38 Studios Meets With Rhode Island Governor, Asks for More Money [UPDATED]

Curt Schilling is a total douche, but I can't help but feel a bit sorry for him...his heart seemed to be in the right place with this, but obviously he just had no idea what he was getting into. Running a multi-million dollar entertainment company making some of the most complex types of software out there isn't quite the same thing as throwing a stitched hunk of leather past guys with sticks.

As bad as Schilling's mismanagement was and as ill-conceived as the state's actions were in guaranteeing the loans, it's nothing compared to the horseshit the banks pulled to get us into this entire mess, so maybe the state should tell the banks that they get to eat the meal. It would be deliciously ironic for the banks to cry foul at being defrauded.

@Kevin_Cogneto said:

@Alex, I would've expected you of all people to mention this aspect of the story:

There can be no question our country is in the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. I also think there can be no question that it falls on us, the individuals, to find a way out of our own personal crisis." - Curt Schilling on the subject of government stimulus packages, February 2011

Haha, what a jackass.

So... when is the Kickstarter page launching?

@Video_Game_King said:

So are Rhode Island and 38 Studios in boyfriend/girlfriend territory or father/son territory? (Please don't say both.)

I was thinking more of a Pimp/Whore territory.

What did the state expect? They should have known this was a long term investment. 38 should've made it more obvious they wouldn't be making money until that MMO came out. THey should've pumped it out faster. Or better yet, they shouldn't have tried to make a game in the most genre with the most expensive and time consuming development out the gate. They should've made 3 or 4 games before even starting on that MMO.

@Jason_Bourne said:

What did the state expect? They should have known this was a long term investment. 38 should've made it more obvious they wouldn't be making money until that MMO came out. THey should've pumped it out faster. Or better yet, they shouldn't have tried to make a game in the most genre with the most expensive and time consuming development out the gate. They should've made 3 or 4 games before even starting on that MMO.

Exactly.

This is pretty shameful - reckoning was an okay game but who gives a fuck about another fantasy mmo?

Late night talk show monologue: "Did you guys hear about this? World Series-winning Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's video game company 38 Studios is in trouble. My question is: do you really need that many studios, Curt? Can't you get rid of a couple of them?"

*rimshot*

@PopeShabooda said:

Just to shed a little more light on the situation, the State of Rhode Island did not loan the money to 38 Studios, but arranged for banks to make the loans, which were then guaranteed by Rhode Island. If 38 Studios is unable to keep up with its payments, the State of Rhode Island will then be forced to take on the debt.

As a resident of Rhode Island, and a developer, this news makes me very sad. I hope they can work something out, but it doesn't sound very promising.

Thanks for the input. As a former government employee I was puzzled as to how a state invested tax payer money into a private company, but your info shed light on that topic. I'm surprised that they were even able to get involved in the manner they did, potentially having to take on the bad debt. That's gnarly!

@ep_driver said:

@PopeShabooda said:

Just to shed a little more light on the situation, the State of Rhode Island did not loan the money to 38 Studios, but arranged for banks to make the loans, which were then guaranteed by Rhode Island. If 38 Studios is unable to keep up with its payments, the State of Rhode Island will then be forced to take on the debt.

As a resident of Rhode Island, and a developer, this news makes me very sad. I hope they can work something out, but it doesn't sound very promising.

Thanks for the input. As a former government employee I was puzzled as to how a state invested tax payer money into a private company, but your info shed light on that topic. I'm surprised that they were even able to get involved in the manner they did, potentially having to take on the bad debt. That's gnarly!

This is no different that what Mitt Romney did at Bain Capital, or the Federal Reserve did under TARP or the "bailouts" issued by Obama. This is gov't picking winners and losers, some with bad business practices. Better that they had failed on their own, rather than losing that kind of taxpayer money.

@BiG_Weasel said:

@ep_driver said:

@PopeShabooda said:

Just to shed a little more light on the situation, the State of Rhode Island did not loan the money to 38 Studios, but arranged for banks to make the loans, which were then guaranteed by Rhode Island. If 38 Studios is unable to keep up with its payments, the State of Rhode Island will then be forced to take on the debt.

As a resident of Rhode Island, and a developer, this news makes me very sad. I hope they can work something out, but it doesn't sound very promising.

Thanks for the input. As a former government employee I was puzzled as to how a state invested tax payer money into a private company, but your info shed light on that topic. I'm surprised that they were even able to get involved in the manner they did, potentially having to take on the bad debt. That's gnarly!

This is no different that what Mitt Romney did at Bain Capital, or the Federal Reserve did under TARP or the "bailouts" issued by Obama. This is gov't picking winners and losers, some with bad business practices. Better that they had failed on their own, rather than losing that kind of taxpayer money.

If they had tried, and failed on their own, they would have done so somewhere else. The loan arrangements were made in an effort to bring jobs to Rhode Island, which are needed pretty badly (especially tech jobs of any kind).

If you live in or know Rhode Island than you'd know that this situation, while it has not panned out, is a pretty big improvement over how things usually go in the state. I can not overstate how corrupt and messed up Rhode Island is. With this project, the lost money isn't too crazy (we've spent more on "fixing" a single bridge in Pawtucket, which has been "in progress" for five years), it brought tech jobs to the state, and the dealings have been fairly transparent.

Honestly, in discussions about this, I've seen much more vitriol from people elsewhere than I have from actual Rhode Island taxpayers.

Schilling's been known to be an avid MMO/RPG fan for a long time. Maybe he went into this with his fan hat on a little more than his business hat. KOA was decent, but I don't see how you can base an entire product line off of fare this typical. Now an MMO? That's never been done before. Even Bioware backed by EA and Lucasarts isn't really driving the car into the garage with that one. It seems like his whole business model is kind of cartoony, hiring MacFarlane and Salavatore and making RPGs sounds good and all, but are they really the right guys to make a game that makes money? The whole thing looks like what would happen if you put a 15 yr old fanboy in charge.

I suppose the hard part to digest is he made tens of millions during his baseball career. Surely he can man-up and pay the $1.5 million. It would be nice if we had film and game tax credits here in Idaho.