Big Huge Games, developer of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, was essentially shuttered when parent company 38 Studios laid off its entire staff. Much of the staff has since been reacquired by Epic Games to form a new studio: Epic Games Baltimore.

"The way we see it, there's been a big storm in Baltimore, and we're taking in a few of the refugees," Epic president Mike Capps said in a letter to Epic employees. "Epic's in a situation where we can do this, and it very clearly fits with our company values, so we're going to give it a whirl."

The company will be setting up the new studio as soon as possible, according to a letter acquired by The Verge. To quickly bridge the financial gap for the unemployed, they will be bringing many of the BHG team down to the Cary, NC, headquarters as contractors. Epic Baltimore's new project will probably be a completely new IP.

Capps added that they aren't sure how many people they can hire yet, but they will hire as many as they can. A few BHG employees have already been taken in by other Maryland companies, such as Zynga East and Zenimax Online.