Ex-pitcher Curt Schilling's still got game
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Curt Schilling, chief executive officer of 38 Studios LLC and a former Boston Red Sox pitcher, speaks during an interview in New York.
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LOS ANGELES -- When four-time World Series pitcher Curt Schilling started his video game company in 2006, some took it as a sign that the American League right-hander was simply indulging in an expensive hobby.
"People saw it as a vanity project," Mr. Schilling said during an interview, spitting tobacco juice into a paper cup between words. "I get it. There's not a long track record of people leaving professional sports to become a software developer."
This month, the world got to find out just how serious the former Phillies, Diamondbacks and Red Sox hurler was. After spending tens of millions of dollars of his own money, he and his company, 38 Studios, shipped their first game -- a lavish fantasy title called "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning."
Although it's too early to tell how well the $59.99 title is selling, critics have given it solid marks. One reviewer at the website Joystiq called the game "immaculately crafted and beautiful."
For the 6-foot-4, 45-year-old Mr. Schilling, "Amalur" is a milestone in a long, arduous journey.
As a teenager growing up in Arizona, Mr. Schilling fell in love with two things: baseball and a computer game called "Wizardry." That gave way to sword-and-sorcery games such as "The Bard's Tale," "Ultima Online" and "EverQuest."
In the early 1990s, as a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, Mr. Schilling was never without a 15-pound PC.
"I had the perfect job for a gamer," Mr. Schilling said. "From February to October, I'd get up at 7 in the morning with nothing to do but play games until I had to be at the park around 1 or 2 o'clock. When I got back after the game, I played until 3 or 4 in the morning."
While some players requested fancy cars in their baseball contracts, Mr. Schilling wanted high-end gaming laptops and guaranteed Internet access in his hotel rooms when his teams were on the road.
First Published February 26, 2012 12:00 am
