The 38 Studios MMO Was Going to be Free-To-Play

The events surrounding the closure of 38 Studios and its long-developed, Amalur-based MMO Project Copernicus undoubtedly dominated video game news blogs and forums for weeks on end. Now, we’ve learned that the not-so-fun and incredibly expensive MMO project was actually set to steer away from the traditional subscription model that games of its scope implement and instead surprise the industry by launching out of the gate free-to-play.

“We were going to be the first triple-A, hundred-million-dollar-plus, free-to-play, micro-transaction-based MMO. That was one of our big secrets,” company president Curt Schilling told Boston Magazine.

“I think when we eventually showed off the game for the first time, the atom bomb was going to be free-to-play. When we announced that at the end, that was gonna be the thing that, I think, shocked the world.”

Schilling also mentioned in the interview a surprising bit of information, in that investors don’t particularly favor subscription-based projects:

“NO ONE was expecting it, and it was another thing that changed the tenor of conversations with investors late in the game.

Most investors wanted NOTHING to do with subscription-based products, they were all on the social media, and free-to-play games as a means to revenue.”

Given the fact that this project will never see the light of day, though, we’ll unfortunately never have the benefit of seeing how free-to-play would have panned out for Project Copernicus and 38 Studios.

But hey, it would have been nice, right?

[via Boston Magazine]

Previous Coverage

• Curt Schilling Speaks out on Demise of 38 Studios
• Reports: Amalur Developer 38 Studios Struggling to Stay Afloat
• 38 Studios Missed First Loan Repayment
• Schilling’s 38 STudios Bounces $1.125 Million Check, Can’t Make Payroll
• 38 Studios Makes good on First Payment for $1.125 Million
• 38 Studios Lays Off Employees, Says Rhode Island Governor
• 38 Studios Execs Leave, Employees Unpaid Since May 1
• Screens from Project Copernicus Appear Online
• 38 Studios Lays Off Entire Staff
• Fired 38 Studios Employees Hit with Second Mortgages on Unsold Boston Houses
• Rhode Island Finds 38 Studios in Violation of Labor Laws for Sudden Layoffs
• Author R.A. Salvatore Weighs in on 38 Studios Fiasco
• Amalur 2 was in Pre-Production, Shopped Around to Other Publishers
• Schilling Speaks Out on 38 Studios Disaster
• Epic Games Helping Big Huge Games, Setting Up New Studio for Them
• 38 Studios Finally Filed for Bankruptcy Today
• Liquidation of 38 Studios Assets Gets Multi-Million Dollar Valuation
• Wife of 38 Studios Employee Illustrates Bad Business Fallout
• Curt Schilling Sued by Citizens Bank for $2.4 Million