Report: 38 Studios Lays Off Entire Staff [UPDATED]

No! Majorly sad day.

And this is why you don't stake a company's well being on what looks on all accounts to be an extremely traditional MMO.

@Jeff said:

@Milkman said:

Wow, that's a stone cold e-mail. Not even a "sorry" or a "unfortunately."

That's probably for legal reasons. Apologizing when terminating someone can potentially open you up to a wrongful termination suit.

Yeah, but a "thank you for your hard work" wouldn't.

THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF THEY WOULD HAVE JUST MADE RISE OF NATIONS 2. >:(

F me! Someone give Rich a job.

so, how weird would it be if they did put out their MMO, but because of the taxpayer loan from the state, every tax paying citizen in Rhode Island owned a part of the game, like how people in Green Bay own the Packers?

@DjCmeP said:

@Liquid_Flood said:

Dear Giant Bomb,

HIRE RICH GALLUP YESTERDAY. OR TODAY.

Sincerely,

A paying member

@SkullcrusherMountain said:

@DjCmeP said:

@Liquid_Flood said:

Dear Giant Bomb,

HIRE RICH GALLUP YESTERDAY. OR TODAY.

Sincerely,

A paying member

Has anyone heard anything from Rich? I hope he either hasnt been effected or at least has something else lined up, always liked him at Gamespot and at the E3 Giantbomb events.

I hope all those laid off land on their feet, this is a shitty situation. CBS, get hold of Rich Gallup already.

This is sad. I've been laid off before but to not have been paid since the beginning of May only to be let go... This is definitely sad.

I can see why they can't secure additional funding. If you had cash to invest, would you put it into an MMO that's, let's be real here, destined to fail miserably? And that's not a comment on the quality of Copernicus at all. None of us knows how good that game is/was going to be. But it's becoming increasingly clear, at least to me, that the $15 per month MMO model is going by the wayside quickly. There aren't enough people interested in MMOs to keep more than a handful going and viable at that price. Look at something like The Old Republic which has huge money and one of the biggest IPs on the planet behind it. That's doing nicely at somewhere around 1.2 million subscribers after about six months on the market. Does a fledgling IP like Amalur even stand a chance? I don't think so and apparently neither do investors.

That's too bad. How many employees worked at 38 Studios?

Been watching the live stream of the press conference and the governor just said "If I had any say in the matter, none of these games would have all this violence and sexism in them". Fuck that shit.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICH!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope he and Ben make it out okay!

Reckoning needed to sell 3 million just to break even, apparently.

They had to sell 3 mil of KOA to break even

@seannao said:

Is there any truth to the rumor that Valve is directly hiring, skipping the normal application process, for some of the artists from 38 Studios?

Probably true, looking at the Twitters, it looks like several studios are extending a hand to 38 Studios. Microsoft Studios, Double Fine, Insomniac, Irrational Games, Red 5 and Perfect World have all posted that they're hiring ex-38 employees. Check the hashtag #38jobs and http://twitter.com/#!/search/38%20studios%20hiringand you'll see they've got plenty of job offers already, it's likely Valve do the same, but maybe not in such an public manner.

@bcjohnnie Oh yeah, good call. Silly question.

Oh god, asshole reporter is (unknowingly?) acting like a total asshole on camera.

Does any DLC revenue purchased at this point go to the state?

@Azteck: I head him say the game needed to sell 3 million units just to break even. They really took a gamble on Reckoning, if that's true.

@Azteck: Seriously. I'm sure he's never indulged in any media that has sex and violence in it. What a moronic thing to say.

The RI Governor was just asked what they could have done differently on there side and he said nothing, and then said "I wouldn't have had all of this violence and ... sex in these games"

@MSUSteve said:

@Azteck: Seriously. I'm sure he's never indulged in any media that has sex and violence in it. What a moronic thing to say.

The guy's a Rhode Island politician, you know he's into some shady ass shit.

This was obviously coming down the pipe just based on how the loan payment was made with what was supposed to be their wages. Don't have to pay employees you don't have!

