38 Studios - Rhode Island Sues Executives

[Myrthos]

A lawsuit has been filed by Rhode Island against the people involved in the state's mismanaged $75 million loan to Kingdoms of Amalur developer 38 Studios.
Amongst the the defendants named in the suit are the Studio 38 founder/chairman Curt Schilling, CEO Jennifer MacLean, former EDC executive director Keith Stokes and other 38 Studios executives and EDC employees/lawyers. Other companies that were involved in the loan deal such as Wells Fargo Securities, Barclays Capital, First Southwest, and Starr Indemnity and Liability were also named as defendants.
The full storyincluding the full text of the suit can be read at various places, amongst which Gamasutra.
More information.

 

[joxer]

Meh... I'm not sure what's the point of that lawsuit - the audience that wanted yet another endless mobrespawn grinder was not big enough, so the company went broke. Should they also sue me for not buying such games? In fact why don't they sue the whole market. Or should they also sue anyone who's business decision went wrong?

 

[cptbarkey]

this is Chafee's way of trying to save face. Sorry 'gov you were left holding the bag.

 

[TheMadGamer]

Meh… I'm not sure what's the point of that lawsuit - the audience that wanted yet another endless mobrespawn grinder was not big enough, so the company went broke. Should they also sue me for not buying such games? In fact why don't they sue the whole market. Or should they also sue anyone who's business decision went wrong?

There's actually MUCH more to this story than what you wrote. It's pretty interesting too if you have the time and inclination to research it.

 

[khaight]

Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.

In this particular case I'm not sure who the dog is, but there seem to be enough fleas to go around.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

Government should not be involved in such a highly speculative loan as this one in the first place. Shame on them for even considering it. They deserve to lose that money. The taxpayers don't, and that's a shame. Hope they remember this at the polls.

 

[curious]

you realize how much money local goverments throw towards not always safe bets whether it be your regular development or primarily sports complexes which account for insane amounts of financing and do not always benifit the whole community whether they are interested or not? probably wasn't a wise move and unfortunate bad timing considering how so many grinding games are coalescing on free-to-play and endless dlc models. clearly losing that much money though is not just about a bad gamble but some seriiously flawed management. something shady has to be involved just like with solyndra--even with large handouts its unfathomable how an honest attempt at a business even one with little prospects can burn through so much cash without warning flags, or someone trying to put on the breaks at some point in these downward spirals.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

you realize how much money local goverments throw towards not always safe bets whether it be your regular development or primarily sports complexes which account for insane amounts of financing and do not always benifit the whole community whether they are interested or not?

Yes, I do, more or less. I used to cover local governments as a newspaper reporter. Just because it's relatively commonplace doesn't make it right or sound fiscal policy for the trustees of the taxpayers' money. Also, a much stronger argument can be made for a sports complex benefitting the local tax base of a community, whether or not the citizens are interested in the actual sport, than can be made for a relatively small video-game studio.