Kingdoms of Amalur developer lays off entire staff

[BoberFett]

When a viable business plan exists, private money will be there. The fact that this company couldn't secure enough in private investments should have been a huge warning sign.

Government should not be in the business of being in business.

 

[Wreckem]

When a viable business plan exists, private money will be there. The fact that this company couldn't secure enough in private investments should have been a huge warning sign.

Government should not be in the business of being in business.

Unless your company is named Blizzard, Bioware, or Bethesda/ZeniMax I don't think any sane investment company would fund a $100million+ MMO. $100million+ AAA games shouldn't exist, let alone a $100million MMO. EA is learning that lesson with TOR.

 

[jpiniero]

I have no doubt that kickbacks were involved. Whether they will find anything is another story.

 

[TehMac]

When a viable business plan exists, private money will be there. The fact that this company couldn't secure enough in private investments should have been a huge warning sign.

Government should not be in the business of being in business.

And it's sad this lesson has to be taught over and over again.


When government is involved, everyone loses except the profiteers--I mean politicians.

 

[Craig234]

And it's sad this lesson has to be taught over and over again.


When government is involved, everyone loses except the profiteers--I mean politicians.

Total BS. But it shows those that can't tell good government from bad.

 

[Anteaus]

The tragedy is that they haven't learned that you don't need to spend a ton of money to make a great game. Sure, there is a benefit to throwing a buttload of money at something and making it shine from top to bottom and then going on to success (Avatar?), but just like everything else it is a gamble and when you fail you fail big. Naturally I love big AAA titles, but honestly I would be just as happy with 3-4 games that cost 1/4 as much to develop that may not look as good, but have great overall game design. For 80-90 million dollars they could have developed 3-5 games, odds being that they'd have a pretty good hit with 1 or 2 of them and easily make the money back.

In the mean time, they threw away a very talented group of people. I hope they find jobs with developers that they can shine with.

 

[TehMac]

Total BS. But it shows those that can't tell good government from bad.

Sniff sniff, oh here's Craig, ready yet again to regurgitate his Krugman keynsian crap programming all over the thread.

 

[Nintendesert]

Unless your company is named Blizzard, Bioware, or Bethesda/ZeniMax I don't think any sane investment company would fund a $100million+ MMO. $100million+ AAA games shouldn't exist, let alone a $100million MMO. EA is learning that lesson with TOR.

What lesson? They're going to make tons of money off of TOR. Now, I think they could have made more money by using those same resources to make smaller games that sell even better overall, but TOR won't be a financial failure for them.

Giving a virgin developer the same resources and expectations is asinine no matter how you look at it.

 

[Craig234]

nm, some posts not worth replying to.

 

[Destiny]

Wait... is this the same Curt Shilling the pitcher that some people say put "extra blood" or "fake blood" on his sock for more dramatic effect during a MLB playoff game?

If that is the same Curt Shilling that should've been a red flag right there about this guy...D: = good at manipulating his audience, etc...

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Wait... is this the same Curt Shilling the pitcher that some people say put "extra blood" or "fake blood" on his sock for more dramatic effect during a MLB playoff game?

If that is the same Curt Shilling that should've been a red flag right there about this guy...D: = good at manipulating his audience, etc...

no, that curt schilling earned respect by performing at the top of his sport for a decade and winning 3 championships.

 

[Wreckem]

What lesson? They're going to make tons of money off of TOR. Now, I think they could have made more money by using those same resources to make smaller games that sell even better overall, but TOR won't be a financial failure for them.

Giving a virgin developer the same resources and expectations is asinine no matter how you look at it.

They are hemoraging subscribers, they've lost half their subscriber base in less than 6 months. They could have spent a third of what they did and received the same amount of money in the end. They'll level off at well less than a million subscribers, hardly the smash they thought it would be for the $100-250million they spent on it.

GW2's production cost is substantially less and GW2 is extremely likely to substantially out perform TOR.

 

[zinfamous]

When a viable business plan exists, private money will be there. The fact that this company couldn't secure enough in private investments should have been a huge warning sign.

Government should not be in the business of being in business.

agreed

And it's sad this lesson has to be taught over and over again.


