Epic Games has shut down the Maryland-based Impossible Games just six months after it was opened. The studio is made up of ex-Big Huge Games employees, the studio which was closed down when 38 Studios went under. Impossible Studios was developing the iOS game Infinity Blade: Dungeons.

“We’re closing Impossible Studios,” said Tim Sweeney, Epic Games Founder, in a post on the companies website. “When former members of Big Huge Games approached Epic last year, we saw the opportunity to help a great group of people while putting them to work on a project that needed a team. It was a bold initiative and the Impossible folks made a gallant effort, but ultimately it wasn’t working out for Epic.”

“In addition to providing Impossible Studios employees with 3 months of severance pay, we’ll be giving the team the opportunity to form a new company with the Impossible Studios name and the awesome Impossibear logo,” Sweeney continued. “This means that Infinity Blade: Dungeons is now on hold as we figure out the future of the project.”

Source: VG Charts

Studio made up of former Big Huge Games employees closed six months after it opened, Infinity Blade: Dungeons on hold.

Epic Games has closed Impossible Studios just six months after the unit was formed in August. The Hunt Valley, Maryland outfit was staffed by former Big Huge Games developers and was working on Infinity Blade: Dungeons. That game is now on hold.

“When former members of Big Huge Games approached Epic last year, we saw the opportunity to help a great group of people while putting them to work on a project that needed a team. It was a bold initiative and the Impossible folks made a gallant effort, but ultimately it wasn’t working out for Epic,” company founder Tim Sweeney said in a statement.

Staff at Impossible Studios find themselves out of a job for the second time in the past year, following the closure of Big Huge Games last May.

Sweeney said affected staffers will receive three months of severance pay and the opportunity to create a new company with the Impossible Studios logo.

The closure of Impossible Studios means Epic Games now operates seven studios around the world. These include its headquarters in Cary, North Carolina; Chair Entertainment in Salt Lake City, Utah; People Can Fly in Warsaw, Poland; Epic Games Korea in Seoul, Korea; Epic Games Japan in Yokohama, Japan; and Epic Games Seattle.

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Source: Game Spot News

Hunt Valley-based Impossible Studios’ first task is collaborating with Chair on Infinity Blade: Dungeons for iOS; studio staffed by former Big Huge Games devs.

Epic Games has added another studio to its family. The Gears of War developer this morning announced Impossible Studios, a new outfit based in Hunt Valley, Maryland and staffed by former Big Huge Games developers. The developer’s first task will be assisting Chair Entertainment on Infinity Blade: Dungeons for iOS, due out later this year.

This studio is more than possible, it’s a real thing.

Impossible Studios is led by studio director Sean Dunn, who formerly served as studio general manager at Big Huge Games on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Previously, Dunn held high-level positions at THQ and Activision. According to Epic’s announcement of Impossible Studios, the new developer consists of other former employees at Big Huge Games, who lost their jobs earlier this year when parent company 38 Studios collapsed.

The formation of Impossible Studios comes as little surprise, as Epic president Mike Capps said in June that the company was planning to create a new studio from the ashes of Big Huge Games. At the time, he said former Big Huge Games leadership contacted Epic, saying the newly out-of-work developers wished to start a new company with the help of Epic while keeping “key” staffers together.

Capps said in June that there are “a million things to work out,” including how many former Big Huge Games staffers it will be able to hire. It is not clear how many have joined Impossible Studios.

Impossible Studios joins Epic’s growing network, which includes its headquarters in Cary, North Carolina; Chair Entertainment in Salt Lake City, Utah; People Can Fly in Warsaw, Poland; Epic Games Korea in Seoul, Korea; and Epic Games Japan in Yokohama, Japan.

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Gears of War studio bringing aboard ex-Big Huge Games staffers as contractors first, planning to create “impossible” studio in Baltimore.

Gears of War developer Epic Games plans to hire on staffers recently laid off at Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning studio Big Huge Games. In a letter posted to Epic’s website titled “Big Problems Need Huge Solutions,” company president Mike Capps lamented the situation at the studio, and explained why hiring on the newly displaced developers is “the right thing to do.”

