38 Studios announces the addition of more industry vets to the team

[zenith16]

38 Studios announces the addition of more industry vets to the team

(9 hours ago)
Fantasy, Interviews, MMO industry, Massively Interviews
5

Fresh off the launch of its single player game, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, 38 Studios has announced the addition of two new members to their team. John Blakely, who has worked for SOE and Zynga, will become their senior vice president of development, while Mark Hansen has come from LEGO Systems Inc. to take on the role of senior vice president of business operations. They both took the time to speak with Massively about their experience in the industry as well as their upcoming roles with 38 Studios. Read on for highlights from the interview! Continue Reading

source: massively

[zenith16]

they should be put to help out bioware on DAIII too. I think these guys are really gonna be some thin huge.

[zenith16]

Todd McFarlane says Project Copernicus is coming this year

(2 days ago)
Fantasy, Video, News items
35

Gamers got their first look at the Kingdoms of Amalur universe in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning earlier this year, but we here at Massively are still anxiously awaiting more details on 38 Studios' MMO branch of the setting, Project Copernicus. Thankfully, it looks like we won't have to wait too much longer.

In an interview with START, comic artist extraordinaire Todd McFarlane, who is providing art design for Copernicus, nonchalantly dropped news that the studio is aiming to release Project Copernicus "later in the year." He doesn't expound any further on when exactly we can expect to get our hands on the game, but with any luck we'll be getting some more details before long, so stay tuned folks. Oh, and the full interview is embedded past the cut in case you'd like to watch the full thing. The relevant quote hits at about the 11:50 mark, but the full interview is definitely worth a watch.

Continue Reading

Source: START -- Todd McFarlane interview

[zenith16]

Trailer leaked for 38 Studios' Amalur MMO

(1 hour ago)
14

An anonymous source has released a work-in-progress version of a trailer for Project Copernicus, the Amalur MMO that 38 Studios worked on right up until declared bankruptcy. Kotaku reports that the source wanted the work from 38 Studios to be "appreciated."

Shortly before the collapse, we saw an environment flyover video, followed by set of screens from the abortive MMO. Those two releases, and the above trailer, represent the totality of released media for the game to date.

Update: the video is currently not embeddable, but you can see it on Kotaku.
Source: Kotaku

[zenith16]

Former 38 Studios dev releases Copernicus video, details player-driven systems

(6 hours ago)
Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play
81

Stop us if you've heard this one before. Former 38 Studios developer shows us how awesome Copernicus the Kingdoms of Amalur massively multiplayer title would have been, and quality-starved MMO players cry into their beer.

In any event, here's another posthumous reveal, this time courtesy of Steve "Moorgard" Danuser's personal blog. Danuser has posted a fly-through video that was originally intended as an in-engine milestone for internal eyes only. Now it's a bit more salt in the wound unless the shuttered MMO's assets ever find their way into the hands of another studio.

Danuser doesn't stop with the video, though. He goes into some detail about aspects of the game's design that would have differentiated it from much of the current MMO landscape.

There's a lot more I'd like to tell you about the game, such as how our fully planned four-year story arc was driven by player participation.

How the theme of choice and consequence permeated our systems, content, and world design. How the choices players made during our chapter-based story arc would cause permanent and lasting changes to each server -- changes that could be different from other servers.

How expansions to the game world had already been mapped out and were tied into that chapter storyline, so the world would grow in a very organic and logical way rather than feeling like expansions were tacked onto the core game by a new team that was bored with the work that had been done before. How our storyline had a real conclusion–because you can't tell a great story without an ending.

Head past the break for the full video.

[Thanks to Syeric for the tip!] Continue Reading

• Source: Mobhunter
• More coverage: 38 Studios

[zenith16]

38 Studios will face no federal criminal charges

(11 hours ago)
MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous
30

Bankrupt gamemaker 38 Studios will not face federal criminal charges, according to a report in The Washington Post.

U.S. Attorney spokesman Jim Martin told The Associated Press that his office found that 38 Studios did not break any federal laws. That said, what's left of the company is still subject to an investigation being conducted by Rhode Island police to determine whether state laws were violated.

38 Studios folded last May despite a $75 million state loan guarantee. The bankruptcy left Rhode Island "on the hook for more than $100 million," which includes the bonds and interest.
Source: The Washington Post