The collapse of Kingdoms of Amalur developer 38 Studios was a drawn-out affair. Actually, it’s still being drawn right now. Just days ago, a four-year investigation into the company concluded with no criminal proceedings by the US state of Rhode Island.
You may remember that Rhode Island poured $US75 million into 38 Studios, owned by US baseball player Curt Schilling. The company subsequently imploded, with little to show for the investment.
Rhode Island of course wasn’t convinced by a simple shrug of the shoulders and so, Rhode Island’s state police decided to take a look into the situation.
Not much has come from the long-term investigation according to Ted Resi, reporting for the state’s local TV station WPRI:
Their eight-page explanation concluded by saying that “the quantity and quality of the evidence of any criminal activity fell short of what would be necessary to prove any allegation beyond a “reasonable doubt and as such the Rules of Professional Conduct precluded even offering a criminal charge for grand jury consideration.”
While government officials may have been tactful about the result, Schilling was more direct:
@PerryRussom could have saved 10s of millions more by telling you that 5 years ago. Disgusted to see officers sent on fake ass witch hunt
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) July 29, 2016
As with all legal manoeuvrings, there’s still more to come for 38 Studios. As Resi explains, Rhode Island still wants its pound of flesh, as does the SEC:
The decision by state law enforcement not to file criminal charges is separate from two other ongoing legal processes related to 38 Studios: a civil suit filed in 2012 by the state against the architects of the deal, which is set to go to trial this fall; and civil fraud charges filed by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission against the state and some architects of the deal earlier this year.
Guess we’ll check back in four years.
No charges in 38 Studios criminal probe after 4-year investigation [WPRI, via Gamasutra]
Comments
6 responses to “Four Years On, Kingdoms of Amalur Developer Is Still Fighting Legal Battles”
But not a drop of blood! Seriously though I’m not sure what they’re trying to achieve here. Mismanaged is not the same as fraudulent. I think pretty much everyone who invested in the game lost money. The game needed to sell really well for them to break even.
Four years on and I’m still trying to finish the game…love those steam backlogs.
its a legitimately fun game. i would recommend at least play it for two hours to decide it you like it or not, you’ll know pretty quickly once in the open world if you like it.
Have to agree. Rather underrated game I thought.
Yeah I’m in the same boat – the problem is that this isn’t a small game :/ Trying to get through the Witcher 3 now.
This is such an unfair story.
Amalur was a genuinely engaging and entertaining game; basically a deeper, more complex and interesting Fable with Skyrim’ish elements. And not being a record-breaking blockbuster doomed any chance that the franchise OR the studio had, thanks to a major investor getting cold feet and – ludicrously, for this industry – suing over their own bad investment.
It’s almost as if the Government invested into an industry which makes business out of art, didn’t do any research on or risk analysis for what happens when you try to commercialize art, then cried foul when it went the way that it staggeringly often does.
Always thought it seemed like a decent game…never played it though. Should probably actually click on that game in my Steam library at some point…..