At a press conference today (Friday, May 18), Governor Lincoln Chafee publicly announced that 38 Studios’ Amalur MMO, Project Copernicus is now scheduled to release in June 2013. In a further stunning revelation, 38 Studios has released the first public in-game footage of their MMO! This is it folks.
Talk about a surprise, while I was certain the financial hardships facing the studio would lead to significant disclosure of Copernicus information by virtue of necessity, I certainly never expected this. I think the environments and art style looks beautiful to say the least, and will only improve with the incorporation of anti-aliasing and the latest version of the Unreal development engine upon which the game is built. Check out some great screen captures from the teaser fly-through video after the jump. We’ll add captions and image descriptions throughout the afternoon. Post your favorites and reactions in the comments below!
What do you think? Does this world fly-through get you excited?
There has been some confusion within the community regarding the nature of 38 Studios’ loan with the state of Rhode Island, and the cause for the recent financial trouble which has put the company back in the news for very negative reasons. I thought it might be productive to construct a post summarizing the financial situation in order to clarify the progression of events. I’ll try to stick to confirmed fact only, and avoid speculation about what may or may not happen as a result of these turbulent negotiations.
In what appears as a further blow to the progress of Project Copernicus, it appears that the state of Rhode Island is currently in talks with 38 Studios regarding the terms of repayment for the $75 million dollar loan that brought the studio to Providence. In an interview with Rhode Island channel 10 news, state governor Lincoln Chafee said “we’re always working to keep Rhode Island companies solvent, and that’s what we’re doing with 38 Studios.” Possible reasons for this financial remediation may include under-performance of Reckoning sales numbers, or an unexpected set back in development of the Amalur MMO which will require additional funds, time, or both to correct.
In light of this revelation coupled with 38′s withdrawal from this years E3 convention, it may be some time before Amalur fans see a definitive unveiling of Copernicus. The explanation for this setback could still be relatively innocuous, however. The initial terms of the loan specified a September 2012 launch for the Amalur MMO, a deadline that at this point seems certainly improbable. The conference between the state and 38 Studios could simply involve the process of renegotiating a feasible repayment schedule following Copernicus‘ updated forecast for its launch. Regardless, as the details of this renegotiation surface, we may get a better idea of the development schedule facing the studio.
In what may be a further disappointment for expectant Amalur fans, as well as a potential setback in Copernicus’ development, the 38 Studios booth has been removed from the list of participants at next month’s Electronic Entertainment Expo. Hopefully this change is temporary, or 38 Studios is arranging for a surprise unveiling of their Amalur MMO, but a more likely explanation is that the Copernicus unveil may not be ready in time. Given the uncanny secrecy surrounding Copernicus’ development, we may never learn the true cause of this change. The absence of an Amalur booth, however, will constitute keen disappointment to fans who have been patiently waiting for validation of their faith and hope in 38 Studios’ mission.
As remarked by long time Amalur fan site operator Vanguard on his blog at 38 Gamers, community manager Charles “Kieron” Dane gave assurances over a year ago that Copernicus information would be going public “soon”, further claiming that:
“My version of ‘soon’ is much less than a calendar year.”
Hopefully some developer transparency is forthcoming, and not just sometime “soon”.
The third installment of my Reckoning video series “Untouchable” is now online. Part gameplay diary, part boss guide, part personal challenge, Untouchable chronicles my second journey through Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning as a finesse/might hybrid.
Part 3 covers the conclusion of Dalentarth, including the following boss fights:
The Sidhe – Enfamanir
The Sidhe – Bog Thresh
Arduath – Ametair
Haxhi Dam – Gnarsh
Aodh – High Priest of Vraekor
Aodh – Nuala Ignis
Windemere – Sir Elswin
Castle Windemere – Sir Farrara
Castle Windemere – Queen Belmaid and Lady Oleyn
Castle Windemere – The Maid of Windemere
Since a few people have asked, this was my build at the end of “Part III”: (0/66/0)
This is the build that I’m tentatively shooting for in the end, using the Slayer destiny: (43/80/0)
I hope you all enjoy this third video in the series. As always, let me know what you think in the comments below!
