AGDC 07: 38 Studios Interview with Brett Close

We've seen a lot of hype about 38 Studios, the MMORPG start-up headed by Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, fantasy novelist R.A. Salvatore and Spawn-creator Todd McFarlane, but at AGDC we finally got to see some of the meat on the company's bones. President and CEO Brett Close spoke to us about the company, their vision for their game and addressed the concern that the company might be some kind of vanity project.

"We have an unfair advantage," he said in reference to presence of Salvatore on the team and added simply, "if you do it right, people will love it."

To that end, they've also made strides to ensure that the game blends story into gameplay in a way that MMOs have so far failed to do.

"Current MMOs have some [story], but its like shooters in 1996," he explained. "Everyone was doing Doom, then came Half-Life. They realized story makes for compelling gameplay."

He hopes that their project - the name of which we won't hear for quite some time - can fill that void. He wants to move beyond the mechanics and give people a reason to play, which is a tough challenge for any studio.

Read more after the jump.

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