38 Studios Goes On the Block in October

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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38 Studios Goes On the Block in October


Two separate auctions will liquidate 38 Studios' remaining assets, but Microsoft wants its stuff back first.

It feels rather like eyeballing the silverware at a funeral, but it's hard not to let out a quiet, impressed whistle over the sheer volume of quality stuff up for grabs at the upcoming 38 Studios liquidation auctions. There will be two separate events, one on October 16 in Maryland and one on October 23 in Rhode Island, and if you happen to be in either neighborhood on the appointed date, you might want to consider popping in.

Among the highlights are more than 500 (between the two) high-end Dell workstations, 850 20" and 24" Dell and Sceptre monitors, numerous Wacom tablets, Genelec, Furman and Logitech audio equipment, various overhead projectors and video conferencing systems, six - six! - LG model LFC25776ST Stainless Steel Refrigerators with bottom freezer drawer and a ton of other stuff. Suddenly I'm starting to understand where all the money went.

Also on the block are several game consoles, including Xbox 360 XDK systems, the game development kits studios use to actually make their games. But Microsoft, quite understandably, doesn't want those things floating around in public, so it's demanding their return.

"Xbox 360 Development Kits (XDK) are the property of Microsoft and are only licensed to authorized studios and may not be assigned or sold to any third party without the written consent of Microsoft," a rep told Develop. "We will be contacting the appropriate parties involved in the auction of 38 Studios' assets to remove the XDK units from the auction listing and to secure the return of the consoles to Microsoft."

Despite the veritable cornucopia of crapola awaiting purchase, the money raised won't do much to help the state of Rhode Island, which could be on the hook for more than $crisis [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117785-Amid-Controversy-38-Studios-Declares-Bankruptcy-UPDATED]."

Sources: Develop [http://www.sjcorio.com/corio/auctions/38studios/38studios_auction_details.html]


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Tireseas_v1legacy

Plop plop plop
Sep 28, 2009
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Hmmm... I could use a few more monitors and work stations.

On the other hand, I don't want to set foot in New England more than once every three years.
 

gardian06

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Jun 18, 2012
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but which event will they be auctioning off the Amalur IP depending on the players, and starting bid they could get back a good portion of that money they owe.
 

Knux Miller

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Mar 9, 2012
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And Rhode Island will become an even less desirable place for people to live or visit, I mean go spend a week in Warwick, besides the airport, the place looks horrible because they aren't putting / have the money to upkeep the streets, sidewalks or vacant lots. And now the Governor sabotages the studio and then has no back-up plan for how to recoup the $100mill? Pretty sure he won't be re-elected anytime soon. I really hope the auction goes well, but part of me feels very very sorry for the people that live there that will have to deal with his mistake.
 

Tireseas_v1legacy

Plop plop plop
Sep 28, 2009
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DVS BSTrD said:
It's gunna take more than this to put a suture on those losses.
The Gentleman said:
Hmmm... I could use a few more monitors and work stations.

On the other hand, I don't want to set foot in New England more than once every three years.
Awwwwww =(
Why?
Is it the weather?
It's the weather isn't it?
Just wait a minute, it'll change!
Well, the weather is part of it, but so was a deal with the twisting nether to save myself during the witch trials. Apparently a being beyond time and space still hates the Patriots enough to link all of its contracts to the geographic area they represent. It took me only 400 years to understand why...
 

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Knux Miller said:
And now the Governor sabotages the studio and then has no back-up plan for how to recoup the $100mill? Pretty sure he won't be re-elected anytime soon. I really hope the auction goes well, but part of me feels very very sorry for the people that live there that will have to deal with his mistake.
And again, I feel compelled to ask where, aside from Schilling's blame-deflecting rants, is the evidence that the Governor "sabotaged" anything.

The deal between Rhode Island and 38 Studios was closed in November 2010. By March 2012, it had burned through roughly $50 million of that and was still years away from launch. Schilling couldn't attract outside investors. And that stage, and in the shape it was in, another $25 million wasn't going to save the studio. It had already missed payroll and a loan payment when Chafee revealed it was in trouble, and Take-Two denies Schilling's claim that any deal to acquire the studio was in the pipe.

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/2012/07/38-studios-end-game/ - This is a really good, in-depth read on the situation, and Schilling's claims notwithstanding, makes it pretty clear that what brought 38 Studios down was mismanagement, arrogance and a willingness on the part of too many people to buy into the Curt Schilling myth. It's sad, but there's no indication whatsoever that it was sabotage.
 

Rainboq

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Nov 19, 2009
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Everything about 38 Studios, while tragic, is a perfect example of how bravado can kill a good company. Had Curt Shilling had the common sense to step down and let the experts handle things, and started with a smaller project, things might be different. But sadly Curt had to try and make it big, it's as if he was back in little league, stepping up for his first pitch and trying to hit it out of the park. It's just he stepped into the pitch face first and hit the catcher with his bat
 

Baldr

The Noble
Jan 6, 2010
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Every XDK box I've ever seen has stickers on them saying they are property of Microsoft with an email to contact them to return them. Did they pull them off?

"This (type) Kit is sole property of Microsoft Corporation. The owner of this kit assumes full resoponsibity for both the hardware and intellectual property that is installed. All questions regarding this (type) kit hardware should be sent to (email)"
 

AzrealMaximillion

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Jan 20, 2010
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In my opinion, i think what killed this company along with Curt Schilling's ego and the Governor's fuck up was releasing Kingdom of Amalur so shortly after Skyrim. You buy one ARPG with hours upon hours of content, you don't need to buy another for a long while...
 

Panorama

Carry on Jeeves
Dec 7, 2010
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From reading the title, i was thinking 38 different studies were closing in October. I thought that is some serious insider knowledge, i was very surprised.
 

MonkeyPunch

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Feb 20, 2008
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Yah, no chance anyone will get their mitts on the devkits legally.

Also, if I was around I'd go get myself another monitor and a nice Wacom tablet on the cheap.
*sigh*

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