curt-schilling posts

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.

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]

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."

While developer 38 Studios is getting close to announcing the first concrete details of its upcoming RPG code named "Project Mercury" at Comic-Con next week, the company is apparently thinking about moving its home offices in Massachusetts to a location in Rhode Island.

The Boston Globe web site reports that 38 Studios is interested in taking part in a state-run program in Rhode Island that will give high-tech companies loan guarantees in exchange for setting up shop in their state. The story claims that 38 Studios is looking for as much as $75 million in loan guarantees. 38 Studios was founded by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and perhaps because of that history Massachusetts' state government is considering options to try to keep 38 Studios in their state. The developer also owns Maryland-based Big Huge Games.

[Via Blue's News]

Later this month the sold out San Diego Comic-Con begins and it's becoming more and more of a place for game developers and publishers to show off upcoming titles and even make a few game announcements. The official Comic-Con web site has just posted up their panel schedule for the first day of the convention, Thursday, July 22, and it reveals that one game will be getting its world premiere during the show.

That game will be "Project Mercury" the code name for the upcoming RPG title from 38 Studios, the game developer formed by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, and its subsidiary Big Huge Games. Big Download confirmed that the panel will indeed be about "Project Mercury" via a 38 Studios rep. The panel discussion, which will feature Schilling, art director Todd McFarlane, author R. A. Salvatore and designer Ken Rolston, will reveal the actual game title and will also have the premiere of the first trailer for the game.

July 22's panel schedule for Comic-Con is going to have lots of other game-themed programming including panels on City of Heroes: Going Rogue, Dead Rising 2, World of Warcraft, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Star Wars The Force Unleashed 2 and more.

It's well known that former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling decided to form the game developer 38 Studios with his own money, he went all out. As reported by Gamasutra, a new case study published by Harvard Business School has Schilling state, "I have put the majority of the money I've earned in my life on the table."

In fact he put down the first $5 million investment in 38 Studios (then called Green Monster Games) without telling his wife. In the end he realizes that perhaps starting the company was in some was a bad idea, saying, "There was no way I should have started the company when I did. It wasn't fair to the Red Sox, it wasn't fair to these people, and beyond all of that it wasn't fair to my wife." However Schilling is determined to put 38 Studios on the map, saying, " . . . the only failure scenario is a quit. Quitting is not an option."

After several years of developing their projects on their own, 38 Studios, the game development studio founded by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, finally has a publisher for its first game. Today on the first day of GDC 2010 it was announced that Electronic Arts has signed on to publish the game known at the moment only as "Project Mercury". It's the open world single player fantasy RPG that's being developed by Big Huge Games, the development company that 38 Studios bought from THQ in 2009.

38 Studios was first formed several years ago with the idea of launching a fantasy MMO under the code name Copernicus. The game that Big Huge Games is developing is not that MMO but is apparently set in that same universe with its background being developed by author R. A. Salvatore and with art design by comic book artist Todd McFarlane. Little info on the game has been revealed and EA's announcement today did not reveal a release date for "Project Mercury" (not the game's real title by the way).

The late US Senator Ted Kennedy was laid to rest this past weekend but speculation has already begun on who will be taking his place as one of the two US senators from the state of Massachusetts. As it turns out, one of the people who might be interested is Curt Schilling, the founder of MMO game developer 38 Studios.

Schilling's official blog site has him directly addressing these rumors. He states, "While my family is obviously the priority, and 38 Studios is a priority, I do have some interest in the possibility." He added, however that " . . many many things would have to align themselves for that to truly happen." The former Boston Red Sox pitcher and major MMO game fan founded 38 Studios a few years ago but so far they have not yet revealed any details on their upcoming title.

[Via Game Politics]

It's been some time since now former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling announced that he was forming 38 Studios, a game development company that is working on a fantasy MMO game with the code name "Copernicus". Since then the game itself has stayed mysterious while 38 Studios made a major acquisition this year when they bought the development studio Big Huge Games from publisher THQ.

The Boston Globe web site has an update on what's going on with the company. The article has an actual target day for the release of 'Copernicus" saying that 38 Studios is targeting December 2010 for its tentative release. However the article also points out that any AAA MMO game needs a ton of money to develop it to completion. So far Schilling has been the company's biggest investor but has failed to attract any other outside investors to help out.

Update: Our sister site Joystiq has received official word from 38 Studios that the release date mentioned in the Boston Globe story is incorrect and there is no set release date. However, 28 Studios is planning to finally release details about the game sometime in 2010.