Kingdoms of Amalur dev misses payroll

i think KoA was just unlucky when they targeted their customer base.  it wanted to be an action oriented RPG hoping bridge to the worlds of RPGs and action adventure games (and win fans from both camps in the process).  however, the game that came out is nothing compared to Skyrim (which is your true blue western RPG) and it fell short of your frenetic action adventure games like GOW.  instead of winning the hearts and wallets of both camps, it merely piqued the interest of small population from both.  its an awesome game i think, and the reviews from any gaming media outlet pretty much says it all.  its sad that this is happening to them.  i personally want KoA to march onwards to a sequel so they can beef up where the first one failed at winning fans.  hearing this news is making it feel we wont see KoA 2 in our future. heres to hoping the team gets paid asap and for those like me who are hopeful for the game to eventually see more of KoA in the future

Shame, KoA wasn't too bad but it wasn't too good either. It was a mediocre title all around. It could have been something special if they had the right people.

Saw that coming long before the game was released.

It was clearly going to be just an overhyped expensive failure. Everything about it was obvious even since the announcement.

  When i read that big names were involved i thought "MUST BUY", but when i saw the very first screenshots i realised what was happening.

 They just used the names to advertise the title.

 McFarlane was supposed to be the Art Director, yet the game didn't look anything close to McFarlanes artstyle. Just no connection at all.

 That was a major turnoff for MANY people who were expecting something much more detailed,mature,dark,brutal,gory.

 When i read what was the story about i remembered that Salvatore was supposed to be the Creative Director and create the story.

  Yet again the story was just...meh. I've read a LOT of Salvatore's books and the story didn't seem to have anything to do with his style.

 Gameplay wise Ken Rolston was supposed to help develop it as he had designed Elder Scrolls Morrowind and Oblivion wich were succesfull.

 But the game again had absolutely nothing in common. Like he never had anything to do with it. It was just mediocre as well.

  What people payed for was a generaly half decent game. Honestly it was a child's action game not even an RPG. Had some RPG elements but few.

 Don't get me wrong here, sure it was fun for a few hours. My 12 year old cousin loved it (i bought it as a gift) and even my sister had a blast playing it.

 Generaly for people who aren't much into true RPGs and like lighthearted action games with minimal substance, was good.Maybe even GREAT like some called it.But for me it was just mediocre at best.

  Also don't forget another thing. SKYRIM. EA released the game after Skyrim, and the developer didn't even care to make it moddable....that my friends was a double fail.

 The game looked and played worse that Skyrim and it didn't even gave you the chance to make it better. That's one of the main reasons it failed.

I feel bad for all those people. Big mistakes have big consiquences.

And from what i read they are getting ready to make the mistake again by making a sequel and an MMO.....i just don't understand what goes through their minds. All or nothing gamble....? Mark my words, this will not end well.

First off @jmc88888 - you are a complete and utter moron. "Their free out of thin air money" wasn't free and it didn't come out of the air. It came out of the pockets of the folks of Rhode Island and should be paid back ASAP. It was a nice big 75 million dollar loan that no resident of Rhode Island EVER got to vote on. Your sing-songy haiku style post is,at the least, mildly irritating ,and at the worst, a whole lot of puff without any substance whatsoever. First, get your facts straight. 1. 75 million dollar load being defaulted on. 2. 379 employees as of mid March. Why so many employees still when Amalur already shipped months ago? Cut that shit down to 20. 3. If you don't pay off your debt, you default and then get shut down. 4. Amazing RPG. Huge campaign. Epic battles. That game should have easily sold over 1 million copies. Why didn't it? Not sure. 5. "Poor guys at Amalur don't get paid because the 'debt' needs to be paid"? Do any of you, for one second, think that 38 Studios is moving full tilt forward with upwards of 370 employees and missing paychecks?  Really? Did someone from 38 Studios step forward and say this? I don't remember anyone saying jack from 38 Studios, much less Curt Schilling saying this. 

   Don't believe the hype. 

From Curt Schillings Facebook page, Curt Schilling: To anyone posting here, despite the ENORMOUS amount of misinformation and the amount of time it would take to make you understand the truth, know this. At no time, AT ANY TIME during this process, did 38 Studios EVER ask the State of Rhode Island for a bailout, financial aid, nothing.

Wall Street/The City strikes again. Their free out of thin air money gets paid off first.

Screw the employees who actually worked for their wages that aren't being paid.

The 'investors' take the profits, necessitating the need to be a perpetual debt slave.

This is the setup.  However with this company in particular, they didn't get it 'going'.  But that's where they were heading had this launch worked.

Either way, employees should always be paid first. 

But we live in idiot world, where Wall Street/The City's idiocy misrules supreme.

You don't pay off your debt, you can't increase your debt capacity, which is all you were really doing by purchasing Amalur.  Enabling a new firm to increase the amount of debt capacity they can carry.

This is the Wall Street model.  With a little help from the gov't as well.  Completely backwards, and gives you all the crap you hate in gaming.  Non customer focus.  DRM.  DLC.  On disc you bought DLC. Always on.  Super duper 100 dollar packs.  Smaller campaigns.  Fewer multiplayer maps.  BIGGER advertising campaigns.  More hype, less substance.  Online passes.  Pulling online functionality in a few months. I'm sure plenty of others. 

