When asked why 38 Studios‘ situation suddenly went from bad to worse to terminal, Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee had a very simple explanation:
“Companies fail overnight all the time… The game failed. The game failed. That was integral to the success of the company.”
The governor held a brief press conference this afternoon, in the immediate wake of 38 Studios’ closure. By “the game,” Chafee refers to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which 38 Studios Curt Schilling confirmed as selling 1.2 million copies and “outperformed EA‘s projections by selling 1.2mm copies in its first 90 days.”
According to Chafee, that wasn’t enough.
The experts are saying [Reckoning needed to sell] in the three million range, just to break even.
Inevitably, Chafee was asked if he or the state could have done more.
“I asked the experts, “What could we have done better?” And they were telling me, “You did everything right. You put your money in, you supported the game, and you’re better off not meddling.” If I had meddled, there wouldn’t be all this horrible violence in these games, all the sex.”
Leaning heavily on his “experts” and swiftly dismissing all the “violence” and “sex” in video games, Chafee unsurprisingly paints himself as a non-gamer. But the same would likely be the case regardless of what specialized field he found himself unwillingly thrust into judging.
Meanwhile, the vice-chair for the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation resigned today, a week after the board’s executive director, described as the “architect and chief cheerleader of the 38 Studios deal” did the same.
Are you satisfied with Governor Chafee’s explanations? Do you agree with him that the state did as much as it could to keep 38 Studios afloat?
Let us know in the comments below!
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