Conventional wisdom says that 38 Studios will announce their Amalur MMO at one of the major gaming conventions this year. It is, however, worth considering the repercussions of doing so. Consider E3 for example, arguably the paragon of convention-kind. Would a MMO announcement from a new(ish) developer and IP amidst the spectacle and fervor of pre-established gaming brands get swept beneath the current of higher profile projects? Only if Copernicus is extremely impressive in its first showing will it garner the genre’s attention over more immediate and iconic projects like Guild Wars 2 and The Elder Scrolls: Online, not to mention that other forthcoming options like Neverwinter, The Secret World, and Planetside 2 will also certainly be on display.
In light of the manner in which TES:O has ignited a firestorm of interest by announcing in unheralded circumstance, should 38 Studios consider a similar path? A straightforward project announcement, teaser trailer, and GameInformer article later, and Guild Wars 2 seems an already forgotten topic of conversation. While much of this reaction stems from the strong opinions RPG fans have of The Elder Scrolls as an IP, I accredit a portion of this initial momentum to the timing of the game’s announcement.
By publicizing the game during a relative lull in MMO news, strategically placed after the first GW2 open beta, but before the major summer convention circuit, the genre has little else to discuss except the potential merits and weaknesses of TES:O. Could Copernicus not profit from adopting a similar strategy? Of course this requires some guesswork as to when there may be a sufficient dearth of competing gaming news to bring an Amalur MMO announcement into full focus. One thing is certain, Copernicus won’t have anybody’s undivided attention if they announce at E3, regardless of the pomp and tradition of the occasion.
What do you think? Is it better to stick to the traditional game announcement mechanism afforded by the major conventions, or do you think an unexpected or viral marketing strategy might afford Copernicus a better opportunity to impress genre fans?
The next major update in my visual overhaul is finally complete (at least for the time being). I’ve restored the forums on the site, and reconfigured many of their settings and functionality to provide a better environment for community discussion. The architecture of the forums remain unchanged for the time being, but a restructuring will be happening soon to get the forum area Copernicus ready! Don’t let that stop you from posting though, any posts will automatically be moved into their new homes.
For the time being, hop on the forums, and help me test out their integration with the new Foundry theme. As always, if you run into any bugs or quirks, please let me know in the comments.
I added a subsection to the Rumor Mill that houses a gallery of full-size Copernicus concept art pieces. I still have some additional images to add, and will periodically update this one more game information is released!
So far there are several really awesome images added that give you a sense of how the cities and regions affiliated with the four announced races will look and feel. My favorite images thus-far are the Dokkalfar caverns, where their amazing city is built into giant stalactites and columns of the prismere caverns.
If anyone finds new Copernicus specific concept art pieces that I haven’t added yet, be sure to let me know in the comments!
One of the reasons it has been so quiet here lately is because I have been hard at work on a visual overhaul of Amalur Foundry. Not only does this update entail a significant face-lift for the site, it also implements many behind-the-scenes functionality upgrades that should have the site running lighter and faster! In the next few days, I’ll be extensively testing the site to check for features that broke during transition and correcting minor things that still don’t look visually appealing with the new scheme.
My primary design goals for the overhaul were to streamline the site’s backend, improving performance and load times, as well as improving readability and reducing eye strain from the old theme which was very dark. For the time being, forum support is minimal. A full forum overhaul is high on my to-do list before Copernicus information hits, but that is a large enough project on its own that I didn’t fold it into this update directly. For the time being, the forums may not look appealing, although they may still function.
I’ve also updated some spam prevention measures on Amalur Foundry, and have re-enabled open commenting functionality for all the posts and articles on the site. You are no longer required to be registered and logged in to comment, although if you do have a registered account you can associate your signature and avatar with your comments. I hope this allows for more free discussion as we build up towards Copernicus release news, and look forward to hearing from more members of the Amalur community!
I’d love to hear from you guys. What do you think of the new layout? Things you like? More importantly, things you don’t like? Also, most importantly, run into anything that is broken or doesn’t work? Let me know in the comments!
Almost all MMOs draw heavily from systems successfully implemented by their predecessors and competitors, and Copernicus is sure to be no exception. We already know that 38 Studios is heavily influenced by EverQuest in its design, but with Guild Wars 2, Arena Net has introduced several game systems that are worthy of admiration and perhaps even adoption. After playing GW2 extensively this past weekend, the following short article describes five such mechanics and design principles that could greatly profit the world of Amalur.
In what may be a further disappointment for expectant Amalur fans, as well as a potential setback in Copernicus’ development, the 38 Studios booth has been removed from the 
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