Events 2012: 38 Studios

38 Studios was the video game story of the year with mainstream appeal. Much of that mainstream appeal had to do with Curt Schilling, the former baseball player for the Boston Red Sox who went on to found his own video game studio. But the story was way more than Schilling.

The state of Rhode Island and its taxpayers were on the hook for a $75 million loan given to the studio as part of an economic development deal. As the video game industry in the US works toward tax incentives to stop the slow brain drain to the north, the very public collapse of 38 Studios and its relationship to the government is exactly what those working on industry tax breaks – especially in neighboring Massachusetts – did not need.

38 Studio is a saga, but we've selected a couple pieces to highlight here that took place in the middle of the studio's collapse and its aftermath.

• 'Editorial: 38 Studios and the Dunkin delusions.' As evidence mounted against 38 Studios' survival, Alexander Sliwinski took a post at the Dunkin Donuts across the street and listened.
• The TV Stuff: News Editor Alexander Sliwinski appears on WPRI's Newsmakers to discuss 38 Studios as part of roundtable. Sliwinski on WFXT on day of studio layoffs.
• The 38 Studios auction closes down studio, grossed approximately $650,000.