Treating you like a slave, because they are a slave...to debt...perpetually, and never getting out NO MATTER HOW MANY you games you buy. 

Poor guys at Amalur don't get paid, because the debt 'needs' to be paid.  One day we're going to wake up and the gaming industry has gone poof in the night, because all their debt capacity will have been pulled.  The gaming industry sold their soul to the devil, and the time for collection is coming.  Not sure the exact day, but it's coming.  For these poor saps, looks to be already almost here.

can't believe it's only sold 333,000, game was very good, if you like rpg's and don't have this game you should be ashamed of yourself, wonder why we're not getting that many great sp games anymore

Sucks for employee's, but I guess it's the risk you take with investors especially when you make an ambitious game that doesn't sell.

Aaaaaand that's why government should not be investing in businesses.  At this point, it's sheer blindness to believe that a politician will invest the taxpayer's money more soundly than the taxpayers themselves.  Never worked, never WILL work.  Investors are motivated to put their money where it will make a financial return and be productive; politicians, by contrast, put the money of others where it will make a political return as a giveaway to somebody, because no one wanted to put their own money there by their own choice.  If government invests in something, it is, almost by definition, a losing proposition.

So 38 Studios becomes the Solyndra of the video game industry.  Please, for the love of pete, and the sake of decent video games, keep the post office out of the video game business.

And here's the first look at the MMO in question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9nvnrP0j8U&feature=youtu.beAmazing. 

Been reading through all the comments of how people feel really bad for the company and all the employees that didn't get paid. But how many times do I read from people about buying games used so the developer doesn't get the money or not buying the game at all because it was published by EA or waiting for a year or two before buying it? This is exactly why we need to support game developers when a game is good. It also said a sequel is in the works. If I ain't getting paid, I am definitely not doing any work on a sequel. I hope the employees get their money.

Okay let's get this straight for once. This loan, and contract in their entirely had to with their MMO, Project Copernicus. They originally were located in another state working on it, RI offered them to move for this loan. The only thing Reckoning has to do with this is that it's collateral if they go under, as well as the potential revenue stream that it supplied. IT STOPS THERE.They employ over 250 workers at their RI location, for several years now. They have been working on the MMO for about 5-6 years. They're an independent company and this is extremely difficult finance wise.It takes a ton of time and money to make an MMO, and with no revenue stream and no giant publisher to have a ton of money it's hard.Also for an update to the article: "A check from 38 Studios was hand-delivered to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation at approximately 5 o?clock this evening. However, upon learning from the Chief Financial Officer of 38 Studios that there were insufficient funds to cover the payment, the check was returned. The EDC remains willing to accept readily available funds." via WPIC.

Seems like starting this game as an MMO was a huge costly mistake. That must be where so much of the money went. Hope they can somehow pull through this, I actually really enjoyed Amalur and was looking forward to the next game.

Applied to this company about two years ago. Now I'm pretty glad that I didn't get a call back!

Ouch, 38 didn't have that one coming. They made a pretty good, polished game, they don't deserve this. Where did it all go wrong? :(

If you can't afford the money to stay in buisness then you shouldn't have started said buisness in the first place. Now all the people who worked hard to make this game get to suffer because of it. Great job 38 Studios.

just another voice in the chorus i is, but this certainly is a shame. i have greatly enjoyed the game myself, and thought that it had a nice look to it, and it plays so smooth. however, if i was an employee for the company, i'd be beyond pissed right now. i suspect this would be one of those cases where upper management choices negativly impact alot of good, creative people. i am a social worker and often meet with young people who express such passionate interest in being involved in the VG business, and all i can say is when i read stuff like this and other stories like fallout from LA noire, i suspect being in this business does not offer alot in terms of secure, stable employment. for my part, i will always do my best to buy and support the games that feel like they were made with some love and care, and the rest of the shovelware? well, i have to admit, that is what the sale bin at gamestop is for.

Sad news. I feel bad for the employees. 

Real bummer news. Got a buddy that works for them... He even picked up from SoCal and moved all the way to Rhode Island for the gig.  Really hope this all works itself out.

I really hope this thing works out for everyone involved.  I'd Hate to see another gaming company go down.  

That said, I'm almost 30 hours into KoA: Reckoning and am enjoying it thus far...haven't even scratched the surface yet.  Not too bad for their first effort.  It's too bad it came out mere months after Skyrim and only 1 month before Mass Effect 3; without much fanfare from EA that I recall.

This is very sad news. They should try and partner with another Dev and ask them to pay off what they own and than work for less and let the other company get the bigger profit on the new games until they make up for how much they need to give them. After that all can go back to normal and we end up with bigger and better games from a bigger and better company.

At this point the only real concern is with their employees....sad news.

Let's hope some solution is found, employees and debts get paid.

Regardless of the sequel being released or not.

this is why more companies are moving to the cheaper indie titles and mobile market 330,000 copies is not going to cover the cost of making this game. and keep the company open or food on the table and rents paid. just terrible