Rhode Island possesses 38 Studios' assets, looks for buyer

If you've been saving up a few million in hopes of buying a semi-successful RPG IP, well, call Rhode Island.

Rhode Island today seized possession of all assets from the now-defunct 38 Studios, which laid off all its staff back in May. The state will now try to sell off those assets, which includes the intellectual property from Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, the studio's first and last released title, as well as all assets from Project Copernicus, the unfinished MMORPG the studio was working on.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge granted Rhode Island, along with the Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co., the rights to the assets, which, if sold, will help the state pay back the $50 million loan it initially granted 38 Studios -- a loan the studio was ultimately unable to pay back.

While the old news of the studio's shuttering and the misfortune it brought upon Rhode Island and its taxpayers is still terrible, maybe the thought of a publisher buying the Amalur IP and making something new for the world can put a slight smile on the faces of the original game's fans. And, hey, if you're a fan with millions of dollars to his or her name, maybe you can give Rhode Island a call yourself!

(Er, Rhode Island, if someone from the site does call you and buy the assets, I'll take a 10 percent cut. Thanks.)

Staff article by Jonathan Davila (August 09, 2012) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this news article, you can update your bio from the Settings page.