I happened upon a fair bit of 38 Studios-related news over the last week, some of which is current and some of which is…older, but which I had previously failed to take note of.

The big news concerning Curt Schilling’s now-defunct game studio was, of course, the release of a trailer for Project Copernicus…or Kingdoms of Amalur as it is termed in the trailer proper. The former creative director for the studio chimed in to provide a bit of context for the trailer shortly after the leak, and it looks like the game was going to be in the same general vein as The Elder Scrolls Online. Would it have altered the fate of 38 Studios? That’s hard to say…the trailer doesn’t actually inspire a wealth of confidence in the title, though some interesting innovation is clearly on display. But is innovation enough in the MMORPG market?

The saga of 38 Studios’ bankruptcy proceeds apace. Access to the company’s records has been characterized by slowness and perhaps even stonewalling since even before the company folded, and key people connected to 38 Studios — including Curt Schilling’s wife — have countered that Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee had it in for the company and handled the situation surrounding it very poorly. I think my favourite story surrounding the whole debacle thus far has been this one, in which details about how a Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation official sought a job at 38 Studios weeks after the infamous $75 million loan deal was finalized.

Actually, speaking of the Rhode Island EDC, it’s worth noting that its former executive director, Keith Stokes — who resigned in the wake of 38 Studios’ collapse — praised and greatly enjoyed the Reckoning demo.

The bankruptcy filing by 38 Studios could take until late 2013 to finalize, and the company apparently owes about 12 times what it possesses in assets. Which: damn. The first court meeting of the bankruptcy proceedings evidently happened yesterday.

As a somewhat bitter end note on the whole 38 Studios mess, IGN has included Reckoning on their list of the “Best Video Games of 2012 So Far”, describing it as a Game of the Year contender.

Moving on!

Torchlight was released on GOG.com recently; if you haven’t played the game yet, pick it up DRM-free and give it a try. It’s one of those addictively fun games that magically makes hours of your day disappear.

Deus Ex is evidently being turned into a movie. CBS Films has secured rights to produce a movie based on the franchise.

Finally, Overhaul Games has teased the possibility of an enhanced edition of Baldur’s Gate 2, to be released in 2012.