Greetings! My name is Charles ‘kieron’ Dane and I am the new Lead Community Manager at 38 Studios. As one of the primary points of contact for the Amalur community, one of my responsibilities is to interact with the fans of 38 Studios and our games, such as 38 Gamers.

I’ve had my eye on this site since early in the year and have watched it grow into perhaps the most informative news source for anything related to 38 Studios. That’s a great service to the Amalur community and one I look forward to supporting for many years to come.

I can’t go into detail about Reckoning, Copernicus or Amalur at the present, and no, you can’t have my stuff, but I will certainly answer questions or forward comments as I am able.

Looking forward to a long and fun relationship with the community.

Cheers!kieron
Lead Community Manager,
38 Studios

Curt Schilling talks Reckoning, Copernicus, and the ongoing evolution of online gaming
A lot of buzz has been circulating around Curt Schilling’s game company, 38 Studios, and their upcoming projects: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Copernicus. Schilling has long been an avid gamer, playing wargames such as Advanced Squad Leader (which he now owns), RPGs, and online games from Ultima Online to World of Warcraft. Ten Ton Hammer’s own Ethec sat down with Curt Schilling at SyndCon 2010 to talk about 38 Studios’ upcoming projects and gaming in general.

[Watch Curt Schilling's interview]

I especially liked these comments which echo my sentiments.

General Treasurer Caprio’s effort to kill the proposed the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp.’s deal before it even gets final approval, caused Republican candidate John Robitaille to say, “He is basically saying to our EDC board, which is comprised of the best and brightest and most successful business people in this state, that he doesn’t trust them. I think that sends a horrible message and will hurt economic development in this state going forward.”

Fellow Republican Victor Moffitt said Caprio overstepped his bounds.

“As General Treasurer he should stay out of financial issues. I believe he’s doing this just for grandstanding,” he said.

Moderate Party candidate Ken Block agreed.

“At this point, I consider this a nasty political stunt — to insert oneself and go right to the rating agency and try to affect their behavior. I significantly question the wisdom of that and I question the propriety of that, for sure,” Block said.

[Source]

The Job Creation Guaranty Act Program was created to provide loan guarantees for intellectual property-based investments, including the interactive video gaming industry.  The General Assembly overwhelmingly supported the Job Creation Guaranty Act, passing unanimously in the Senate, and 66 – 1 in the House.  The RIEDC Board, after months of due diligence, voted 11 to 1 to move forward with the 38 Studios deal after several public hearings on the issue.  Where were these two individuals when all this was going on?  Where were their objections then?    The Job Creation Guaranty Act was voted on and passed.  The RIEDC did their job and have acted in good faith and at this point the state and the RIEDC have a legal, business and moral obligation to execute the terms and conditions of the agreement.

PROVIDENCE – R.I. General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio said Tuesday he is attempting to block the state’s $75 million loan guarantee promised to Curt Schilling’s video game company, urging the rating agencies reviewing the deal to hold off until a new administration is in office.

Caprio, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said he voiced concerns about the loan guarantee to Moody’s Investors Service on Monday and to Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday morning. Both agencies have been commissioned by the state and Schilling’s 38 Studios to issue bond ratings on the deal for institutional investors.

He also raised questions in an article Tuesday in a bond industry publication The Bond Buyer. Caprio said he was hoping to attract the attention of potential investors.

In a statement, Caprio warned that the deal jeopardizes the state’s “financial stature” by creating a “risky moral obligation for the state” that could lower the state’s bond rating.

[Source]

Rhode Islanders love the Boston Red Sox — most of us do, anyway — but that does not mean we would expect taxpayers to foot the bill for the astronomical salaries that star players command. As we fight our way out of the current recession, we need to ask hard questions about the plan to ask our taxpayers to pay $75 million to Curt Schilling and his 38 Studios to develop an untested video game in hopes that it will jumpstart the economy.

First of all the taxpayers are not paying any money to 38 Studios. The state is only co-signing the loan and would only have to pay if the company defaults on the loan. It’s my understanding that the state is only offering moral obligation bonds which are high risk for the investor as there is no legal requirement for the state to pay anything if the company defaults on the loan. [Source] Interesting how no one talks about that particular fact.

Second the company is creating more than just one game and I am unaware of any game development studio who has ever produced a tested video game. At the end of the day its the gamers who buy the game who decided if its good enough and impossible for any company to test prior to release other then a beta and all companies do this. Gamers will also tell you many experienced companies have produced crappy games so really the fact that 38 Studios has not released one means nothing. What matters is do the people creating the games have experience doing so and for 38 Studios and the company they purchased Big Huge Games the resounding answers is yes. They are not a bunch of kids just out of school with no practical experience producing video games they are seasoned professionals with many hit games under their belts.

