Amalur IP worth $20 million - Analyst

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.

"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."