Now just to hear about the employee's perspective. I'm sure plenty will want to talk, and since 38 won't exactly be having exit interviews, or severance packages, they'll probably tell all. I really have to wonder what the greater fallout of this whole situation will be though, apart from 38. I feel bad for the guys who moved to RI and thought that this would be longer term employment.

A need to sell three mill to not crash and burn the entire company.. 
..they spent how long and how much before KoA came out? :/

My reaction;

So does this mean that support for KOA: Reckoning has stopped as well in terms of any expansions or updates? Great game and sad news about the layoffs.

@Dallas_Raines said:

Reckoning needed to sell 3 million just to break even, apparently.

@leejunfan83 said:

They had to sell 3 mil of KOA to break even

@JazzyJeff said:

@Azteck: I head him say the game needed to sell 3 million units just to break even. They really took a gamble on Reckoning, if that's true.

Didn't they sell around 1.3 million or so? If so, barely halfway to the break even point.

That's a bummer. Best wishes to all those involved.

They aren't rookies; they'll either bounce back or decide to call it quits. as far as the rest... well, unfortunately too many studios buckled, if not outright collapsed, in recent times. Not a good time to go looking for a job in the field.

@bigsmoke77: It was obviously a dumb shit thing to say, but I'm pretty sure he was just at a loss for words at the moment and just randomly spurted that out. I mean that's barely even a complete thought.

Remember when selling 1 million copies was considered a huge success? Now you have to sell at least that to not be a failure.

its a sad sad day today.....

The game failed seems kind of harsh, I think they where just expecting too much out of a new IP. But he's not really talking as someone who knows how game sales tend to go so much as he is a politician that has to tell people they lost a bunch of tax payer money.

Whoa that shit is seriously fucked up.

Sorry for all those folks caught in the crossfire. Hope they all find new jobs quickly!

@fisk0 said:

@seannao said:

Is there any truth to the rumor that Valve is directly hiring, skipping the normal application process, for some of the artists from 38 Studios?

Probably true, looking at the Twitters, it looks like several studios are extending a hand to 38 Studios. Microsoft Studios, Double Fine, Insomniac, Irrational Games, Red 5 and Perfect World have all posted that they're hiring ex-38 employees. Check the hashtag #38jobs and http://twitter.com/#!/search/38%20studios%20hiringand you'll see they've got plenty of job offers already, it's likely Valve do the same, but maybe not in such an public manner.

I'm not surprised that Perfect world is offering they are one of the top western free to play MMO companies out there now and the game world Vid that 38 studios put out did look rather nice.

@Paul_Tillich said:

I live in Boston. All media, including sports, are slamming Schilling. That is one sign that lets yo know things are BAD.

No bloody sock can save this morons ass.

Well that sucks hopefully the employees land on their feet.

So just how insane of a goal was selling 3 million within this timeframe for KoA: R? I mean we're talking about a new studio and new IP.

Guess it depends on how they internally handled their budget.

So much for economic development, eh Rhode Island?

Holy shit. That sucks. There were a lot of talented people working there (Mr. Gallup included). I wish them all the best.

Three million. Three million copies. Are you...Are you fucking KIDDING ME WITH THIS!? Kid gloves are off, what kind of morons were running this thing!? Six years and barely so much as a teaser trailer of your huge money sink project and you bet the farm on selling three million copies of your smaller game from the unknown IP? What kind of idiot runs a startup this way? They were acting like they were freaking Bungie or Blizzard or some noise! Freaking Respawn Entertainment wouldn't get away with having the BALLS of the idiots running 38. Now I'm super pissed. So many talented people working in that company got totally screwed by their ineptitude. So not okay.

@FuzzYLemoN said:

THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF THEY WOULD HAVE JUST MADE RISE OF NATIONS 2. >:(

<3

38 Studios management can only be described as stunningly incompetent. And thanks for taking Big Huge Games down with you, dicks.

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

Selling three millions?! Crazy prediction! Many great games don't sell much more than one million, and they needed to sell three.

It's amazing that selling one million copies of a $60 game is considered "poor" today.

"economic downturn"? Talk about soft language. This whole situation is just greasy.

so is The Hotspot, Time Trotters and Button Mashing coming back now?

Kickstarter!!!!