Board 8 > 38 Studios lays off entire staff

(+) Yeah! (+)

http://www.giantbomb.com/news/report-38-studios-lays-off-entire-staff/4172/

finally this saga is over

OR IS IT

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i guess that's better than working for free

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ICON:
the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops

What did they make?

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Tornadoman78:
tornadoman and tornadogirl like to kick box each other in my tornaolayzers and she dosent even mind getting hit

That didn't last long. Too bad they probably won't get severance pay

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huh

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From: The Real Truth | #003
What did they make?
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

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Really? Wow

I thought that game did okay.

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Tornadoman78:
tornadoman and tornadogirl like to kick box each other in my tornaolayzers and she dosent even mind getting hit

sounds like big huge games is done, too

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ICON:
the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops

Did they get to release all the planned DLC for KoA yet? It would be a shame if they never got to that.

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All of this could have been avoided if Schilling was a playable character in KoA

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The Real Truth posted...

Really? Wow

I thought that game did okay.

It did, as far as I know, but they've been pouring money into an unreleased MMO since 2006

and they probably didn't have that great a publishing deal with ea because, well, no one ever does

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ICON:
the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops the raindrops

the real tragedy is that Big Huge Games goes down with them

38 was the publisher

gg KOA on steam

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iphonesience

sounds like this was only 1 studio

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SuperNiceDog didn't have to reconcile his name...
But Dauntless Hunter is now MrGreenonion

Gamespot needs to hire Rich Gallup now so Button Mashing can come back.

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This is the email that was sent to the staff of the company this afternoon:

The Company is experiencing an economic downturn. To avoid further losses and possibility of retrenchment, the Company has decided that a companywide lay off is absolutely necessary.

These layoffs are non-voluntary and non-disciplinary.

This is your official notice of lay off, effective today, Thursday, May 24th, 2012.

http://gamasutra.com/view/news/171015/38_Studios_Big_Huge_Games_lay_off_their_entire_staff.php

Hah, just got an email from Zavvi saying that KoA:R is on sale.

Bit late now. Unless EA are being extra evil and pushing it now because they can keep all the profit without having to give any away to the peons who merely developed it.

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Looks like the RI Gov. is blaming KoA sales for this.

According to Chafee, the main reason 38 Studios took a turn for the worst was due to poor sales of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

“The game failed," said Chafee.

38 Studios founder Curt Schilling announced on Twitter yesterday that Reckoning sold 1.2 million copies. Chafee said the game needed to sell closer to three million.

Seriously, the expectation that a brand new IP from an unproven studio with such poor marketing would sell 3 million is laughable. I'm surprised it sold as much as it did.

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Glad I don't work for a studio if 38 of them just got rid of their staff

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That's bad management at 38. It sounds like they got a loan by convincing RI they could deliver a new IP that could sell 3 million copies. If this really was Schilling behind everything, he probably had grand dreams and just didn't know anything about the reality of making a game.

The number of new IPs that sold 3 million copies is pretty small, especially at the end of a console cycle.

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xyzzy

Maybe now Grant Kirkhope(Banjo-Kazooie, DK64, etc) will work for someone who actually makes interesting games? I love his music.

Came in here to mention how absolutely ludicrous it was to expect the game to do so well when three million would have broken it even. Pleased to see it's been mentioned a few times now.

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Too bad, KoA:R wasn't that bad of a game.

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They got a loan from the state of Rhode Island? Really? We're investing taxpayer money into video games now?

From: The Real Truth | #003
What did they make?
NOT ENOUGH

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Ladders are a socially-acceptable way to reach your goals.

Kinda sad to see Big Huge die, but then again they haven't really done anything spectacular since Rise of Nations and that was nearly a decade ago.

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The fact that a game can sell 1.2 million copies and still be considered a massive bomb really highlights what is wrong with the video game industry these days.

Booming production costs+static/falling sales=commercial failure.

Really, releasing a new IP, untested and not the world's greatest game, and expecting it to pull numbers like 3 million? That's crazy. Though I can't say it's surprising.

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This is probably for the best. There no way that MMO wouldn't have bombed hard, and sinking additional resources into it would have been a bad idea.

Wonder how far along they actually were.

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Rise of Nations was theirs? Man.

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Lightning Strikes posted...

The fact that a game can sell 1.2 million copies and still be considered a massive bomb really highlights what is wrong with the video game industry these days.

Booming production costs+static/falling sales=commercial failure.

Really, releasing a new IP, untested and not the world's greatest game, and expecting it to pull numbers like 3 million? That's crazy. Though I can't say it's surprising.

That doesn't tell the whole story about 38 - they wanted to make a game and then a sequel that would be a MMO, launching from the success of the first game. That was their plan and the direction they poured a lot of resources into. Hopefully the glaring issue is obvious here!

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From: neonreap | #031
That doesn't tell the whole story about 38 - they wanted to make a game and then a sequel that would be a MMO, launching from the success of the first game. That was their plan and the direction they poured a lot of resources into. Hopefully the glaring issue is obvious here!
Oh this is true.

Which is another problem with game development, constantly scrapping what you've made and effectively wasting millions of dollars. For instance, I wonder how much Metal Gear Rising cost to develop before it was cancelled years later. Probably a lot. And then there are issues such as developing demos that don't make it into the game just so you have something for trade shows... The whole system is just a mess. So many wasted resources. Honestly I'd like to see just how much money has been wasted on plans that never were.

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Metal Gear Rising wasn't cancelled.

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TheRock ~ Slow dramatic zoom-pan. Doesn't phase the hooded man.
"You have issues." - MWC. Pot. Kettle.

I stand corrected, apparently it was for a short while.

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TheRock ~ Slow dramatic zoom-pan. Doesn't phase the hooded man.
"You have issues." - MWC. Pot. Kettle.

From: TheRock1525 | #033
Metal Gear Rising wasn't cancelled.
While there will be a game bearing that title released, it would seem that the Platinum-developed game that we will eventually get has little to do with the watermelon-slicing simulator that was originally previewed.

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SuperNiceDog didn't have to reconcile his name...
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From: Lightning Strikes | #032
Oh this is true.

Which is another problem with game development, constantly scrapping what you've made and effectively wasting millions of dollars. For instance, I wonder how much Metal Gear Rising cost to develop before it was cancelled years later. Probably a lot. And then there are issues such as developing demos that don't make it into the game just so you have something for trade shows... The whole system is just a mess. So many wasted resources. Honestly I'd like to see just how much money has been wasted on plans that never were.
It's actually not that big a deal. A lot of the development assets from canceled projects are usually reused.

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SuperNiceDog? More like GuruNiceDog.

Aw man, I love Rise of Nations. Sad to see Big Huge go.

man. i'm in the middle of playing that game too.

guess i won't have to worry about DLC or an increase in levels. <_<;
sucks to see 'em go as the game's pretty good thus far, but expecting 3 million on a new IP is asking for way too much. bad planning, expectations, and management are to blame here sadly.

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Poor Schilling.

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So if LA Noire got a complete edition, KOA will get one too right?

Hope so.

Believe it or not, it might actually be getting worse: http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/5/25/3043282/38-studios-downfall-leads-to-second-mortgages-for-some-employees

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