The developers behind Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning facing an uncertain future.
38 Studios, the company which owns the developer behind Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Big Huge Games, is in substantial financial trouble.
38 Studios first game, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, sold over a million copies on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but it seems that wasn't enough.
Word first emerged of the outfit’s precarious situation last week when the company, which is owned by baseball legend Curt Schilling, failed to meet a loan repayment of $1 million to the state of Rhode Island, but that appears to be only the tip of the cash-stricken iceberg.
According to Joystiq, staff from the company were not paid during their last pay window and their healthcare will no longer be covered from today. As a result many senior heads are now jumping ship, including CEO Jennifer McLean.
If that wasn’t bad enough news, Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee has cast doubt on whether Project Copernicus, an MMORPG set in the Amalur universe, will ever make it to market and wouldn’t even commit to 38 Studios lasting into next week, according to VG247, although he has said he’ll do all can to ensure the company is still around to repay their debt to his state’s tax payers.
Having been fortunate enough to visit Big Huge Games’ offices in Baltimore, Maryland we’d like to wish the developers there all the best in getting through this difficult time.
What makes this news even more frustrating is that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning actually performed well both critically and commercially, with Curt Schilling recently boasting that the multi-format game sold 1.2 million copies worldwide in its first ninety days on sale. Unfortunately it isn’t known how much development of the open-world RPG cost, but one would assume that level of success should be enough to keep a studio afloat, at least in the short-term.
No doubt word on what’s really going on at 38 Studios will emerge soon.
Tags: 38 Studios, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
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