Make no mistake — this is a heavy burden to ask Rhode Islanders to bear. The $75 million offered by the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation represents 60 percent of our state’s newly authorized technology-loan-guarantee fund. As one who has a philosophical aversion to any risky deal for our taxpayers, I have three concerns.

First, I am troubled that Massachusetts did not pursue 38 Studios with anything close to the amount of incentives that RIEDC has offered. A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Economic Development flatly stated: “We as an administration have never offered such a large incentive to lure a company to Massachusetts from any of our neighboring states, and we never would.” If 38 Studios holds the promise that justifies risking the majority of our available loan guarantee, why did Massachusetts take a pass on it?

Massachusetts did not have any kind of program in place to offer 38 Studios so even if they wanted to they couldn’t. About 20 states offer financial incentives aimed at video game development companies, but Massachusetts isn’t one of them. So just because Massachusetts didn’t offer any major incentive for 38 Studios to stay does not mean the company was not worth investing in as your implying. It simply means that the state feels it already has enough of a gaming development cluster in place that it does not have to offer that kind of incentive to draw or keep companies in the state. Rhode Island does not have an established gaming development cluster and thus has to offer other kinds of incentives to attract companies as do other states. [Source]

Second, the consulting firm hired by RIEDC to evaluate the 38 Studios deal (Strategy Analytics) cited three markets — Boston, Montreal and Austin — as instructional in Rhode Island’s considerations. However, in none of those three markets did government support even to begin to approach what Rhode Island has offered. Boston offered no support until well after the market was established, Montreal offered a partial tax credit on labor costs, and Austin offered a minuscule 5 percent game-development tax break.

Correct. As I noted in response to your first point these 3 markets or Clusters as Strategy Analytics called them have established gaming companies and thus don’t really need to offer major incentives to companies because of everything else these clusters provide. They also developed in a different time frame and economic climate than today.

Boston
- Grew out of incubation with MIT Media Labs, availability of capital
- Spawned new game developers as a result of academic base/talent
- Little government stimulus or involvement until more recently
- Now, Harmonix (Guitar Hero), Turbine (Lord of the Rings), others reside in Boston

Montreal
- Ubisoft was anchor tenant in mid-90s
- Recruited to area as result of language and tax credit of 37.5% on labor costs
- Blockbuster hits from Ubisoft attracted EA’s attention
- Currently Ubisoft has 2000 headcount under one roof in Montreal
- Government and industry are aggressive in promoting the video game cluster

Austin
- Early legendary game developer, Richard Garriott, grew up in Austin and found Origin Systems, later acquired by EA
- Nearly all game developers in Austin have roots in Origin/EA
- 5% game development tax break
- Strong academic tie-ins for technical and creative support
- Home to Digital Media Council – fosters academic/government/industry collaboration

[Source]

So considering what these 3 gaming clusters have to offer what does Rhode Island have to offer? It has RISD which is great but what major game studio is the anchor? You ask why 60% well that’s to secure the anchor tenant for Rhode Island and the other 40% is to help attract other smaller companies and startups to the state and all of a sudden you have your very own cluster in Rhode Island. So at the end of the day for co-signing 125 million in loans the RIEDC has created its very own cluster in a state that had nothing prior. If successful they will have done so without ever spending a dime of taxpayer money.

Third, and even more troubling, are recent reports that 38 Studios’ lead product, the video game “Kingdoms of Amalur,” received a guarded forecast of success from game bloggers and gaming professionals at the recent Comic-Con trade show in San Diego. Why has Rhode Island gambled so much for an unproven company that seeks to compete in a volatile, high-risk industry?

First you did not even get the name of the game right, it’s not Kingdoms of Amalur it’s Kindgoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Kingdoms of Amalur is the original IP that 38 Studios has created and covers 10,000 years of lore and history in which many games including the yet unnamed MMORPG code named “Copernicus” will be set in. I would also like for you to list / link these so called troubling reports. Considering they have only announced the name of the game and released a CGI trailer and a few screen shots we know nothing about the game and no one can really say anything about the success of the game. But here is a list of positive press by major gaming sites about the game. [Source]

Or better yet just read all the articles posted on my site.

“38 Studios is doing everything right to minimize the risk of failure,” Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, said in an e-mail. “The key to a successful MMO is a great story, compelling art, and a well-crafted game.

“Much like the movie industry, investment in quality personnel doesn’t always pay off, but it considerably improves the prospects for success,” Pachter added. “My guess is that [38 Studios] will succeed, but it’s really hard to forecast without seeing the game,” Pachter said.

The only person I saw saying anything negative is Mike Hickey who I take to task here.

I am not going to respond to the rest of you’re article as I think it’s very clear at this point your not really about trying to do anything other then trying to delay the RIEDC deal until you become govenor and can stop it completely. You have already stated if you become governor you won’t allow these kind of deals. It would be great to see you invest your time and energy in what you would do to help attract companies and jobs to the state of Rhode Island instead of what your willing to do to stop it.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors approved a $75 million loan guarantte for Curt Schilling’s video game company in July, helping the company expand its business and relocate from Maynard, Mass. to Rhode Island.

