Green Monster Games (Curt Schilling)

[Locithon]

Utnayan = Mitch Williams??

Anyways, I don't think there is anyway to really know why the CEO left. Could be something as simple as he didn't want the workload/wanted to spend time with family. Or possibly he decided to cut his losses because 38s is a sinking ship. I would guess it's somewhere between those two... or Curt canned him.

[dorfeater]

Exactly, think of all the reasons you have ever left a job. It's not always because the company is shit. If he did in fact get canned.. well then good for 38 Studios then, right? Obviously if he got fired there was something about him that wasn't fitting well with the company.

[Gecko]

They replaced the independent knowledgable insider with his own vision with a "yes girl", perhaps?

Who needs The Guild. Plenty of 38S Drama!

[Utnayan]

Originally Posted by dorfeater

Exactly, think of all the reasons you have ever left a job. It's not always because the company is shit. If he did in fact get canned.. well then good for 38 Studios then, right? Obviously if he got fired there was something about him that wasn't fitting well with the company.

Yeah because it never could be the opposite right? Maybe it was good for Close and 38 is the titanic.

[bitch are your retarded?]

Originally Posted by Utnayan

Yeah because it never could be the opposite right? Maybe it was good for Close and 38 is the titanic.

If 38 Studios is the Titanic I want to see the artistic nude portrait Curt paints of this new CEO

[ToeMissile]

Maybe SOE brought him back for EQn...

[Utnayan]

Originally Posted by bitch are your retarded?

If 38 Studios is the Titanic I want to see the artistic nude portrait Curt paints of this new CEO

I'd buy that.

[Gecko]

Dorfeater, don't confuse CEO with employees.

A CEO is the head cheese. The person running the ship. The Captain.

It's a position execs covet, and most go down with the ship. The ones who voluntarily leave either get a bigger ship, or are running from government probes. Neither scenario seems to be in play here.

Given we're in an economic recession with every company cutting and trying to shave costs it could be as simple as a small dollars and cents issue regarding 'the board' and the future.

So, really, he's a Captain, mad his command in the Canadian Navy migrated from a destroyer to a tugboat due to cost cutting. I'd guess the Canadian Navy and 38s have close to the same budget.

p.s. edited to make a better point.

Interesting, Close's announcement pushed his accomplishments:

CURT SCHILLING ANNOUNCES NEW LEADER OF HIS ENTERTAINMENT DEVELOPMENT COMPANY

Brett Close is appointed President.


(Maynard, MA, February 15, 2007) GMG, LLC, a company dedicated to producing innovative, massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), is proud to announce the appointment of Brett Close as company president. Close has had a substantial influence on the gaming industry by bringing exceptionally successful products to market for Midway, Electronic Arts, and VR1 Entertainment, while at the same time changing the game design environment to encourage work-life balance.

"The caliber of talent within GMG is rivaled only by the strength of our ever-expanding roster of strategic partners," Close said from corporate headquarters today. "GMG?s exceptional quality of life is critical to sustaining this talent. The unique convergence of these energies will translate into groundbreaking entertainment, which is what this company is all about. I?m eager to showcase our culture and products."

Among the numerous products Close has delivered are Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, Medal of Honor: Frontline, and Nightcaster: Defeat the Darkness for Xbox launch. This dynamic leader is assembling an impressive team and has everyone fired up with passion for their product.

"World Championship teams have, at their core, the world?s best leaders," says Curt Schilling, GMG founder and CEO. "Brett brings a resume of results and achievement to GMG. My commitment right now must be on the field helping the Red Sox win another World Championship, and to do that to the best of my ability I need to know that the person in charge possesses the same thoughts, beliefs, integrity, and accountability that I feel I do, and Brett does just that. The challenge here is in becoming the best in the world, and Brett Close as our president gives us an incredible opportunity to do just that."

Close's first announcement is the appointment of Mary Kirchoff as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Brand Development. A game industry veteran, Kirchoff was responsible for the branding, business development, and publishing of many popular titles at Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, including the Dungeons & Dragons, Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance brands. In addition to discovering best-selling author R.A. Salvatore in 1987, she has authored twelve best-selling fantasy novels.

"Curt and Brett have assembled a dream team of experienced, extremely creative people of the highest integrity," says Kirchoff. "I?ve been on some pretty amazing game development teams, but GMG is an opportunity of a lifetime. I?m honored and excited to contribute to all that will unfold."

Close also welcomes Chaz Sutherland as Art Director. Sutherland comes to the company from Shiny Entertainment and has most recently worked on Matrix: Path of Neo, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, Allied Assault: Spearhead and Golden Eye 2 as a Visual Effects artist and visual effects animator. He?s also provided concept art and assisted in environments with games as far back as the Nightcaster series for the Xbox.

