Wedbush's Michael Pachter estimates value of 38 Studios' gameworld, says 38 Studios unlikely to find buyer after The Old Republic "fizzled."

If troubled times at 38 Studios result in the company needing to sell off its Amalur intellectual property--which includes upcoming MMO game Project Copernicus--the company can expect to get $20 million for it, according to comments made by Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter to Joystiq.

38 Studios could cash in Amalur for $20 million, according to Pachter

"Nobody is buying MMOs after [Star Wars: The Old Republic] fizzled," he said. "I think value is low, probably $20 million or so. There is just no demand for game assets right now, as THQ proved when it tried to sell the Warhammer MMO. I think [Electronic Arts] could step in, since they are the publisher, so you might see some alternative way to get [38 Studios] some bridge financing."

In February, THQ said it was "actively looking" for a partner to help bring its Warhammer 40K MMO game to market. Those attempts proved unsuccessful, as the company a month later revealed the game had become a single-player title with an online multiplayer component. More than 100 staffers were let go as a result.

As for Star Wars: The Old Republic, just yesterday, BioWare announced restructuring plans at the developer, resulting in an unspecified round of layoffs to the team behind the sci-fi MMORPG. Earlier this month, EA announced the game's subscriber base as 1.3 million, down from 1.7 million in February.

Electronic Arts published 38 Studios subsidiary Big Huge Games' Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning in February, but the company has been silent regarding a potential future partnership for Project Copernicus.

"Nope--never been an announcement on that," EA corporate communications vice president Jeff Brown told Joystiq. "We don't have any new announcements to make regarding 38 Studios. We enjoyed working with [38 Studios founder Curt Schilling] and his team on their first game, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Like game fans all over the world, we look forward to what 38 Studios creates next."

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot