For what it’s worth, at least one source thinks 38 Studios has sold more than a million copies of its first game.

VGChartz, a website that tracks industry sales, estimates “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning” has sold 750,000 units in North America, 250,000 units in Europe and 120,000 units in the rest of the world outside Japan. As a comparison, NPD Group estimates “Reckoning” has sold at least 410,000 units in North America.

It would seem like good news for the cash-strapped studio if “Reckoning” sales are already above 1 million – but are VGChartz’s numbers reliable? The Boston Globe cited the site on Tuesday, but back in 2008 Gamasutra’s Simon Carless warned about serious problems with its methodology.

For the moment, then, caveat emptor on this statistic.

(h/t: Patrick Laverty)

“Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning,” the first game from Curt Schilling’s Providence-based 38 Studios, sold another 80,000 copies in the United States last month, WPRI.com has confirmed.

That brings total U.S. retail sales of “Reckoning” to 410,000 copies during its first two months on the market, according to data provided to WPRI.com by NPD Group, a New York-based research firm.

“Reckoning” was released Feb. 7 to positive reviews and debuted at No. 4 on NPD’s bestseller list in February. It fell off the list in March, when eight of the month’s top 10 games were new releases.

NPD spokesman David Riley called 410,000 “an impressive figure for just two months, no matter how you slice it,” particularly for “a new IP” – a game that’s not a sequel but an entirely new storyline. Electronics Arts (EA) is distributing it.

NPD’s figures don’t include “Reckoning” sales outside the U.S., which would likely increase the total. In addition, Alexander Sliwinski of gaming news site Joystiq cautioned that NPD only counts physical copies sold. “That means digital sales of ‘Reckoning’ are missing, which actually has mattered more and more lately with EA’s Origin digital distribution service and the almighty Steam digital distribution service,” Sliwinski said in an email.

Indeed, companies can be touchy about the value of NPD’s estimates. “We think the monthly NPD reports are a very poor indicator of the industry’s performance,” EA’s John Reseburg told Joystiq recently, adding: “Taking these reports as an accurate snapshot of the industry today is a dangerous assumption.”

Project Copernicus, the massively multiplayer online game 38 Studios is developing in Providence using a $75 million backed by Rhode Island taxpayers, could be released before the end of this year.

• Related: Long odds for Rhode Island-backed Schilling game (Aug. 3, 2010)

This post has been updated and expanded.

“Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning,” the first game from Curt Schilling’s Providence-based 38 Studios, cracked the top 10 in NPD Group’s closely watched sales list during the game’s first month on the market.

“Reckoning” was the No. 4 best-selling video game in February and the only new franchise to crack the top ten, according to NPD. The top three were “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,” “Final Fantasy XIII-2″ and “UFC Undisputed 3.” Total software game sales fell 24% to $485.7 million from a year earlier.

G4tv described the fourth-place spot for “Reckoning” as a “solid showing” and “particularly impressive because it’s the first game from a new development company (38 Studios) and also is not a sequel.” Neowin.net called it “a strong debut for a new IP” and VG247 labeled it “respectable.”

“Reckoning” sold a total of 330,000 copies for Xbox, Playstation 3 and PCs in the U.S. in February, NPD told Richard Mitchell of AOL’s gaming news site Joystiq.

“It’s not a bad number, especially for a new IP, though it isn’t quite a blockbuster either,” Mitchell wrote. “Of course, the figure doesn’t include sales in other regions (or even all of North America, for that matter), so we’ll have to wait on word from EA to see how ‘Reckoning’ fared overall.”

This post has been updated and expanded.

“Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning” dropped at midnight and got a five-star review (out of five) from Joystiq, which the gaming site says is a definitive “yes” to the question of whether the game is worth your time.

“Reckoning” is No. 2 on Amazon’s list of best-selling video games at this writing. So far, Rhode Island’s $75 million bet on 38 Studios and Curt Schilling is looking like a solid gamble by Carcieri, Stokes & co.

Update: ComputerAndVideoGames.com has a roundup of 14 “Reckoning” reviews.

(cover art: 38 Studios/Electronic Arts)

Rhode Island taxpayers made a $75 million bet on Curt Schilling’s video game startup, 38 Studios, to bring the company to Providence and – state leaders hope – help seed a new industry here.

The company will release its first game, “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning,” just over a month from now, and while that’s not the project the state is helping to fund, its success or failure will have a huge impact on 38 Studios’ future.

The early buzz for “Reckoning” has been positive, and in Thursday’s New York Times the paper’s game reviewer Seth Schiesel put the release on his list of ones to watch in the new year:

Once upon a time, the winter months were sleepy in game land. Not anymore. Early 2012 will bring the release of not only some closely watched games, but also a major new portable hardware system. And Nintendo has said it intends to introduce its successor to the Wii, the Wii U, some time after May. …

KINGDOMS OF AMALUR: RECKONING In addition to being a longtime gamer, Curt Schilling also happens to be a former pretty good professional baseball pitcher. So naturally his game company, 38 Studios, is named after his jersey number. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, a single-player fantasy adventure, is 38’s first major project. On the heels of similar hits like The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, offline role-playing games seem to be enjoying a minor resurgence, and none too soon. (To be released on Feb. 7 for Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.)

