Keith Stokes, the former head of Rhode Island’s economic development agency, claims that Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (I) forced 38 Studios into bankruptcy by impeding the developer’s efforts to raise money and restructure its debts. This is according to a story by the Boston Globe, as originally spotted by Polygon.
A Rhode Island judge recently cleared a state agency for a lawsuit against Schilling and other 38 Studios executives. The state is looking to regain losses from a $75 million loan guarantee given to the failed developer for moving from Massachusetts to Rhode Island.
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling founded 38 Studios in 2006. The developer released one game, 2012’s action role-playing game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, and was working on a massively multiplayer online game when it declared bankruptcy last June and laid off its entire staff.
The court filings by Stokes claim that the governor refused to meet with 38 Studios executives in 2011 to discuss the financial issues.