We haven't seen the last of Big Huge Games. The studio behind Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning -- the same studio that went down with Curt Schilling's 38 Studios ship -- has been salvaged by Epic Games. It's an E3 miracle! In all seriousness, this is not only great news for many of the talented BHG devs who recently found themselves without jobs, it's great news for gamers. Sure, Reckoning was a solid action RPG, but let's not forget BHG created resource-rich RTS classic Rise of Nations. These guys know how to make quality games, and they'll continue to do so under the Epic banner.
Epic President Mike Capps announced the creation of a new Epic Games studio in Baltimore on the Epic Gamers blog -- a studio staffed by members of the recently shuttered Big Huge Games.
"On Wednesday, the ex-BHG leadership team contacted us," Capps writes. "They wanted to start a new company and keep together some of the key talent displaced by the layoff, and hoped that they could use an Epic IP as a starting point for a new game. We loved that they all wanted to keep working together, but it was pretty clear they'd have trouble building a demo and securing funding before their personal savings ran out. 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. Which, we all knew, was impossible."
"So now we're planning to start an impossible studio in Baltimore."
What the studio formerly known as Big Huge Games will be called, how many of the devs will actually be hired, and what game they'll be working on remain some of the "million things to work out," Capps said. To start, a number of BHG vets will be brought to Epic's Cary, N.C. headquarters to work as contractors while the new Baltimore office is created. After that? We shall see.
Kind of a heartwarming way to unofficially kick off E3, don't ya think?