THQ Nordic Acquires Former 38 Studios' Amalur IP, Including Copernicus MMO
It's a day for big acquisitions, apparently -- if you can call the acquisition of an intellectual property that never really got off the ground "big." Today, THQ Nordic announced that it has acquired the IP for Kingdoms of Amalur from 38 Studios, including both the one game that was released and the unreleased would-have-been-free-to-play MMO codenamed Copernicus.
A little backstory: 38 Studios was founded in 2006 by Major League Baseball player Curt Schilling, who was also a rabid gamer, and EverQuest player in particular. His company's crowning jewel was to be an MMO that was codenamed "Copernicus" and set in Amalur, a world created by noted fantasy author R.A. Salvator and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane. The company did launch a single-player RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning that met with middling success, in February 2012. In May of that year, however, 38 Studios declared bankruptcy and the company ceased operations.
The messier part of it all is that Schilling relocated the company from Massachusetts to Rhode Island, mostly due to a $75 million loan from the state of Rhode Island. It proved unable to repay that money, due in part to Reckoning's tepid sales. Many years of legal action followed, and the IPs for Reckoning and Copernicus languished, not even drawing a buyer when they were auctioned off in December 2013. Today, that changed
The press release from THQ Nordic doesn't state any specific plans for the IP, though it does mention that "evaluation of sequels & new content" will be handled by its office in Austria. You can still buy Reckoning on Steam, and it's got an 87% positive rating, so presumably Valve will be sending checks to THQ for any future purchases. (Which makes one wonder: Where were they sending money for its sales before? Direct to the state of Rhode Island?)
As for the future of the Amalur IP: who knows? While it was news mostly for the big names attached to it, Project Copernicus did have some neat ideas, but those were six years ago, when big AAA MMORPGs were still considering "the thing to do." Nowadays, with MMORPGs trending downward and other game types ascendant, there may not be room for a "triple-A, hundred-million-dollar-plus, free-to-play, micro-transaction-based MMO," as Schilling once described Copernicus.
About the Author

Jason Winter is a veteran gaming journalist, he brings a wide range of experience to MMOBomb, including two years with Beckett Media where he served as the editor of the leading gaming magazine Massive Online Gamer. He has also written professionally for several gaming websites.
You May Enjoy
Top 5 Free to Play Weekly Stories - Spellbreak is Shutting Down and Denuvo Expands Its Influence Ep 516
Your "favorite" anti-piracy software is now moving into the DLC market.
By Michael Byrne - 1 day agoBlack Desert Online Update Debuts Tier 5 Pets, Blacksmith Improvements, And New Musical Instruments
You can download the patch now on all available platforms.
By Anthony Jones - 6 days agoWorld of Warcraft Introduces A New Chat Channel For Advertisement Of Services
Better late than never, right?
By Aspen Pash - 4 days agoHearthstone’s Next Expansion Is A Murder Mystery Party
Murloc Holmes and Watfin investigate the mystery of who killed Sire Denathrius at Castle Nathria.
By QuintLyn Bowers - 1 week agoWorld Of Tanks Blitz Partners With Dr. Disrespect To Celebrate 8-Year Anniversary, New Tiered Mission And Rewards Now Live
An unexpected crossover for this big milestone.
By Anthony Jones - 1 week agoNew V Rising Hotfix Adds Steam Cloud Support For Private Games
The feature will now be the default.
By QuintLyn Bowers - 5 days ago
Hopefully maybe now we will finally get a MMO or maybe an ARPG in the Amalur world. THQ Nordic did recently develop Titan Quest Ragnarok. So maybe we could get an ARPG based off Amalur that would be exciting.