Employees will be working from the company?s Maynard, MA headquarters.

Compared to the new CEO's announcement, with not. one. game. in her credits:

entertainment and original IP creation company, today announced Jennifer MacLean as the company's new CEO. MacLean was senior vice president of business development.

The announcement comes at the departure of Brett Close as president and CEO. In this role since 2007, Close led the vision and development of the company and its intellectual property, Project Copernicus, and its largest iteration, a massively multiplayer online game.

“I've had the privilege of building 38 Studios to become an established force of IP creation and entertainment,” said Brett Close. “I leave with confidence in the future success of the company and have no doubt its products will excite gamers worldwide.”

Curt Schilling, founder and chairman of 38 Studios stated, “I'm proud to appoint as head of our company such a deserving and extraordinary member of the 38 Studios team. As the new chief executive, Jen will continue the journey in delivering on our vision of creating new entertainment experiences. Brett's leadership over the last three years has well-positioned 38 Studios for the next phase of the company's development. The entire 38 Studios team wishes Brett much success in all his future endeavors.”

Prior to joining 38 Studios in March 2008, MacLean was vice president and general manager of games at Comcast, the largest cable company in the United States. Chairwoman Emeritus of the Independent Game Developers Association, named by Gamasutra as one of the “Top 20 Women in Games,” and listed by Next Generation as one of the game industry’s “100 Most Influential Women,” MacLean has more than fifteen years of extensive experience in online content and interactive entertainment and holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.

“It’s an honor for me to have the opportunity to further contribute to 38 Studios’ future,” stated MacLean. “38 Studios has a high level of responsibility to our consumers and the industry and I will ensure we deliver on that promise. I’m excited about leading the incredible developers here and expanding our strategic vision of allowing customers to interact with our products and stories where, when, and how they want.”

[Sylverlokk]

Sounds to me shes much more business oriented then creative/game oriented. In other words the content she pushed just happened to be games but she could push anything, versus someone who is just a gamer. That might not be a bad thing.

[Zehn - Vhex]

I wouldn't exactly brag about the medal of honor series though. 8(

[Utnayan]

Originally Posted by Zehn - Vhex

I wouldn't exactly brag about the medal of honor series though. 8(

I was about to say this, Rising sun was a terrible game. Even the hit detection was off.

Sounds to me shes much more business oriented then creative/game oriented. In other words the content she pushed just happened to be games but she could push anything, versus someone who is just a gamer. That might not be a bad thing.

That's one of the biggest problems facing gaming companies today in my opinion. Not enough experience in product development when it comes to gaming. Unfortunately games and pushing Nike strategies are no where in the same league.

[Gecko]

Originally Posted by Sylverlokk

Sounds to me shes much more business oriented then creative/game oriented. In other words the content she pushed just happened to be games but she could push anything, versus someone who is just a gamer. That might not be a bad thing.

That's a good point. However, from a PR perspective their resumes are not in the same ballpark. She's running the ship of a game development company without a single game to her credit that I can see.

She isn't selling or marketing content deals, she's steering the Copernicus ship and is the big boss wizard of the flying citadel now. Unless as CEO she is a figurehead.

I agree MOH isn't a game I'd personally pick, but the point is it is a successfully developed and rolled out game. Close had experience doing what he was hired to do.

Anyways this is an MMO being steered by an AD&D writer,a comic book artist, and a former pro baseball player. Forgive me if I'd have a bit more confidence in their game if they stole someone from Blizzard, Hartsman, or a Guild Wars guy instead of promoting the person doing content deals at Comcast and AOL, and let go of the one person who actually was inside the industry before.

[Frax]

Well, yeah, you kind of want your chief executive officer to be a business person first. It is a business that has to make money or it fails.

[Believe]

Why the fuck would they care about the 'PR perspective' ? Because Utnayan and his buttbuddy Gecko, in their 2 minutes of internet sleuthing deemed her to be unqualified? Are you going to be kept up late at night by the fact that someone you consider unqualified is leading 38S?

All that matters is if the game is good. They could have Brian fucking Peppers as the CEO/Lead Game Designer and I would still play the shit out of it if it was fun.

The fact they've shown absolutely jack shit about the game means you should just shut the fuck up and sit tight until you see something that actually fucking matters before you go into full on troll mode.

[Gecko]

Well, given they are begging for cash and are years away from release, a leadership turnover to someone with a sparser resume will certainly effect things. I never said anything about their game, since they have none. I also never said she was unqualified, just that from an outsider perspective it made no sense. I did hypothesize about it being a money issue.

Hey, don't let me interrupt your 38 Studios sucking up with facts or coherent arguments. I'm sure Curt'll be adding you right to that friends list!