The crowd-funded games industry is still in its infancy, and already there are major flaws with the entire model, notably games that over-promise to attract attention from potential backers, only to coincidentally back out at the very last minute. It’s all anyone can talk about after 22 Cans’ failure to deliver on their Godus promises, and in the wake of that, the creator of DayZ says developers should be held responsible.
Not directly answering to one situation in particular, Dean Hall has expressed his views on failures in the Early Access realm, and how developers should be punished more severely for taking money and not delivering what was promised.
If we want Early Access & Kickstarter to succeed as a method of funding games we NEED accountability. Media and gamers are huge part in this
— Dean Hall (@rocket2guns) February 19, 2015
This comes not only in the wake of the 22 Cans fiasco, but more recently the disappearance of The Stomping Land and its lead designer. The Stomping Land has been officially put on an indefinite hold, after the lead designer failed to communicate with the team for five months. Kickstarter has no way to compensate for lost funding, and so backers are the ones who suffer.
While I think backers and early access adopters need to understand that the process of making a game is not set in stone from the outset, there should be more robust systems to protect them. Developers need to be discouraged from making wild promises just to get funding, and at the very least pay a penalty when crucial goals aren’t met.
Or just offer an easy and efficient portal for backers to reclaim their money if they don’t like the way the project is being handled. There are so many different ways that Kickstarter and Early Access can ensure a healthy industry – but right now the wrong people are being punished.
Last Updated: February 20, 2015
HvR
February 20, 2015 at 15:06
Make it that stretch goal funding is only released once main goals is reached otherwise backers get paid portion of stretch goal funding.
How much of the funding reaches the developer, Moly (probably more BS) made it sound that they only received a few cents on the dollar.
Admiral Chief
February 20, 2015 at 15:30
Seems like EVERYONE is at the damn pub already
Timmy_1988
February 20, 2015 at 15:36
The Timster is still here.
Support DRM
Matewis Jubilai
February 20, 2015 at 16:21
Pubs and taverns would be better without their infernal music 😛
Johann
February 20, 2015 at 15:34
I agree that there has to be some accountability from the developers, but pulling funding if you’re not satisfied is also not a good way to do this. You’ll get these guys who will back out right before the product is finished, ask for their money back and then the developer will have to pay it out of his pocket.
Wyzak
February 20, 2015 at 16:22
Add Elite Dangerous to the list. Promises offline mode and then withdraws it with a creative decision a month before release.
Ranting Raptor
February 20, 2015 at 17:06
It’s about time devs and publishers start to hold each other accountable