Epic plans to open a Baltimore outfit staffed by laid off Reckoning devs.

Capps said former Big Huge Games leadership contacted Epic on Wednesday, saying the newly out-of-work developers wished to start a new company with the help of Epic while keeping “key” staffers together.

“In one of life’s coincidences, Epic’s directors had spent the morning discussing how we’d love to build even more successful projects with our growing team, but that we’d need a dramatic infusion of top talent to do so,” he said in the statement. “Which, we all knew, was impossible. So now we’re planning to start an impossible studio in Baltimore.”

According to Capps, setting up an entirely new Baltimore outfit in earnest will take “a while,” but
noted he wants to bring some aboard as quickly as possible as contractors at the company’s Cary, NC headquarters.

“There’s a million things to work out. How many of the team can we hire? What will it be called? What will they be working on? We don’t know all the answers yet,” reads the statement. “Please give us some time to figure it out; we hope to have more to share soon.”

Capps also revealed in his note that some laid off Big Huge Games staffers have found new work at Zynga East, Zenimax Online, and other unnamed southeastern studios.

Big Huge Games and its parent company 38 Studios fell apart in May. The company’s troubles first came to light last month, when reports from the Rhode Island government indicated the company had failed to make a $1.125 million loan payment to the state’s Economic Development Corporation. The studio eventually made the payment, but it also enacted a round of unspecified layoffs. Reports also surfaced that 38 Studios could not pay its employees as scheduled twice last month.

Between the original $75 million loan and interest, Rhode Island taxpayers could be on the hook for as much as $90 million as a result of the deal. The $75 million was secured by the Rhode Island EDC as a way to entice 38 Studios to move from Massachusetts to Rhode Island. Last week, EDC executive director Keith Stokes, who helped structure the loan, resigned from his post.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning shipped in February to a warm critical reception and sold 330,000 units in the United States alone during the month. Schilling said it sold 1.2 million copies, but Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee called it “a failure,” saying it would have needed to sell 3 million just to break even.

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Sources say sequel to role-playing game was just beginning when 38 Studios went under; Electronic Arts reportedly not interested in publishing.

The Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning sequel that 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling confirmed was in the works in February was in pre-production, and was aimed at “improving everything,” Joystiq reports. Unnamed sources told the site the team at Big Huge Games wanted to make a sequel with better graphics, no loading screens between zones, expanded combat animations, fewer branching quests, and the ability for players to affect the game world at a deeper level.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning 2 had bold ambitions, sources say.

38 Studios went belly up last week, with all employees across it and its subsidiary Big Huge Games laid off. The site reports that even if Big Huge Games were to continue to exist under a different banner, the team would likely not be able to work on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning 2. Though 38 Studios presently owns the Amalur intellectual property (believed to be valued at around $20 million), the company is likely to be forced to hand it over to the state of Rhode Island as part of a collateral arrangement originally agreed upon as part of the 2010 $75 million loan that brought 38 Studios to the Ocean State.

The site also reports that Electronic Arts–which published Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning–passed on working on the sequel due to “executive politics.” 38 Studios then sought other publishing partners for the game, though no companies were named.

[UPDATE] Rhode Island newspaper The Providence Journal reports today that an unnamed publisher pulled out of a $35 million publishing deal for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning 2 after word came that 38 Studios may be in trouble.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning shipped in February to a warm critical reception and sales of 1.2 million units over 90 days. Despite this, Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee said the game was a “failure,” and needed to sell 3 million copies to break even.

Troubles at 38 Studios first came to light earlier this month, when reports from the Rhode Island government indicated that the company had failed to make a $1.125 million loan payment to the state’s Economic Development Corporation. The studio eventually made the payment, but it also enacted a round of unspecified layoffs, before shutting down completely.

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[UPDATE]: Source says beleaguered 38 Studios and Big Huge Games sent out pink slips to all employees, believed to number close to 400. Rhode Island governor calls Kingdoms of Amalur a “failure.”

