38 Studios intellectual properties auction started this week, and the company's Big Huge Games side sold for $320,000. Two lots went for sale, which were for the Huge Games trademark, and the Rise of Legends and Rise of Nations IP's. At the moment, who owns the properties is unknown though there were twenty parties interested, out of which five participated in the conference call for the auction.

Also up for sale were 38 Studio's MMO set in the Kingdoms of Amalur universe Project Copernicus, which is currently in-development, and Helios, the social media and gaming platform. Richard J Land, the court appointed receiver did "not receive acceptable offers" for the remaining lot, and will continue negotiations to get a deal suitable for them.

Sources that were involved in the bidding process said that there were legacy issues with the "Rise of" and Amalur IP's. The particular issues are with the former publishing partners, which are Electronic Arts (Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning) and Microsoft (Rise of Nations, Rise of Legends). Having to deal with any terms that have been put in place with the publishers are sure to cause headaches, as I cannot see any of the companies willing to be flexible if it causes a loss of revenue on the projects.