The guarantee will assist the company in obtaining private financing to bring 450 highly skilled, high-wage jobs to the state, RIEDC said in an released announcement.

“This investment in our economic development has the potential to spark the expansion of a new industry in our state and generate additional new business growth. I welcome 38 Studios and am confident Rhode Island will provide the environment and workforce to make the company a leader in the interactive entertainment and video game industry,” said Governor Donald L. Carcieri.

“Today is a major step in moving us toward our goal of relocating our headquarters to Rhode Island. In doing so, we will support an interactive entertainment industry cluster that will bring thousands of high-paying, permanent jobs to Rhode Island. 38 Studios already has a number of Rhode Islanders and graduates from many of the local educational institutions on our team, and we look forward to recruiting more talented Ocean State residents to build the kind of careers that will be integral to our continued growth and provide the needed opportunities to keep local talent in state,” said Jennifer MacLean, president and CEO, 38 Studios.

Legislation enacted in June established the Job Creation Guaranty Program which led to 38 Studios’ loan guarantee. The program authorizes the state to support critical economic development projects by backing private loans for innovative companies with primarily “soft” assets – like patents, intellectual properties and licenses.

“38 Studios is the first of likely many companies that will use the Job Creation Guaranty Program. The RIEDC is moving the economic needle forward, and we are ready to work with other innovation-driven businesses to bring highly skilled, high-wage jobs to Rhode Island,” said RIEDC Executive Director Keith Stokes. “This program was designed to create Rhode Island jobs, generate entrepreneurial activity, accelerate growth in existing small businesses and help attract new businesses to Rhode Island.”

Source

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A top Rhode Island economic official said Thursday he expects to close by mid-September on a controversial $75 million state loan guarantee for the video game company of former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.

Keith Stokes, executive director of the state Economic Development Corp., said that’s a bit later than the Aug. 31 closing date that was anticipated when the deal with 38 Studios was approved by the group’s board on July 26. A specific closing date has not been set, but he said such a process typically takes 30 to 60 days. He said there’s nothing unusual about the delay, which happened within the past week or so because of the complexity of the deal.

“We’re within that Aug. 31 timeframe,” he said.

The loan guarantee requires 38 Studios to relocate from Maynard, Mass., to Rhode Island. The company has promised about 450 jobs — with an average salary of $67,500 — by the end of 2012. As the company meets certain benchmarks, money will be released to the company in installments.

Source

Maybe because of this Chafee will see that 38 Studios is not just another start up gaming company. Maybe he will learn that Curt Schilling has invested millions of his own money in this company, something rare if not unheard of in the industry. Maybe he will learn that good experienced people have left profitable well established gaming companies to come work at 38 Studios.

Maybe he will learn that Big Huge Games with a proven track record in the industry was purchased by 38 Studios and is now part of the team. Maybe he will learn that with Big Huge Games comes Ken Rolston former lead designer of the critically acclaimed hits, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Maybe he will learn how EA has invested millions in 38 Studios to publish their first game. Maybe he will learn how 38 Studios did not have to move to Rhode Island to accomplish their goals.

Maybe he will realize how graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design will now have an opportunity to stay in the state instead of leaving. Maybe he will learn that educated and successful business leaders on the RIEDC Board looked at all the details and determined this was a good sound business to risk investing in. Maybe he will learn that not all the money is being handed over in one lump sum with no strings attached. Maybe he will learn that there are miles stones required to get more money as well as penalties if job creation targets are not met.

Maybe, but I doubt it since he already had all this information from the EDC prior to today. Today was an example of political theatre and thus why Gov. Don Carcieri stood by the corporations decision and added “It is inappropriate for EDC to become engaged in this political campaign.”

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Lincoln Chafee was rebuffed Monday in his effort to address a Rhode Island agency about his opposition to a $75 million loan guarantee approved for Curt Schilling’s video game development company.

Chafee, a former U.S. senator who is running for governor as an independent, had hoped to speak at the board meeting of the state Economic Development Corporation, which last month approved the loan guarantee to bring 38 Studios from Massachusetts to Rhode Island.

The company, founded by Schilling, the former All-Star pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, promises to bring 450 jobs to the state by the end of 2012. Proponents, including Gov. Don Carcieri, say the company’s relocation could help revitalize Rhode Island’s foundering economy, tap into the brainpower of technology-minded local college graduates and give the state an investment in an emerging growth industry.

The candidate’s appearance at the meeting, albeit an example of political theater, underscored how the loan guarantee has emerged as a hot-button issue in the governor’s race. Chafee and other critics see the deal as too risky, especially since 38 Studios does not have a proven track record, and say it would leave taxpayers on the hook if the company fails.

Source