R.A. Salvatore on Project Copernicus and 38 Studios’ Crisis

It appears like Daily Kos’ article on 38 Studios’ financial problems and layoffs got the attention of Kingdoms of Amalur’s “visionary” R.A. Salvatore, who saw fit to comment on the state of Project Copernicus, and the studio’s financial problems. According to Salvatore, the MMO was much further than it’s commonly believed, and would “blow us away”, although I suppose it’s easy to say that about something that isn’t being shown:

I shouldn’t even be commenting here.

Reckoning sold over 1.2 million units, which is pretty amazing for a new IP on an entirely new engine. I’m not going into the details of the publishing contract with EA (don’t really know them), but let me just say that the economics of the video game business are a lot more convoluted than multiplying the MSRP * Units and coming up with a cash/cash-flow number.

Caveat: I am not an employee, an officer, a stockholder or on the BoD for 38 Studios. I’ve worked with them since 2006 on a consulting basis and believed in the project (and still do) – so much so that all of my compensation is on the back end. Maybe I’ll never see a dime for those hundreds of hours, but I got the chance to work in the most incredible creative environment you can imagine. So be it.

And…38 didn’t go begging for a handout from Rhode Island…Rhode Island offered to secure a bond for them when the credit crunch reigned, trying to lure them out of Massachusetts.

Say what you want about the rest of it – I’m not going to comment – but I have to tell you that this was an amazing team of designers, engineers, artists, animators, writers, audio team and all the rest, all chasing a common dream – all pushing the envelope in their respective fields. And this game is much further along than is being reported – I wish I could show you some if it! – and the environments, the animations and the game-play would blow you away.

The MMO market is very different now than it was 6 years ago. Star Wars is aching, by all reports, and it’s a solid game with groundbreaking voice-over work. EA bought Mythic, and Warhammer crashed. Bioware’s MMO is hurting (they just laid off a bunch of people in their Austin Studio).

Curt and I never agreed on politics, but that didn’t define our time together. We’d argue, laugh, shake our heads behind each others’ back, and carry on. And if this means anything to any of you, let me assure you that the vast majority of the employees of 38 make ME look like a rabid right-winger, the bunch of anarchists! And lord, I love ’em all and miss them already.

…

But you don’t have all the facts, and some are important.

Are you mad at Obama for taking a huge risk with Solyndra? Or at Massachusetts for taking a huge risk with Evergreen Solar?

What about the huge risk Massachusetts took with the bio-med field, which paid off in tremendous dividends?

I’m not trying to be snarky here, but RI was trying to create a game hub in Providence – Hasbro is there (and is the state’s largest employer). Take a look at the success that is Austin, TX, or the huge game hub in Eastern Canada, heavily subsidized.

Take a look at how much Louisiana is pouring into movies to attract studios to New Orleans. Another risky business – did I just read that Disney wrote off something like $175 million on “John Carter”?

And here are a couple of other facts – since they’re reported, I can repeat them here (but again, I know only what’s been reported, repeatedly): Rhode Island doled out around $49 million of the $75 – the rest is still there, and 38 Studios had already generated nearly $20 million in revenue for the state. Yeah, it’s still going to sting.

Thanks NeoGAF.