Ben-DutkaCurt Schilling said he wanted to do a sequel to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning . But at this rate, that task might fall to another team.
With Schilling's 38 Studios struggling to stay afloat, layoffs have hit the developer. The layoffs came after Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee said the state government was through giving 38 Studios "easy money." Uh-oh.
Now, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has estimated that the Amalur IP is worth only about $20 million. Pachter said that there is little demand for game assets right now, although he did say Reckoning publisher EA might step in to help.
"Nobody is buying MMOs after Star Wars fizzled. I think value is low, probably $20 million or so. There is just no demand for game assets right now, as THQ proved when it tried to sell the Warhammer MMO. I think [Electronic Arts] could step in, since they are the publisher, so you might see some alternative way to get 38 some bridge financing."
That being said, we're not even sure if EA will publish 38 Studios' next big game, "Project Copernicus," which has apparently eaten up most of the loan money the developer received from the state of Rhode Island. Right now, EA isn't making any new commitments to the floundering developer; here's what EA boss of corporate communications had to say:
"Nope – never been an announcement on that. We don't have any new announcements to make regarding 38 Studios. We enjoyed working with Curt and his team on their first game, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Like game fans all over the world, we look forward to what 38 Studios creates next."
The good news is that with Amalur apparently so cheap, somebody somewhere might want to snag it. But because 38 Studios put up the IP as collateral against that $75 million state loan, any company that wants the IP will have to negotiate with Rhode Island for ultimate control of the name.
38 Studios hasn't made any official statements concerning the situation.
Related Game(s): Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
So the next time someone starts to complain about how so many video games are sequels these days, 38 Studios provides a nice cautionary tale to explain why. Kingdoms of Amular is a solid game that had a strong creative team, innovative marketing, and good DLC follow-up. It was pretty well received by critics and consumers.
And 38 Studios is still teetering on the edge of financial implosion.
Starting a new IP is risky business. No wonder so many developers and publishers prefer to play it safe.
Or it could be that the company owner started up a company with ONLY a high interest rate government loan with absolutely no experience in the field of making videogames.
I suspect this to be more a result of poor administration more than the product in itself. I don't think this scares anyone off the idea of starting a new IP.
I hope they figure out a way to stay afloat. The combat in Kingdoms of Amalur is some of the best I've seen in a wrpg. I was looking forward to more from 38 Studios, but that probably isn't going to happen.
One of the few games I've played where I enjoyed the gameplay but hated the presentation and character design thus killing my enjoyment of the product to the point of not buying it.
"Nobody is buying MMOs after Star Wars fizzled. I think value is low, probably $20 million or so. There is just no demand for game assets right now, as THQ proved when it tried to sell the Warhammer MMO. I think [Electronic Arts] could step in, since they are the publisher, so you might see some alternative way to get 38 some bridge financing."
OK, color me confused. If no one is buying MMOs, what pray tell are they buying? Are gamers no truly only buying online shooters?
Oh, and if Amalur is only worth $20 million, can I just suggest that someone like Sony jump at the chance to snap it up so that they can do a sequel with better production values…
Last edited by TheHighlander on 5/23/2012 12:08:53 PM
In that quote he means that companies are not buying MMO games to develop or publish. Not that gamers aren't buying them because Star Wars fizzled.
If gamers were buying MMOs, the MMO games would not fizzle and publishers would be buying…
Well in other news Diablo3 has sold over 6million copies so far and I just completed my order for it earlier on Amazon. 🙂
That's obscene.
I have high hopes for 38 Studios. I don't believe this is the end. KoAR was a breath of fresh air. I loved 98% of the game. Just a few weird design issues I would have done differently. Other than that the combat was excellent.
EA needs to step in here and end this. Maybe Copernicus is a no go, but what about KoAR II? They sure did a great job the first time out. Give them a second chance!
For a new studio they seemed to be spreading their resources way too thin. The resources should have went to KoA and its follow up, not a MMO that's more than likely doomed to fail. Plus they shot themselves in the nuts with releasing a bad, buggy demo for Kingdoms of Amalur that scared away A LOT of potential day one buyers. Even though I know those issues weren't apparently present in the final game it I know I wasn't alone in being turned off by it.
If a Bioware made Star Wars MMO is struggling (and it is and yes I know the reasons) 38 Studios as a still unproven developer with a new, unproven, unknown IP has no chance in this day and age. I guess it could be free to play with micro-transactions but then again by the time it comes out Star Wars probably will be too. Not to mention Guild Wars 2 being releases, few are going to spend the money for yet another MMO.
Of course that is if it ever actually makes it out before 38 Studios goes out of business.
What are the reasons for Star Wars hurting? Is it buggy/crappy?
Even I could have told them that was a stupid, stupid move to put up Amalur as collateral to develop an MMO. Fans of those are married to their games, there isn't room for this sort of thing. I expect Copernicus to fizzle and die. They should have stayed on Amalur and made the characters, graphics, and world as entertaining as the combat.
Yeah really, after the reasonable success still of Kingdoms of Amalur, shouldn't they instead of starting another new MMO franchise try to build on KOA instead with an even better sequel?? Would've obviously cost far less to complete and had a much better chance of success.
I absolutey LOVED this game. I agree with vertigo about the character designs, for only like the tree peeps, but the action was great.
Dragon's Dogma I'm playing now, and it is a god of a game imo.
Wow… only 20 mil? That's really small for a whole company with assets.
i seriously doubt EA will be helping them out!
i really dont see any value in the team.
kingdoms was such a low budget game, it really felt like they did not care how their game looked or was presented they just wanted to get it out there!
i really cant see this turning into something worthwhile any publishers money so i hope they steer clear of this.
sorry 38 studios but maybe next time you will think twice about releasing a ps2 game and charging ps3 prices for it!