If you haven’t heard the recent string of bad-to-awful news surrounding 38 Studios and Big Huge Games, well, it’s not pretty. The situation is a total clusterfudge with ongoing developments happening right this GD minute, but the long and short is that 38 Studios and Big Huge Games are no more, and that all staff members of both studios have been laid off. A sucky situation, to say the least, though I am comforted by the industry stepping up and helping out their talent; not even an hour after the news hit, companies around the country were announcing open positions in an effort to help the displaced members of 38 and BHG.

It’s a sucky, sucky business when any studio shuts down in the industry, especially when it happens at the expense of such talented workers and creative folks. In particular, 38 Studios and Big Huge Games gave me Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, one of my favorite games from 2012 and one that I had to put away because I couldn’t stop playing it. They made an engrossing world with a beautiful art style, along with an addictive combat system and very friendly exploration element. I’ll no longer be able to continue my time in Amalur, which completely bites because I’ve enjoyed myself there so much.

This is my tribute to the talent at 38 Studios and Big Huge Games, who I’m hoping like crazy will be able to land on their feet. You guys made an awesome game that still reached over a 1.2 million players, and I will look back with fondness on the mechanics you created and the memories you helped me foster. I’ll be on the lookout for whatever you guys have cooking up next, and I’ll be only too eager to help support it. Thank you and God bless.

Link: Thirty hours and counting with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning