Schilling's 38 Studios Lands Initial $13m

The Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. said today that former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's online game studio has reached a multi-million dollar initial loan that will help move the company from Massachusetts to Rhode Island. The RIEDC said the closing of a bond sale and signed leases for offices located in Rhode Island meet the first milestone in an agreement between the studio and the state. Schilling's 38 Studios will now receive $13 million as the first installment of the bond sale proceeds. Schilling's 38 Studios was founded in Maynard, MA, but Rhode Island coaxed the studio out of the area with a pricey and controversial $75 million loan agreement as part of an economic development plan for the state. The new studio will be located in Providence, RI. The state expects 38 Studios to create 450 jobs in Rhode Island by the end of 2012. The studio will receive the rest of the bond proceeds over the next 15 months, based on additional milestones. RIEDC said that $20 million will be set aside in reserves to ensure that the first three years of debt payments are covered. 38 Studios has yet to release a game. It is working on an MMO codenamed Copernicus, and its wholly-owned subsidiary Big Huge Games is working on the multiplatform single-player RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, led by The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion designer Ken Rolston.