When government is involved, everyone loses except the profiteers--I mean politicians.

some people think regulation = government = bad. so then we have bad government making bad decisions.

go figure.


In the end--this is just a stupid, stupid situation, regardless of political affiliation.

 

[zinfamous]

no, that curt schilling earned respect by performing at the top of his sport for a decade and winning 3 championships.

:thumbsup:

 

[Destiny]

This is just getting sad:

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

 

[paperfist]

Looks like you are right (Assuming the below is mostly correct):

Which still puts the budget at 27 million.

Now I am curious if this includes the original game or not. Big Huge Games was purchased by 38 Studios, and the game that BHG was working on was then changed to work for the idea of KoA, which was originally going to be an MMO.

That's how it works in the console world, but not the PC world. I'd like to see a chart for that as I never see PC games marketed, and you don't have console fees. You may also be able to delete that retailer cost...

 

[Via]

When a viable business plan exists, private money will be there. The fact that this company couldn't secure enough in private investments should have been a huge warning sign.

Government should not be in the business of being in business.

I'm not sure about that. What about studios like Iron Lore, who's games turned a profit but still had to shut down?

The private money is now looking for CoD type revenue and giving everything else the finger. That's what I believe is behind this fiasco.

 

[zinfamous]

That's how it works in the console world, but not the PC world. I'd like to see a chart for that as I never see PC games marketed, and you don't have console fees. You may also be able to delete that retailer cost...

this.

but Amalur was widely available on console--which is weird: it really isn't a console-type game.

I almost wonder if this is a tragic case of piss-poor market targeting?

It was controlled towards a console, but it just wasn't designed to be a console game, imo. I wonder if tons of wasted cost went in to bad marketing-directed development?

 

[zinfamous]

I'm not sure about that. What about studios like Iron Lore, who's games turned a profit but still had to shut down?

The private money is now looking for CoD type revenue and giving everything else the finger. That's what I believe is behind this fiasco.

...but why should gov't be backing something as ridiculous as an unproven game studio?

......wait: wtf should taxpayer money be backing a game studio?

 

[paperfist]

...but why should gov't be backing something as ridiculous as an unproven game studio?

......wait: wtf should taxpayer money be backing a game studio?

Amen, let's start feeding hungry people, filling in pot holes and educating before we spend tax money on a gaming company.

Did Curt Schilling get a pink slip? If everyone is laid off WTF is running the company?

 

[Via]

...but why should gov't be backing something as ridiculous as an unproven game studio?

......wait: wtf should taxpayer money be backing a game studio?

I wasn't talking about the specifics of this situation.

I just don't believe it's all as simple as "private money will take care of everything". This particular situation is fubared beyond belief, but would it be so horrible for a studio like Iron Lore to be able to get a government backed loan to stay open if no private funds are available?

 

[Craig234]

I think it's easy to put too much blame as well on this type of thing. I don't think it's as horribly unreasonable as some think.

Investing in a business has risks. And the way things are, states and cities are forced to compete. I'd like to limit that, as it pressures deals bad for taxpayers.

If only established companies get loans, then it's hard for companies to get established.

Do we want EA to own everything and make safe games of the same type?

This particular deal may have had some bad things, but I wouldn't object to any new game publisher getting some assistance. A lot of businesses grow that way.

Corruption needs to be prevented, though.

 

[TehMac]

I wasn't talking about the specifics of this situation.

I just don't believe it's all as simple as "private money will take care of everything". This particular situation is fubared beyond belief, but would it be so horrible for a studio like Iron Lore to be able to get a government backed loan to stay open if no private funds are available?

Government should be involved in as few things as possible--and if you're so into Iron Lore, you should check out their Kickstarter--well should have. They reached their money goal of 280k and then some.

Making a 100 million dollar MMO like others have said before, is not a smart model or product

 

[Via]

Government should be involved in as few things as possible--and if you're so into Iron Lore, you should check out their Kickstarter--well should have. They reached their money goal of 280k and then some.

Making a 100 million dollar MMO like others have said before, is not a smart model or product

If you expect me to believe that unregulated capitalism is the answer to the world's economic woes we'll just have to agree to disagree, brother.

But that's a topic for another forum.

 

[BoberFett]

Good old Craig the progressive. Privatize profits and socialize losses.