They got a $75 million loan guarantee from the state of Rhode Island for moving their operation there two years ago. Schilling managed to repay himself most of his $4 million investment out of that loan. If they do default, it appears that the state will be on the hook for $112 million to repay the loan - or $106 for each and every Ocean state resident. There was a meeting with the state this morning where Schilling asked for more money to cover a “cash shortfall”.
This is big news here in MA due to the Schilling connection, and in RI presumably due to the missing $75 million. No statements whatsoever from the company or from Schilling. The second is very surprising, since up until now Schilling would call in to talk radio, blog, tweet, etc. at the drop of a hat to complain/comment about anything he had an opinion on. Presumably there’s a company lawyer with a gun in stuck in Schilling’s ear to prevent him from doing so.
It’s really a shame, but game companies and game industry jobs are remarkably unreliable. I’ve personally worked for several who abruptly went out of business (much smaller companies, though).
I’ve got several friends who left this company to go work for 38 Studios (including my recruiter!). I hope they pull through okay.
“No one to blame but ourselves, we’ve elected these buffoons, and we’re paying through the nose for it. The Government has done nothing but spend, and grow, at a time when we have no money to spend and absolutely unequivocally NO need for a larger government. If you think it’s going to change, you’re wrong.”
and
“What Government run/funded program in this country’s history has ever been run with an ounce of financial responsibility, prudence, or with the peoples best interest at the forefront? None, that’s which one.”
Clunker? Well, it might have not sold as many copies as they hoped but it got a score of 81 in Metacritic and a lot of people liked it. I’d imagine this is more about their upcoming MMO title devouring more cash than they thought it would or alternatively them having totally unrealistic assumptions on how many copies a game set in a new IP would sell than KoA sucking.
Turns out he was right. The Rhode Island government is clearly incompetent and financially irresponsible, because it gave Curt Schilling a $75 million loan.
I worked for 12 years in RI.
I can assure you, the state government is both corrupt and stupid. They have been playing the “let’s give money to people who promise to open businesses in RI” for years-with dismal results.
A few examples:
-back in the early 1980’s they gave a TON of money to Digital Equipment Corp. (now deceased). DEC was going to build a $500 million plant in Warwick-the state paid for the site, roads, utilities, etc.-over $25 million. DEC backed out.
-they gave money to build a luxury-level shopping mall in Providence-the taxpayers paid for everything-and made up the losses for the stores.
-next, they decided to get into the casino business-they spend $350 million building “Twin Rivers”-it went bankrupt in 2011-owing $600 million
Meanwhile, business flees the state, due to high taxes and insane regulation. The old industries that once made the state prosperous (machine tools, jewelry, metal refining, high tech manufacturing) are all gone…and they give $75 million to a con man (Kurt Schilling)! I remember reading about a truck mfg. (Jannel)-the left RI for Georgia-lowered their taxes by 60%, cut their utility bills by 80%, and never looked back.
The news is not positive…payroll hasn’t been made since May 1…and two top execs have quit.
Looks like Schilling needs to find another state with easy money.
They knew how much money they had in the bank. They knew their monthly burn rate. They knew that they’re not releasing another game for a year. There’s no excuse for an abrupt flameout like that except for gross mismanagement at the top.
It’s like driving cross country and running out of gas in Ohio because you didn’t pay attention to the gas gauge.
They were paying attention to the gas gauge. They were just driving with the assumption that the Gas Fairy would magically add gas to their tank mid-trip.
