38-studios posts

This trailer is something that most fantasy lovers will be giddy over, but will most likely go over the heads of those less buried in the genre. Standard epic music and flashy character designs don't really distinguish Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, even if it does look competent. Rather, it's the names associated: R.A. Salvatore (creator of several best-selling fantasy book series), Todd McFarlane (creator of Spawn), and Ken Rolston (lead design on Oblivion). Despite these famous names, though, this trailer is merely alright. All flash, no detail.

Download the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning 'Visions' trailer
Check out all Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning downloads

When 38 Studios officially announced plans for its single player fantasy RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning back in July 2010 the game was slated for release sometime in the fall of 2011. Not any more, according to a new preview of the game over at VG247.com.

The extensive preview of the game confirms that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is now slated for release sometime in 2012. While it's not stated in the preview it's possible that 38 Studios wanted to move the game out of the way of another big single player fantasy RPG release due in fall 2011, Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim.

Lawmakers in the state of Massachusetts are currently debating whether or not to become the latest state to offer tax breaks to game development studios. The Boston Herald reports that a bill is still in its early stages and faces some opposition from other lawmakers who feel that specific industries should not be boosted above others.

Massachusetts is already a popular place for game development with teams like Irrational Games, Turbine, Demiurge Studios and others located in and around the Boston area. In 2010, another Boston-based game development team, 38 Studios, left the state and moved to Rhode Island thanks to a massive $75 million loan guarantee sponsored by that state's government.

[Via GamePolitics]

On Monday Big Download posted up the first part of our two part look at upcoming games that are so secret you aren't supposed to know about them yet. These were the titles we are labeling as "Code Black" games (formerly as Black Ops games). These are the titles have have been mentioned only in passing or as a listing on an online job description but have yet to be formally announced to the public.

But there are still a ton of such games that we have yet to talk about, including some that have more recently come to light. What are these games and what do we really know about them? In the second part of our Code Black games feature we will once again try to open the doors and slide the windows out so we can see a little more about what these games are about.

There are PC games on the immediate horizon that are close to being released. Then there are games that have been officially announced but will take years to find their way to our hard drive (BioShock Infinite is due out in 2012, for example) And then there are the games that are completely under the radar. These are titles that developers are working on very hard but haven't been officially announced or in some cases even admitted as being in production.

Big Download has covered these games over the years. In the past we have called them "Black Ops" games but since Call of Duty Black Ops has become so well known we didn't want to confuse you when we decided to do our yearly look at these games. So from now on we are calling these super-secret titles "Code Black" games.

The last time we did an article like this we mentioned several games that have since been fully revealed such as BioShock Infinite, FireFall, Bulletstorm and others. But there are still tons of games that we know are currently being made that haven't seen the light of the public eye yet? Which titles are we talking about? Check out the first part of our current list of Code Black games for yourself.

After months of debate and even some political sniping, game developer 38 Studios announced today that it is moving its main offices in Massachusetts to a location in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. The move was due to the developer, founded by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, getting tens of millions of loan guarantees from Rhode Island's state government.

The new office, which should be fully operational in 2011, will be located in a six story building with 104,000 square feet of space. 38 Studios plans to hire 450 people for its new location where it will create its long-in-development fantasy MMO code named Copernicus. The loan guarantees were the subject of political debate earlier this year among some of the candidates for the governor of Rhode Island which opposed the approval of the loans.

It looks like MMO game developer 38 Studios won't be getting the full $75 million in loan guarantees from the state of Rhode Island. According to a report on the WPRI.com web site, the state's Economic Development Corporation has decided to approve $51 million in loans. Another $20 million will be used to pay off debts over three years as a result of the loan deal.

The deal is expected to be concluded by the end of the month, according to the report. 38 Studios will get $13 million up front and receive the other $38 million over the next 15 months if the game developer meets milestones on both job creation goals and the development of their long-in-the-works fantasy MMO game. 38 Studios is expected to move their offices to Rhode Island and create 450 jobs. The story states that 38 Studios will pay the state economic commission a "success fee" of between $15.3 million and $18.8 million but there's no word on what kind of conditions must be met to achieve that "success"

[Via GamePolitics]

The controversial decision by the state of Rhode Island to approve $75 million in loan guarantees to developer 38 Studios earlier this year is still generating lots of opposition from local political officials. GamePolitics reports that the state's general treasurer Frank Caprio has now fully thrown his hat against the deal after previously sitting on the fence.

Caprio, who also happens to be running for Rhode Island's governor seat for the Democratic party, has now said he wants credit rating firms Moody's and Standard & Poor's to "hold off on reviewing the project until a new governor can take office." Naturally some of his political opponents have accused Caprio of flip-flopping on his views. 38 Studios, which is currently based in Massachusetts, wants to move its main offices to Rhode Island in order to make its fantasy MMO title code named Copernicus.

It looks like the decision to give a huge state-assisted load to game developer 38 Studios is still generating some political heat. While the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. voted 8 to 1 last month to give 38 Studios $75 million in loan guarantees, the Providence Journal web site is reporting that some of the candidates for that state's governor are protesting the move.

Lincoln Chafee, a former Senator and now an independent candidate for governor, has asked the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp to 'reconvene and suspend its commitment" to 38 Studios and check out some other proposals. Also, the state Treasurer Frank T. Caprio, who also happens to be the Democratic candidate for governor, has ask the board to make modifications to the 38 Studios deal in order to "adequately protect and benefit taxpayers." There's no word yet on if the board will take up these requests.

[Via Gamasutra]

Earlier this month we reported that 38 Studios was considering moving its main headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts to Rhode Island in order to secure loans from that state's government. Today Boston.com reports that the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. has indeed voted 8 to 1 to give 38 Studios a whopping $75 million in loan guarantees to move to the state. 38 Studios claims it will bring 450 jobs directly to Rhode Island by the end of 2012. If the developer shuts down operations, the state will have to repay the loans.

The game studio, founded by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, just announced its first game last week, the fantasy RPG Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning, which is being developed by Maryland-based Big Huge Games. 38 Studios' main office is working on a fantasy MMO code named Copernicus.

Another Massachusetts-based game developer, Demiurge Studios, made the unusual move of emailing to the press an open letter written to Schilling. The letter, which is also available on Demiurge's web site, asks Schilling to reconsider moving 38 Studios out of the Boston area. Demiurge's CEO William Reed states, "As 38 Studios' in-development MMO grows, you will soon realize that although the capital you have secured will fund your endeavors, the most vital and necessary component to completing your project is the vast pool of talent and resources you are leaving behind." Reed adds that members of 38 Studios who don't want to move are "more than welcome to join the team at Demiurge Studios, the state's soon-to-be largest independent game studio."