38 Studios - All Staff Laid Off

Alrik Fassbauer said:
I can still respect my foe for what he has achieved.
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Actually I bought my copy of Drakensang complete the same day that I bought KAR. Drakensang is EASILY VASTLY more fun.

KAR was horribly dull to me. Muddy graphics, boring quests, meh writing(some of the lorestones were OK but the rest was lulz R. A. Salvatore?! Where?!), level cap, mediocre ph47 1007 for an ARPG, not truly "open"(more like TQ or the witcher games than an elder scrolls game), etc.

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Staffing seems a mite high to me... Even to have two completely separate groups works on two separate games but even they there should have been some overlap like modelers, graphic artists, etc. I could see that staffing level if they had 4 or so proects going...
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Drakensang: My only regret was that I purchased a boxed retail copy with FULL expectations of actually getting a nice printed manual like I got with the original Drakensan, sadly this was not the case. i.e. I spent $30 on it for a missing manual when I could've just paid $15 for a digital copy… I fell robbed(well not really, finally got RoT and Phileasson's Secret all in one handy package).
 
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Fantasm said:
That requirement of 3 million units sold sounds like BS to me, especially since it's coming from a politician. I think selling 1.2m units of a brand new IP with no track record to be a fine accomplishment, and if anybody was expecting more than that, they're dreaming.
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Don't know about BS- it is an absurd number to be relying on, certainly, but I can easily see a state government with grandiose/ tunnel vision deciding either to ignore any advice they got about how likely 3 million sales were or not even seeking the advice in the first place.

"Who would have thought that internet companies that never made a profit would run out of money" or "who would have thought that selling mortgages to people you knew could not repay could them would end in tears" have both happened in the past decade or so. Compared to those two "who would have thought that a start up game company would not sell 3 million copies with its first game" is relatively sane.
 
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3M sounds like BS. 1.2M for (nearly) full price is quite solid for a new IP. The game will probably reach the 3M throughout its life cycle.
 
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The contract with the government was just that; a contract. It had things that were expected by both parties. Schilling totally fell down on his side and so the penalties got invoked. It would have been no different if the contract had been with a private company.

That said these "we'll help you out if you provide jobs" never work out well in the long term. The country is littered with the broken promises of companies that get governments to shell out for them.
 
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coyote said:
Interesting indeed, and in part contradictory to previous statements I had read.
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Well there is always two sides to every problem. Problem is who do you believe?
 
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Fluent said:
Very interesting read.

http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/showthread.php?10103-To-Those-Pissed-at-38S-amp-Curt-Schilling
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This is probably well-intentioned but there are as many questionable elements in this post as elsewhere. It's true we have all been sloppy in calling this a state loan when it is actually an investor loan using a state-guaranteed bond — but the fact remains, the state will pay the bill if/when 38 defaults.

The author says this was a "gift" - it certainly wasn't. I think the context was meant to be different but this will confuse some readers.

Yes, approximately $50M has been delivered, not the full $75M. The author then says the additional $25M would carry 38 through to 2014 but at a burn rate of $4m/month, it wouldn't make Christmas this year. Then the author later says "still some $50M in promised funds awaiting them" — where do we get an additional $50M?

The author claims "38S & BHG have not yet received any money from the sales of Reckoning from EA or Steam". I can't dispute this as fact but I'll quote Swen Vincke from Larian about Steam payments:
"Steam – Reliable, report on time, pay on time and regularly, are very developer friendly"
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Other developers have said the same thing. I find it hard to believe 38 is the exception. EA might be a different matter but a number of developers have discussed boxed publishers paying by the quarter, so perhaps 38's lack of experience in calculating advance cash flow is showing.

Finally, and I don't want to put words into people's mouths but "Not a single person I know of who worked there blamed Curt or the management" does not ring true when employees weren't told their health benefits had run out. I see a lot of blame on the RI government in that post but a last-minute dash by Schilling to secure last-minute we-can't-even-make-payroll money does not look like the fault all lands on the government to me.
 
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@Couchpotato: money can be traced, and contracts verified. It is very easy to successfully blame one side or the other by leaving out even a little piece of information, e.g. the exact origin of the money and any delays to fulfil commitments on both sides, so while we can believe anyone, it is practically impossible for us to know who is to blame (given publicly available information at this point).

It would be more interesting if things went to court, and it seems that at least the government of Rhode Island wants to go in this direction.

Edit: Dhruin's post is spot on, I think.
 
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A decent explanation of how money was disbursed - based on milestones agreed to be 38 studios when/if they were met and what that 25 million reserve was for.

http://blogs.wpri.com/2012/05/25/timeline-how-38-studios-collected-49-8m-from-ris-75m-loan/

The complaining (not here - but other sites/comment sections) where people seem to beleive the 25 million was money that the state held back from them is shown to be pretty damn laughable. So 25 million was set aside in two reserve funds as agreed - again, a not unusual way of securing such a loan to hedge against the risks of default and marginally protect the guaranteeing party. Of that, about 10.7-11 million has already been used to make interest payments on behalf of 38 Studios and to pay some initial financing fees.

Be aware that the above timeline was cut almost verbatim from an article one-year old. The "next may" they refer to as the date that 38 studios would begin repayment is the date that has come and past. So now the rest of the reserve will be used to make those payments in their stead. So about 10-11 million of that 25 million was used for fees and to extend the time before 38 studios would have to start repaying the loan; that certainly wasn't held back by the state - it was used to prevent them from being burdened with repaying the loan before their first game was even released. IF they continue to miss payments - to the point of not even being able to make them late - that's what the rest of the reserve goes to. The first part of the reserve was to cushion things for 38 studios until they had a revenue stream and the second part is going to the same place but its purpose is to cushion the blow to the loan gauantor - RI.
 
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Dhruin said:
The author claims "38S & BHG have not yet received any money from the sales of Reckoning from EA or Steam". I can't dispute this as fact but I'll quote Swen Vincke from Larian about Steam payments:


Other developers have said the same thing. I find it hard to believe 38 is the exception. EA might be a different matter but a number of developers have discussed boxed publishers paying by the quarter, so perhaps 38's lack of experience in calculating advance cash flow is showing.
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A possible explanation for this:
Their game was published by EA. EA put it on Steam. Steam pays on time ... to EA. EA consolidates revenue from all sources and passes 38's share on as per their contract, which could included clauses delaying it for months.
 
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The publishing and distribution end of this business is so destructive. Government corruption would hardly be a surprise and then there is probably mismanagement within the company... WHAT A MESS
 
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Gorath said:
A possible explanation for this:
Their game was published by EA. EA put it on Steam. Steam pays on time … to EA. EA consolidates revenue from all sources and passes 38's share on as per their contract, which could included clauses delaying it for months.
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AFAIK, EA was just the distributor for retail copies. The Steam version was published by 38 Studios themselves, which is why it has Steam achievements rather than being tied to Origin, and there's no mention of EA on the Steam store page whatsoever.
 
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DPB said:
AFAIK, EA was just the distributor for retail copies. The Steam version was published by 38 Studios themselves, which is why it has Steam achievements rather than being tied to Origin, and there's no mention of EA on the Steam store page whatsoever.
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Yeah I'm inclined to apply Hanlon's Razor to this one.
 
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Pladio said:
Occam's Razor ?
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It's name is a reference to itit yeah, but more tailored to the nuances and complexity of large group endeavors like business and governance. Though really I guess Heinlein's Razor is probably an even better version:

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, but don't rule out malice.
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