Could it be “game over” for Curt Schilling [stats]’s video game company already?
Rhode Island economic development officials are reportedly are trying to keep 38 Studios afloat just three months after the former Red Sox [team stats] pitcher’s first video game release.
Gov. Lincoln Chafee himself spent the weekend working with company executives on “keeping 38 Studios solvent,” according to the Providence Journal.
The Ocean State lured 38 Studios away from Massachusetts last year with a $75 million loan guarantee. 38 Studios had received nearly $50 million in cash from the loan as of mid-March.
“We’re concerned and just doing everything possible to ensure that 38 Studios stays part of the Rhode Island community,” Chafee told WPRI.com last night.
The company’s first game, “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning,” a fantasy-theme video game, was released Feb. 7. As of last month, 38 Studios reportedly had sold about 410,000 copies of “Kingdoms” in the U.S., according to NPD Group.
The taxpayer-backed loan is helping fund 38 Studios’ other game, dubbed “Project Copernicus,” that’s still in development.
The company launched six years ago in Maynard. The loan backing prompted a move to Providence, where 38 Studios promised to create as many as 450 jobs.
The Patrick administration decided not to outdid Rhode Island for 38 Studios, drawing criticism at the time for letting the company go.
Today, after giving an address about the importance of health-care cost containment to members of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce at the Seaport Hotel, Gov. Deval Patrick took the higher ground regarding Schilling’s company.
“I’m sorry for him and his employees, and I hope things work out,” Patrick said.
Herald wire services contributed
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