History
During a family holiday gathering in December 2005, Schilling approached his wife's uncle, Bill Thomas, a retired business executive, with the idea to start a video game company focused on building a new MMORPG, a type of game that Schilling frequently played and enjoyed. Later the next year he announced his plans to six of his gaming friends while chatting online, asking them, "I'm seriously contemplating starting a gaming company. Who else is in?" Schilling recruited these friends, his uncle Thomas, and author R. A. Salvatore and author/artist Todd McFarlane to join his venture, and formally announced the formation of Green Monster Games (GMG) in a press release in September 2006.
In 2006, the company leased 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) of office space in downtown Maynard, Massachusetts at the historic Clock Tower. The CEO of the company was Jennifer MacLean, formerly of Comcast, and the CTO was Jon Laff, formerly of Electronic Arts.
At the start of spring training in 2007, the company was renamed from Green Monster Games to 38 Studios to give a "... more accurate reflection of what our company is working to achieve." Contrary to popular belief, Schilling has stated that the company's original name was not taken from the Green Monster wall in Fenway Park. He is quoted on the Fires of Heaven Guild message boards, posting under his EQ characters name, Ngruk, saying, "The GMG name was—and I know this is going to be impossible to believe—not named after the left-field wall at Fenway. The name was made up by someone who knew next to nothing about baseball and isn't even from this country." In 2008, the company hired Travis McGeathy, a former lead designer for Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest. 38 Studios acquired Rise of Nations developer Big Huge Games from THQ on May 27, 2009.
In July 2010, the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (EDC) approved a $75 million guaranteed loan to 38 Studios. 38 Studios had promised to bring 450 jobs to the state by the end of 2012. On November 3, 2010, 38 Studios announced the closure of its $75 million financing package in conjunction with the EDC and the relocation of the Maynard, Massachusetts development studio to One Empire Plaza, Providence, Rhode Island, in early 2011. On April 8, 2011, 38 Studios began relocation from the Maynard location to the new studio home in Providence. Over 160 employees began working in the new space on April 12, exceeding agreed upon job creation and relocation milestones.
The company simultaneously developed two initial products. The first, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, a single-player game, was released in North America on February 7, 2012 and in Europe on February 10, 2012. Reckoning was introduced to the public at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International convention. The game enjoyed moderate success. Author R. A. Salvatore created over ten thousand years of lore for the Amalur IP, and Todd McFarlane provided art direction for both products.
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