June 7, 2012 | Broken Joysticks

38 Studios Files for Bankruptcy

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Jason Bassett

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios have declared chapter 7 Bankruptcy earlier today. Currently an FBI investigation is under way for the game developer for neglecting to pay their employees, according to a report filed by WPRI News.

During the development of Kingdoms of Amalur back in 2010, the development house agreed to a $75 million dollar loan from the state of Rhode Island in order to move its company and its employees to the state to create more jobs. Unfortunately, due to the strain of developing an MMORPG and the poor sales of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, the developer could not pay a loan back to the state. This set off a chain of events that lead to the closing of Big Huge Games that 38 Studio’s purchased in 2009.

To make matters worse for the employees, 38 Studios have said that they will not repay the mortgages that employees were told they wouldn’t have to pay back for houses still in Massachusetts.

On a positive note, Big Huge Games will be purchased by Epic Games and will hire each employee that was working with the company at the time.

Today, at least for now, the ugly story of 38 Studios has come to an end.

38 Studios game industry kingdoms of amalur: reckoning

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Starcraft II 33% off

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Andrew Minott

Blizzard’s 2010 hit Starcraft II is 33% off (so $39.99) through June 13. This discount is only available through Blizzard’s direct download store.

While the MSRP for the title remains at $59.99 nearly two years after launch, a permanent price cut is expected soon as the game’s first expansion, Heart of the Swarm, nears arrival.

Blizzard Entertainment starcraft 2

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Star Trek The Game: Villains, Screenshots & More

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Rae Michelle Richards

Namco Bandai have released several new screenshots for their upcoming Movie Tie-in game for JJ Abram’s second Star Trek film. The recently released screenshots give us our first look at the game’s villains, massive hulking creatures that would scare even the most seasoned officer, as well as a glimpse of the highly detailed main bridge.

These new screenshots aren’t the only recent news surrounding the project. Earlier in the week it was confirmed that both Christopher Pine and Zachary Quinto, the new Kirk & Spock, will voice their characters in the videogame adaptation.

We also learned a little bit more bout some of the villains featured in the game. A race known as the Gom take center stage against Captain James T Kirk and his crew of Starfleet officers. The gom varry in size and ability but are warriors who are able to infect their targets with a venom that causes and hallucinations and can be fatal.

We’ll have more about the Star Trek videogame in the future. Check out the new screenshots after the jump.