this month when it first missed and then later made a $1.125 million payment to the state of Rhode Island.

Founded in 2006 in Massachusetts as Green Monster Games, 38 Studios was lured to Rhode Island in 2010 by a $75-million loan guarantee from the state. At the time state officials argued that the studio would bring hundreds of jobs and millions in tax revenue to the state.

While 38 Studios made its first partial payment, it then missed a $1.125 million loan payment to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation on May 1. During a series of meetings with the state, 38 Studios said it couldn't pay its employees and asked for more help from Rhode Island. The studio later delivered a payment to the state, but then said it couldn't cover the check. On May 18, it made good on the payment.

"WHEN I LOOKED AT HIM I SAW A BUSINESS MAN, NOT A BASEBALL PLAYER."

Schilling, and the state, both continue to hunt for private investors for the company.

If 38 Studios remains closed, the state says it has the money to make the first year of payments on the loan from a reserve they set aside from the loan amount. But after that the state would then have to start making the payments to the bank.

The developer was working on a massively multiplayer online game codenamed "Project Copernicus." It released Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning through publisher EA in February. The game reportedly sold 1.2 million copies in the first 90 days, according to Schilling, and was positively received by critics. Last month, 38 Studios released a downloadable expansion pack for the game titled "Teeth of Naros."

Gov. Chafee dismissed the possibility of the state taking over the studio during a press conference earlier this week, saying it would be too costly to create and maintain an MMO.

The director of the Economic Development Corporation resigned earlier this month, two other members of the board have asked not to be reappointed, and yet another resigned this week. The state is also discussing asking for the resignation of other board members who supported the decision to back 38 Studios.

A slew of developers from around the country have been Tweeting that they are hiring in hopes of finding the hundreds of displaced employees jobs.

Catch up on the history of the studio and its deal with Rhode Island here.

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012...-leads-to-second-mortgages-for-some-employees

what a clustrfuk

 

[Swarley]

Just saw a tweet saying that Schilling is having to pay $50 million out of his own pocket for this mess. Ouch.

 

[Twigg4075]

Holy shit. I bet he'll never try to make another game.

And why isn't KoA $20 by now?

 

[Ralnakor]

So in light of the Rhode Island governor going off on how big a failure KoA and the company as a whole were, some of the 38 Studios have returned fire. Basically said the comments by said governor caused any chance of them surviving this to die very, very quickly.

 

A number of stories have popped up over the holiday weekend relating to 38 Studios and its continuing struggle to stay alive. Among them is news that an update to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning will not see the light of day, that a sequel to the game was already in pre-production and fresh comments from several high profile 38 Studios executives taking Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee (I) to task for throwing the company under the bus in the name of what they see as demagoguery.

First up is a Joystiq story in which founder Curt Schilling says that he has invested $50 million of his own money in the company - which he stands to lose if it fails. The former all-star Red Sox pitcher said that he was frustrated with the actions of the state's governor, who seems to have gone out of his way to ruin any chances of the company getting private investment with his public comments on the situation. Schilling called Chafee's public comments on the company's situation "devastating," adding that it "scared off private investors."

38 Studios subsidiary, Big Huge Games, was also reportedly working on a sequel to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. That project was going to rely on an estimated private investment of $35 million from an unnamed publisher to go into production. Schilling said that Chafee's statements ruined that deal.

Polygon also has comments from former 38 Studios creative director Steve Danuser, who told NECN in an interview that the Rhode Island governor turned his back on the studio in their time of need.

"We just needed a little more help, and we thought the state would have our backs on that," he told the television station. "We thought the governor was an ally. It didn't turn out that way."

Danuser served as the creative lead on 38 Studio's role-playing game, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

"The governor has turned his back on a lot of taxpaying Rhode Island citizens who work here and it's unfortunate because we had a lot of great people who wanted to contribute to Rhode Island and now they can't," he added.

Danuser went on to say that he has a few questions for Governor Chafee:

"Why did you do it? Why didn't you help us?" asked Danuser. "He (the governor) said a lot of things, he's broken confidentiality. He's done a lot of things to materially hurt us and I don't understand it."

Finally, Polygon reports that a planned update for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has been postponed indefinitely. Obviously with no one currently working for Big Huge Games it would be tough for the company to provide any support at this point.

Lead designer Ian S. Frazier said that they had received clearance to begin development on a PC-only patch, with plans to include two additional difficulty modes, camera features and bug fixes, but then the layoffs occurred.

"I wanted to apologize for the lack of a patch for Reckoning," he wrote. "It's something we very much wanted to do, but various issues outside our control (which unfortunately I'm not at liberty to disclose) prevented us from doing so for a long time."

We will continue to follow this story as it develops.

http://gamepolitics.com/2012/05/29/...gainst-rhode-island-governors-public-comments

 

[Swarley]

Epic Games opens new studio composed of Big Huge Games staff.

Epic Games has announced that it's forming a new studio in Baltimore, Maryland, composed of former Big Huge Games members. Big Huge Games, developer of Kingdoms of Amular: Reckoning, was a casualty of 38 Studios' troubles, and the entire staff was laid off in late May.

In a notice posted on Epic's site, Epic president and CEO Mike Capps explained that he thought the move was simply the right thing to do.



On Wednesday, the ex-BHG leadership team contacted us. They wanted to start a new company and keep together some of the key talent displaced by the layoff, and hoped that they could use an Epic IP as a starting point for a new game. We loved that they all wanted to keep working together, but it was pretty clear they’d have trouble building a demo and securing funding before their personal savings ran out.

In one of life’s coincidences, Epic’s directors had spent the morning discussing how we’d love to build even more successful projects with our growing team, but that we’d need a dramatic infusion of top talent to do so. Which, we all knew, was impossible.

So now we’re planning to start an impossible studio in Baltimore.



The new studio is yet unnamed, and some staff will be working in Epic's North Carolina offices until the company is able to establish a new location. What will this new team be working on? That's also unknown at this time, and Epic asks that everyone remains patient for the time being.

It's definitely great news for those laid-off staff, and we wish them all the best. In the meantime, why don't we brainstorm some new names for this thing? Considering it's a hybrid of Epic Games and Big Huge Games, it needs to be...large. Unfortunately, Humongous Entertainment is already taken.