Rest easy, this is not a political statement. To be honest, the numbers ’99’ and ‘1’ probably aren’t accurate here, but it illustrates a concept that you, as a member of our culture, recognize and understand, regardless of your beliefs on the matter. The phrase represents the concept of an ever-increasing social divide, a growing disparity between the upper echelons and the lower strata, the Haves and the Have-Nots.
With this in mind, let us recall recent events in the life of one 38 Studios, a Rhode Island start-up game company founded by former World Series-winning Boston Red Sox pitcher, Curt Schilling. Schilling is a confessed hardcore gamer, especially of the fantasy and MMO variety, and after retiring from baseball, devoted much of his own wealth to founding his own video game development house. Ambitious from the start, they employed the likes of Todd McFarlane, R.A. Salvatore, and Oblivion lead designer Ken Rolston, then later acquired Big Huge Games from THQ, a move which is practically unheard of for a startup. The goal was obvious: Sir Schilling had set his sights high, and would settle for no less than a AAA release.
For a brand new studio without direct first-party backing (Sony, MS, or Nintendo), this was not a new idea, but certainly one with increasing amounts of rarity as generations passed by. Game budgets were growing, studio sizes were exploding, and the company had announced that it was working on two separate games simultaneously. Copernicus was the code name for what would later be revealed as Amalur, a fully-realized WoW-killer MMO (and if anyone had the chops to pull off that feat, it would be MMO-fanatic Schilling and his dream team), and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was an action-RPG that was received well critically and sold over a million copies worldwide. It was published by EA and marketed alongside Mass Effect 3, one of the most talked-about games of our generation. For a time, it seemed as though Schilling had accomplished at least the first steps in his dream: a successful studio, successfully published by a major player, with a successful launch. What more could a rookie company want?
Then the bottom fell out. Recently, 38 Studios’ money woes came to light. The studio had taken a $75 million loan from the State of Rhode Island, and when its first payment came due this month, it could not afford to both pay its employees and make the payment; even then, the payment was late, and the loan defaulted before it was made. Critics point fingers at Rhode Island for even accepting such a loan when other venture capitalists would not, and at Schilling and 38 for setting their sights too high, the proverbial Icarus with wings now ablaze. How could this happen to 38 Studios with so many successes under its belt?
The reality is this: had 38 Studios been more established, or if it had deeper pockets or a sizable holding company like EA, this would not have occurred. The financial foundation these things all would have supplied would provide a foundation to weather the storms, a solid footing for lofty goals. This unfortunately seems to indicate that only the Haves, and not the Have-Nots, are able to successfully launch a AAA game. What we are seeing is a growing disparity between the monolithic corporations like EA & Activision/Blizzard, and the little guys. You’re a fledgling studio with a dream and a desire to make a successful game that will reach the maximum audience? Tough shit.
Is this just a matter of things being “the way things are”? Is it a pipe-dream destined for failure? Previous successes indicate this was not always so. Myst, Battlefield 1942, Half-Life, even Psychonauts are just some of the AAA rookie releases that come to mind, and what’s more, all those studios still exist (even though Myst’s Cyan Studios is not terribly successful, it still exists and is still turning out games). The main difference between those releases and 38’s Reckoning is the times we now live in; those bigger budgets and bigger teams mean greater initial investment, greater return needed for sustaining the business, and greater bailout capacity for emergencies. What’s more, budgets and teams are expected to double in the next generation, according to GamesIndustry.biz and anonymous sources working with the new Xbox platform’s dev kits.
We are seeing that divergence, and 38 Studios may very unfortunately be the first casualty of that shifting paradigm. I have huge admiration for the dreams and efforts of Mr. Schilling, and 38 Studios is not down and out yet, but these troubles only show how divergent the gaming industry has become and will become in the future. You will either be a big boy, churning out premium games for premium dollar, or a small fish looking to get acquired or at the very least go for those indie releases. A great indie release will keep those indie companies going, and institutions like Valve and Kickstarter will continue to provide foundations for success in those avenues. But they’ll never be able to turn out those AAA titles. In an age where anyone’s dreams should be possible, one dream may be dead, and the world is a sadder place.
