Rhode Island’s state-appointed receiver, Richard Land, has scheduled two auctions this month for the assets of failed video-game company 38 Studios LLC.
State taxpayers are on the hook for more than $100 million because of a loan guarantee, backed by the state’s moral obligation, that the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. issued in 2010 to lure the company to downtown Providence, R.I., from Maynard, Mass.
State officials have said they intend to honor the obligation, which includes a $75 million loan plus interest.
The company, owned by former Boston Red Sox pitcher and current ESPN studio analyst Curt Schilling, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in June. It laid off its roughly 300 employees.
According to the website of Warwick, R.I., liquidation company SJ Corio Co., the auctions will feature high-end computers, servers, graphic design equipment and flat-panel plasma and LCD televisions.
The sales will held at 10:30 a.m. on successive Tuesdays, Oct. 16 and 23, at 38 Studios’ former offices, at 1954 Greenspring Drive, Timonium, Md., and One Empire St. in Providence, respectively.
Gov. Lincoln Chafee appointed Land, a partner at Chace Ruttenberg & Freedman LLP, to serve as receiver after a federal bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Del., transferred the case to Rhode Island Superior Court.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Rhode Island has said that it would not bring federal charges in relation to the 38 Studios, while the Rhode Island State Police is still investigating the matter.
