Curt Schilling gets approval for huge loan if he moves to Rhode Island, but locals urge him to stay
38 Studios has 75 million reasons to relocate its growing studio to Rhode Island, but one neighboring developer has made an impassioned public plea for the group to stay put.
A loan guarantee of $75 million is the prize if 38 Studios’ founder Curt Schilling moves his company out of the Boston area. Now, in an eleventh-hour bid to put the brakes on the deal, the CEO of Demiurge Studios has told Schilling in an open letter that such a move “will be a loss for the Boston game community”.
Demiurge’s William Reed also warned Schilling that if he moves “you will soon realise that although the capital you have secured will fund your endeavors, the most vital and necessary component to completing your project is the vast pool of talent and resources you are leaving behind”.
Reed, once a director for the Massachusetts Office of Business Development, upped the stakes in a daring manner by stating: “If anyone on the talented 38 Studios team wants to stay in Massachusetts, they're more than welcome to join the team at Demiurge Studios, the state’s soon-to-be largest independent game studio”.
Schilling, formerly a Boston Red Sox pitcher, has yet to respond to the open letter. His studio is currently building an RPG for PC, 360 and PS3.
Advertisement
He has already made his intentions clear with the proposed move to Rhode Island.
“I will protect the [$75m] loan guarantee that’s been given by the state with the same passion and interest that I’m protecting my own investment in this company,” he recently said.
This week Rhode Island officials approved the $75 million loan guarantee, which is said will bring some 450 development jobs to the region, and promote it as a new industry hot-spot.
Rhode Island inhabits toymaker Hasbro, which produces some video games, while the its School of Design has a key video game development program. Some critics from within Rhode Island fear the move will backfire as no product from the studio will be released before 2011.
I think for Demiurge's CEO to ask 38 Studios's CEO to not leave, AND then asks his employees to not leave is just wrong. I almost feel like Demiurge is jealous of the $75 million, which is a ridiculously high number. Halo 3, the game that made $300 million it's first week, took $60 million to make. God of War 3 took an estimated $44 million, and most current-gen games require about $18-$25 million. So, basically, 30 Studios is set to make 2 games for sure, and still have enough money to continue if one flops. In today's industry, you just don't get chances like this, and I think Demiurge is trying to hurt 38 by telling its employees they're free to come over to the competitor. If I valued my career and the creative expression of making games, I'd stick with 38 Studios, the people who now have enough money to do whatever they want and who are probably going to pay out higher salaries.