It appears 38 Studios and its subsidiary Big Huge Games are no more. The Verge and Joystiq heard from sources today that all employees at Curt Schilling’s Providence, Rhode Island-based and Maryland-based development studios have been let go. The company put out just one game in its lifetime, February’s well-received role-playing game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

All 38 Studios staffers are out of work, according to the report.

38 Studios employed 379 employees full-time as of mid-March, according to a report from last week. Employees at the company had not been paid since May 1 and lost health care benefits today, according to Joystiq. As of press time, 38 Studios had not responded to GameSpot’s request for comment on the matter.

Troubles at 38 Studios first came to light earlier this month, when reports from the Rhode Island government indicated that the company had failed to make a $1.125 million loan payment to the state’s Economic Development Corporation. The studio eventually made the payment, but it also enacted a round of unspecified layoffs. The company’s CEO, Jen MacLean, left the studio in March, with senior vice president of product development John Blakely heading out just this month.

The fate of 38 Studios’ massively multiplayer online role-playing game Project Copernicus is unknown. Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee recently revealed the title was being readied to ship in June 2013. If 38 Studios decides to sell its Amalur intellectual property, it can expect to get $20 million for it, according to one industry analyst.

38 Studios purchased Big Huge Games from THQ in 2009. It is unclear what will happen to the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning sequel that Schilling confirmed was in the works earlier this year. The original sold 1.2 million copies during its first 90 days, outperforming publisher Electronic Arts’ estimates, according to Schilling.

[UPDATE]: In a press conference this afternoon, Governor Chaffee explained that the state had not been informed of the pending layoff of 38 Studios’ entire staff. In explaining how the studio hit the skids seemingly overnight, Chaffee explained, “The game failed. The game failed.” He added that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning would have needed to sell 3 million copies just to break even.

Additionally, Rhode Island’s WPRI has a copy of the mass layoff email that was sent to 38 Studios employees. It reads:

The Company is experiencing an economic downturn. To avoid further losses and possibility of retrenchment, the Company has decided that a companywide lay off is absolutely necessary.

These layoffs are non-voluntary and non-disciplinary.

This is your official notice of lay off, effective today, Thursday, May 24th, 2012.

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New $10 content headed to RPG on April 17 introduces new city Idylla, 20 side quests, multiple dungeons, and new “mysterious” race.

Rumors of additional Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning downloadable content were spot on. Electronic Arts today announced the Teeth of Naros DLC for Big Huge Games’ action role-playing title.

The world of Amalur continues to grow on April 17.

Due out April 17 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC for $10 (800 Microsoft points), the Teeth of Naros content adds the new city of Idylla, which floats in the sky. Gamers will find more than 20 side quests, five new dungeons, and a “mysterious race” on the locale.

Additionally, the Teeth of Naros DLC brings new enemies and three additional Twists of Fate cards. On top of that, gamers will score nine new armor sets, six shields, and 18 weapons to blunt new foes.

The Teeth of Naros DLC for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is the game’s third batch of post-release add-on content. It follows House of Valor and The Legend of Dead Kel, which released on launch day and March 20, respectively.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning shipped on February 7 to a warm critical reception. The game sold 330,000 units in the United States, and Big Huge Games founder Curt Schilling confirmed that a sequel is in the works.

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The action RPG’s score was composed by Grant Kirkhope and Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

EA and Big Huge Games’ upcoming RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, will be out on February 7. Potential fans interested in the game’s lore and gameplay can also purchase the upcoming soundtrack that is scheduled to be out on the same day.

The game’s music was composed by Grant Kirkhope and the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Kirkhope’s previous acclaims include creating the soundtrack for GoldenEye and Perfect Dark for the Nintendo 64, as well as Viva Pinata for the Xbox 360. He states that the music will have two and a half hours of full orchestral score depicting boss battles and small themes for dungeons and cities. “I wanted the score to have a dark fairytale kind of feel that was full of magic and danger.”

Enter a realm where swords are two feet taller than you.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an action RPG project featuring Ken Rolston (Elder Scrolls III and IV) as executive designer, Todd McFarlane as artist, and RA Salvatore as the world and lore creator. For more information, check out GameSpot’s recent coverage on the title.

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