- by Ken "Chaobo" Serra
- Posted on May 21, 2012 @ 3:00 PST
I’m sure you’ve all heard of the financial crisis regarding 38 studios and Rhode Island. The one with $75 Million worth of debts yet only $1.1 Million of it is paid back, at least before the check bounced. Yea, that one. Anyways, things do look to be turning towards the good side. Lincoln Chafer, the governor of Rhode Island, announced that 38 paid them back $1.25 Million, for real this time! Well, I guess it beats nothing, no?
Of course, I thought things looked brighter till Chafer announced the company will be creating an MMO set in the Kingdom of Amalur universe. The project is codenamed “Copernicus.” All I have to say is… Say what now!? I guess it’s not awful but an MMO? A market already filled with very powerful, giant titles? I guess, they’re that desperate and I suppose it’s a better idea than creating more Amalur sequels, to some extent. We’ll just have to see how this plays out, but with a set goal of at least $75 Million in profits to pay off their debt, I simply wish them the best of luck.
Chafee wants “to make sure [he’s] doing everything he can to make sure 38 Studios doesn’t fail.” Maybe he plans to block off all advertising regarding the game’s competition… Ok no, not really. “Copernicus” is set for a June 2013 release date and there’s no word on whether or not the game will be PC-exclusive. Though, if they DO try to take an early step into the console-MMO market, things might go in their favor just a little bit…
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
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Well, honestly 38 Studios always was making an MMO. That was their original plan back when they formed a couple years ago: To make a single player product in the universe that would then connect to the MMO. This isn't news, but the footage I've seen of the game looks promising.
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Mandie is correct - The company was founded specifically to build Copernicus, and its been in development since Day 1. When they realized that they were going through money faster than projected, they decided to take the assets that they had already developed and re-purpose them for a single player game (i.e.- Reckoning) to bring in some quick cash, then get back to working on the MMO.
Unfortunately, this financial fiasco has forced their hand in regards to announcing a release date for the project - hopefully the final product wont suffer for having to be rushed.
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What they said. :)
I was excited long ago when I heard about this game, but as Art as pointed out to me I'm burnt on MMOs.
I hope a game comes a long some day fixes that, I would love to fall in love with the genre again some day.
