Rhode Island pitches a $75M loan offer to 38 Studios

States are always highly competitive when it comes to luring industries to their neck of the woods to bolster the local economy. From movie shoots to auto plants to hospitals, states tend to be shameless in offering incentives and tax breaks to benefit from an economic injection by these companies. It's interesting to see that MMO studios are being courted as well.

Worlds in Motion is reporting that Rhode Island is enticing Curt Schillings' 38 Studios to relocate from Massachusetts in exchange for a $75,000,000 guaranteed loan under relief provisions for high-tech companies -- a provision that Massachusetts does not offer. The loan would represent a significant investment for the company, but Massachusetts is attempting to provide reasons for 38 Studios to stay put, including citing that it has better access to talent in the state.

As the MMO genre expands and more studios pop up, will we see an increase in states fighting over these companies in an effort to help their economies? In any event, Copernicus' developer now has a difficult decision to make, especially for this ex-Boston Red Sox pitcher.

Reader Comments (22)

interesting..

be glad when Comic Con finally gets here so we can finally see our first glimpse of this gamw

Don't get your hopes up for comic con.

My resume is ready to go!

via Twitter:

1:15-2:15 World Premiere of the First Game From 38 Studios— Be among the first in the world to see the video game debut from Curt Schilling's 38 Studios. Hear from the visionaries who have teamed up to create this highly anticipated RPG and the rich world it is set in, including 38 Studios' executive art director Todd McFarlane (Spawn, Spider-Man), executive creator of worlds R. A. Salvatore (Forgotten Realms), lead designer Ken Rolston (Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion), and founder and chairman Curt Schilling. Learn all about this ambitious new project as 38 Studios unveils the name of the game along with the world premiere of the game's first trailer directed by McFarlane. Attendees will also receive a limited-edition poster. Room 6A

I'm afraid that game may not be the MMO, 38 Studios is also working on a single player RPG

http://www.massively.com/2010/03/09/gdc10-copernicus-project-mercury-being-published-by-ea/

Which, i forgot to add, i should also be excited about. Though part of the fun is the mystery, Copernicus and the world it is set in could literally be anything. I'm almost not sure i want to learn and have my dreams crushed. :P

His tweets shows it the secret one as he states he finally gets to talk about it

They are revealing what the IP is about and talk about Mercury.I guess by now people already know what's the connection between the real Copernicus and planet Mercury was : )

i bet schilling takes the bait, that money is too good to pass up.

The truth is revealed, Copernicus is a Family Guy MMO.

That money is definitely too good to pass up, and if they become a successful game developer people will relocate to work with them, thus further expanding the industry in Rhode Island, and increasing their access to talent.

This is an obscene practice. These tax breaks, and incentives all end up being paid for by the citizens of the states. It's no better then old fashioned kick-backs, payola, etc, etc.

actually RI is pretty desperate for real economic growth. and desperate states do desperate things.

As someone who grew up in RI, this is good for them. Its about time they tried getting some sort of industry investments there. Also, its good for that company. They'll have easier access to RISD graduates, who are damn sure nothing to scoff at.

Though RISD grads might make great artists, they don't make good programmers. Maybe Brown has a decent CS department?

MIT? Harvard? I hear MIT has a semi-decent CS program...

Rhode Island's economy is in the crapper—

http://www.usatoday.com/money/2010-07-13-cnbc-states-for-business_N.htm (50th place might not look so bad if they included Puerto Rico, DC and the Marianas)

—and they're putting up $75 mil on a startup? Don't they know what happened to about the same amount of money that went into Stargate Worlds? Haven't they seen the monorail episode of The Simpsons?

I was wondering when someone would bring this up. They really can't afford this, especially since its a huge gamble on a company with no real portfolio or work. They'd be better encouraging a bunch of smaller startups and f2p games for that.

I disagree, respectfully. Salvatore and MacFarlane are both legendary in their fields and command huge cult followings...then add Schillings 'star power'. To say they have no 'body of work' is a bit disingenuous I think. Maybe not in an actual MMo per se but they have a lot more experience in crafting what they are onboard this project for than most others in the field i.e fantasy artwork, art direction and setting, world creation, plot, story development etc

$75 million is a loan - not a free gift. They will have to pay it back when they start making money. Given the talent behind the project, thats talent rather than hype so you would have to err a bit on the optimistic side that Copernicus, Mercury, the merchandising etc and all they plan for 'the Project' will make a few bucks. Even WAR made many millions and is still going and people fly up in arms at the mention of it!

I may not even play the resulting MMO...but even with not a peep about it I am excited for it! I just have a feeling that this is going to be one game that is going to help bring MMO's to the next level. Not a WoW killer, but something that we've all been waiting for but have been disappointed that other MMO's haven't given it to us yet.

Awesome! This is fantastic! I actually live in RI and have been working on my demo reel with this particular studio in mind. Hopefully it all works out and I can get a job without having to move to Maynard, Mass.!

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Rhode Island pitches a $75M loan offer to 38 Studios

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Posted: Jul 13th 2010 8:13PM Boruk said

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