38 Studios - More Legal Trouble

If you thought the fallout from 38 Studios was over guess again. Gamespot has the news of more legal trouble this time for the ones who are responsible for the loan.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency responsible for enforcing securities laws, has subpoenaed the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation for information related to the ongoing lawsuit against Curt Schilling's failed development outfit 38 Studios

Two lawyers confirmed the subpoena this week to The Providence Journal. The SEC originally requested depositions and exhibits related to the lawsuit in December, the paper reports.

Efforts to recoup losses related to 38 Studios, including a liquidation auction of the company's assets last month, have gathered a lackluster response so far. Sequel rights to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and rights to the Project Copernicus MMO failed to sell, with Rise of Nations and Rise of Legends fetching a total of just $320,000 from an unspecified buyer.

After Project Copernicus found no buyer, Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee said the game now represents nothing more than "a lot of junk."

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More information.

What does "subponea" mean ?

Alrik Fassbauer said:

What does "subponea" mean ?

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A court order that's delivered to you by a legal firm personally requiring you to appear in court at a specified time.

A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:

A. Subpoena (ad testificandum) orders a person to testify before the ordering authority or face punishment. The subpoena can also request the testimony to be given by phone or in person.

B. Subpoena (duces tecum) orders a person or organization to bring physical evidence before the ordering authority or face punishment. This is often used for requests to mail copies of documents to the requesting party or directly to court.

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oh you mean sappina!

Uah, all of these English law terms !

This typical of the captured U.S. regulatory system. They go after small fry and peanuts in a situation like this, yet they can't build a case against the crooks who nearly crashed the world economy. Not one banker of broker has been indicted in the biggest financial scandal in history, but the SEC is all shook up over a game studio SNAFU.

Alrik Fassbauer said:

Uah, all of these English law terms !

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you've never watched Law and Order or any other English speaking legal drama?

Zephyr said:

This typical of the captured U.S. regulatory system. They go after small fry and peanuts in a situation like this, yet they can't build a case against the crooks who nearly crashed the world economy. Not one banker of broker has been indicted in the biggest financial scandal in history, but the SEC is all shook up over a game studio SNAFU.

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I've followed this matter in great detail. I'm fairly certain I've read every article published on this story nationwide.

Based on what I've read (and most of what I've read has either been heavily biased for or against one side or the other as is typical these days with our U.S. Soviet-style 'Pravda' media).

I'd say there was corruption and mismanagement all around. I don't believe there is a 'good guy' in this story. Not that Curt was a bad guy, but on his part there was a tremendous amount of negligence and waste with other people's money. He also made a number of promises and guarantees he had no business making. I'd almost say that much of Curt's inappropraiate management stemmed from the fact that he made an enormous personal investment in the project which in his mind entitled him to lead in the destructive manner which he did - though I believe at the time, in his mind, he wasn't trying to destroy anything.

On the other side, the governor, he's done a number of things that make absolutely no sense. At several points during this crisis there were reasonable 'ways out' and the governor sabotaged them one after the next for seemingly obvious political reasons that the reportage repeatedly and predictably failed to address for the record. But that kind of thing here in the U.S. is par for the course these days.

I think it's about time something hammered down on the governor. But then again, if the 'hammer' is the Federal Government, that's kind of like an alcoholic criticizing a drunk person. But it is an interesting twist to the story and I am anxious to read what happens next.

No one will go through all this trouble if there was no gain (i.e. money) involved, otherwise they would have let the whole matter go. I just can't put my finger on where would the profit come from.

Are we sure there's even a scandal here?

I mean, couldn't it be as simple as a bunch of people though they were going to make the next WOW and be stupid rich, but as it turns out they were just stupid and now everyone is out their money.

sakichop said:

Are we sure there's even a scandal here?

I mean, couldn't it be as simple as a bunch of people though they were going to make the next WOW and be stupid rich, but as it turns out they were just stupid and now everyone is out their money.

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I don't think there was a premeditated scandal. But the story became scandalous given how poor some decisions were, on both sides, as the situation degraded.

Once it was clear that the company was going insolvent, all parties began operating in their own best interests leaving the employees of 38 studios on Curt's side along with the taxpayers on the governor's side holding the biggest bags of loss.

If the Rhode Island government actually allowed them the proper amount of time for paying back the loan it is likely that none of this would have ever happened. The government demanding payment (I think it was 2 months) so soon after the release of Amalur: Reckoning which was no where near long enough for any company and then forcing 38 Studios into bankruptcy was a very stupid thing for the government to do and since the game sold pretty well everyone probably would have been happy. It doesn't matter what has happened on either side since then because the government is ultimately at fault here.

guenthar said:

If the Rhode Island government actually allowed them the proper amount of time for paying back the loan it is likely that none of this would have ever happened. The government demanding payment (I think it was 2 months) so soon after the release of Amalur: Reckoning which was no where near long enough for any company and then forcing 38 Studios into bankruptcy was a very stupid thing for the government to do and since the game sold pretty well everyone probably would have been happy. It doesn't matter what has happened on either side since then because the government is ultimately at fault here.

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pardon my frankness, but the apologists were already taken out back, shot, and 2 years buried.