PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) _ Rhode Island's economic development corporation on Monday approved a $75 million loan guarantee to a game development company founded by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, an agreement state officials say will create jobs and lift the floundering economy.

Schilling sought to ease concerns from skeptics _ including gubernatorial candidates _ who believe the loan guarantee to 38 Studios is too big for one company and fear that taxpayers would be on the hook if the investment fails.

"I need you to know I've invested a significant amount of my life's earnings in 38 Studios," Schilling said at a news conference after the corporation's board overwhelmingly approved the loan guarantee. "I will protect the loan guarantee that's been given by the state with the same passion and interest that I'm protecting my own investment in this company. Our paths are very much aligned."

The loan guarantee requires the company to relocate from Maynard, Mass., to Rhode Island. Company officials did not say when exactly they would move or where in the state they would relocate, but they've promised about 450 jobs _ with an average salary of $67,500 _ by the end of 2012.

The state will not be directly loaning the company the money, but will instead effectively serve as a co-signer on the loan. The agreement comes with several conditions that supporters said were aimed at mitigating the risk to the state.

The company will receive the loan in increments according to its ability to relocate on time and meet job creation goals. It will also pay a penalty of $7,500 per year for each job under the promised 450 that it fails to create.

The company would also be penalized if it decides to leave Rhode Island, and the corporation _ a quasi-public agency _ must approve the public lender.

The $75 million offer represents 60 percent of the maximum $125 million loan guarantee allowed under state law.

State officials have defended the deal as essential to lifting the state's economy, saying the arrival of 38 Studios could attract a cluster of similar game companies and encourage local college graduates _ including from the Rhode Island School of Design _ to remain in the state. The state's unemployment rate was 12 percent in June.

Gov. Don Carcieri, who chairs the corporation's board, said that the deal represents a risk worth taking and is an opportunity for the state to get involved in an industry with potential to grow.

"You always sort of back a team," Carcieri said, "and when you look at the team that Curt Schilling has put together around him at 38 Studios, it's a team of winners in my judgment. It's an A-team."

Schilling, who won World Series titles with the Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks, is also a video game enthusiast who founded 38 Studios _ named after his uniform number _ in 2006.

The company's first title is, "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning," a single-player fantasy game scheduled for release in the fall of 2011. Though the company has yet to bring a product to market, Schilling said his Maryland-based Big Huge Games _ which was acquired by 38 Studios last year _ has put out several successful games.

Schilling said he did not yet know whether he would move to Rhode Island.