38 Studios’ first game, “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning,” will be released by Electronic Arts during the first three months of 2012, the Providence-based gaming company said Wednesday.

The announcement came, appropriately enough, via the company’s Twitter feed:

Today’s @EA financial report announced a @ReckoningGame launch of Q4, Fiscal Year 2012. To clarify, this is Q1 of calendar year 2012.

I reported back in March that EA had delayed the release of “Reckoning” until 2012, from its original release date of this September. Here’s the big story I did last summer about the company’s two games – “Reckoning” and Project Copernicus; the latter is the one being created here in Providence.

38 Studios moved into its new One Empire Plaza headquarters last month – a milestone that led to another $17.2 million cash infusion from its taxpayer-backed loan.

38 Studios is ready to show a little leg.

The gaming studio with a $75 million taxpayer-backed loan from Rhode Island will present an “exclusive” world premiere demonstration of its debut game, “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning,” at next month’s PAX East gamer festival in Boston.

The event is scheduled for Friday, March 11, at noon in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center’s Wyvern Theatre. Here’s how the festival’s organizers describe it:

Throw out the first pitch of PAX East with Curt Schilling and his team from 38 Studios. Take a closer look at Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, an all new game that offers a fresh take on open world RPGs. Conceived by SPAWN creator Todd McFarlane, New York Times best-selling author R.A. Salvatore, and Ken Rolston, lead designer of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the game is an epic action fantasy RPG that is sure to capture the imagination of fans worldwide. Boston’s legendary Curt Schilling will join the game’s Executive Producer and Creative Director for a first-ever public demo of the game. Be among the first in the world to check out the innovative combat and deep RPG systems in this master-crafted fantasy epic.

“Recekoning” is slated to be released in September by distributor Electronic Arts for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PCs. The single-player game will cost $59.95.

I also liked this, from PAX East’s official FAQ:

Can I bring my nerf gun/lightsaber/other weird thing?

Don’t bring anything that would annoy another attendee or set us up for a crazy lawsuit. PAX East is not an event run by some giant corporate entity; it’s a big party we throw for the gaming community in general and PA readers in particular. Have fun, but be cool, and please leave your airsoft/paintball guns at home!

And speaking of 38 Studios, the company is doing a lot of hiring in advance of its move from Maynard, Mass., to Providence. The company is supposed to arrive here by May 1.

(h/t: 38 Gamers)

Dean Lester, a blogger who runs the 38 Studios fan site 38Gamers.com, has been a staunch defender of the company against critics who’ve doubted its strategy and Curt Schilling’s management abilities. (The fact that he started the site even before 38 Studios actually released any games gives some indication of his sympathetic view of the company.)

That’s why I found it notable when I saw this post Lester put up last night criticizing 38 Studios (and partner Electronic Arts) for the weak tea they’ve served gamers eagerly awaiting “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning,” the role-playing game 38′s Big Huge Games subsidiary is developing for a planned September 2011 release. Here’s what Lester had to say:

[It's] been months since the announcement from 38 Studios about their single player RPG called Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Many gamers have signed up for the newsletter and been patiently waiting. The first newsletter called “The Well” was finally emailed out today to eager fans looking for new information about the game. To finally get the newsletter and have it only feature a video recap and pictures of Gen Con that happened two months ago had to be a disappointment.

To add to this I then realized that 38 Studios had said the following:

“Reckoning’s newsletter is coming soon and early registrants will receive special pre-release content before the newsletter’s release. Be sure to register for the newsletter so you don’t miss out! Sign-up link is located in the top right after the age verification page.”

Unless I missed something I have not gotten any pre-release content. I have been one of your biggest fans and supporters but guys this is the easy stuff and I am sorry but if you can’t execute on this how are you going to make people believe you can execute on the hard stuff? This is the first time since I heard that Curt Schilling was starting up his own game company that I have doubt creeping into my mind and I don’t like it.

“Reckoning” is the first of two games in development at 38 Studios; the other is a massive multiplayer online game called Project Copernicus that is supposed to be released in September 2012. Copernicus’ development will be funded by the $75 million loan the R.I. Economic Development Corporation is taking out on 38 Studios’ behalf.

Schilling and 38 Studios’ executive art director, Todd McFarlane, who created the comic “Spawn,” will have another chance to get gamers excited about what they have in the pipeline this weekend.

The two are scheduled to appear Saturday at the annual New York Comic Con convention to sign posters. 38 Studios will have a booth at the event where visitors can get “an exclusive sneak peek at prototypes of upcoming ‘Reckoning’ action figures designed by McFarlane Toys,” according to a press release.

As I reported yesterday during what turned out to be 38 Studios Day here at Nesi’s Notes, the last step for the EDC’s $75 million bond deal to close – sending out the official bond document – still hadn’t happened as of midweek. I haven’t heard from the EDC today on whether anything has changed.

Update: “Nothing new today” on 38 Studios, EDC spokesman Mike Blazek reports.

Update #2: And a Moody’s spokesman tells me the rating agency will not do interviews discussing its review of the 38 Studios loan guarantee.