Link
Inside 38 Studios' Secret MMO
Rob Wright
August 7, 2007 17:29
Inside 38 Studios
Last year, Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling announced the formation of his own game developer, initially called Green Monster Games (no, the company name is not a reference to Fenway Park's Green Monster). It may have seemed like an odd venture for those that didn't know Schilling is an avid gamer and unabashed EverQuest player. In fact, the pitcher took part in an interesting charity campaign with Sony Online Entertainment for EverQuest II. Always one to play the villain, especially to New York Yankees fans, Schilling last spring became an actual EverQuest NPC villain - named "Curt Schilling," of course - and for every time a player defeated Schilling's character, Sony donated $5 to the ALS Association, a charity that dedicated to finding a cure for Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Curt Schilling's character from EverQuest II.
Schilling stepped up his gaming last September with Green Monster Games, with comic book artist and writer Todd McFarlane ("Spawn," "Spider-Man") and fantasy novelist R.A. Salvatore (The Forgotten Realms, The DemonWars Saga) as the company's creative art director/concept artist and director of creative content, respectively. Earlier this year, Schilling hired Brett Close, formerly of Electronic Arts and Midway Games, as the company's president and then renamed the developer 38 Studios (after Schilling's uniform number). Details about 38 Studios and its intended direction were scant until Comic-Con last month, where Close, Salvatore and McFarlane were on hand to talk about the developer's top secret project.
Close said Schilling contacted McFarlane, who is a huge baseball fan and lives in Arizona where Schilling used to play, and Salvatore, who is a Massachusetts native, to help mold the vision for the MMO project. Close added that he was surprised when Schilling contacted him about joining the company. "Curt is an avid gamer and MMO player, and he started getting interested in the back end business part of gaming and decided this was something he could get into," he said. "We had a long conversation to find out if we were on the same philosophical page, and we were. We discovered that we both wanted to make a big impact on the entertainment industry as a whole, not just gaming."
So what is 38 Studios working on, exactly? The company is tight-lipped about the details of its first game - in fact, Close won't even give a hint about the title or the internal codename for the game for fear that it might tip people off or give them the wrong idea. But he did offer some insight into 38 Studios' secret project, which is a fantasy MMORPG. "There's so much that can be done from a fantasy fiction perspective with an MMO," Close said. "The industry feels like it's just living on sequels, so we want to create something fresh."
There are certainly plenty of fantasy MMOs on the market, including the market leader World of WarCraft and Schilling's favorite franchise EverQuest. But Close said 38 Studios plans on bringing something new to the table, namely a complex, structured story that will drive the game. "There are two types of MMO players right now: grinders and community players that enjoy the social aspect of playing with their friends," Close said. "But what about a good story, one that is developed over time and keeps players coming back for more?"
The game will not be a typical MMO, and will feature a number of twists. Essentially, the game will use a serial novel or comic book approach by introducing new chapters of the overall story. "We are going to use an episodic model," Close said, "but it won't be exactly like the current episodic model. The games will be longer, deeper. Once one chapter of the story reaches critical mass, a new chapter will be released." Close didn't divulge how exactly the games will be released, but he did say that 38 Studios is considering all options and platforms, including consoles. "Ultimately, MMOs are going to become prevalent on the consoles," he said, "but how they're going to get there has yet to be determined."
The fantasy world will be created by Salvatore, while McFarlane is coming up with the artistic design and imagery for that fantasy world. "Bob [Salvatore] can dream up a ton of stuff, and Todd is a fantastic artist. We're got visionaries on both ends of the spectrum that people would kill to work with," Close said, "so there's just so much potential." As for the visual design of the top secret title, Close said 38 Studios plans to have more advanced graphics and animation for its game than what it traditionally seen in some of the more popular MMOs today.
Close said 38 Studios wants to be "a broad media entertainment company" that is involved with other elements besides gaming, such as comics, action figures, and novels. The company plans to work on and release some of those items prior to the launch of the MMO title. "We have a three-year timeline before we plan on releasing the actual, finished game," Close said. "Curt has put together a deep, veteran development team for the company, so we're excited about the potential."
Considering the talent that 38 Studios has assembled - not to mention the company's slogan, "World domination through gaming," - a lot will be riding on the secret MMO. Stay tuned for more on 38 Studios.
