Chris Taylor Says Wildman Kickstarter Will Continue

Andy Chalk

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Chris Taylor Says Wildman Kickstarter Will Continue


Chris Taylor says that laying off the majority of Gas Powered Games employees may have saved the game and the studio.

In what is possibly the strangest Kickstarter launch ever, Gas Powered Games boss Chris Taylor asked supporters [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121506-Gas-Powered-Games-Launches-Wildman-Kickstarter] and fans whether he should continue the campaign and rehire the team if it succeeds, or shut it down right away.

"Help me make a tough decision," he said in a video update [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gaspoweredgames/wildman-an-evolutionary-action-rpg/posts/388863]. "Vote with your comments, we'll tabulate them. Do we kill the campaign, or do we keep it going? It's up to you."

Following a surge of support from the community and a big push in donations, Taylor revealed in a Reddit AMA last night that the decision had been made. "We're much smaller now, but we're still here, and we're going to see the KS campaign through," Taylor said. "What's weird, is that I think GPG would have truly been dead if I hadn't laid off the team."

He also dismissed accusations that he engineered the situation to attract attention and, one would assume, the sympathy vote, although he did say that all the publicity had an unexpected upside. "The entire industry has been alerted to what happened, and we've never received more attention from companies that are recruiting people," he continued. "In other words, by getting media attention, we have the best chance to find jobs for those who are moving on. It's really a win-win situation."

Wildman enjoyed a big bounce over the weekend and has now broken the $300,000 mark, but it's still well short of its $1.1 million goal and Taylor said that even with the big jump in support, the situation doesn't look great. "What became obvious by day 4, is that the campaign was going so poorly, there was no way it was going to happen," he said. "People argued this with me in the media a bit, saying it was too early to judge, but consider this, even with this weekend's surge, we're still not doing very well... can you imagine what it would have looked like without the big push from the media covering the layoff?"

Regardless of how it works out, Taylor expressed his gratitude to everyone who has backed the Wildman Kickstarter in a separate statement released today. "The outpouring of support this past few days has been unlike anything I could have imagined," he said. "I can't thank everyone enough, and can only hope that one day I will return the favor to each and every person who reached out to help."

Source: Gas Powered Games [http://forums.gaspowered.com/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=61256&p=956356#p956356]

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Albino Boo

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If he wants people to put their money in, then open up the books. Publish the company accounts on the kichstarter page and let people judge for themselves. That is what every other potential investor gets, why shouldn't those get on kickstarter get the same?
 

Aariana

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I'm sorry, but am I the only one who thinks this is a jackass move? Here's the way I'm seeing it. They just barely started a kickstarter, and when they didn't raise the 1.1 million in a few hours/days/what have you, he decided to lay off a bunch of people, without even seeing the kickstarter through. It's like he has forecasted their failure already, even though there is almost 30 days left for the damn thing to succeed.

"What became obvious by day 4, is that the campaign was going so poorly, there was no way it was going to happen," he said.
He basically gave up in four days. My boyfriend and I were about to support this game, but if GPG themselves don't have faith that their product will secure the necessary funding, then why should I waste my time with it?
 

Goofguy

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$1.1 million seemed like a hell of a lot to ask for with only some concept art and Jeremy Soule as carrots to dangle.
 

Rylot

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Having the same name as someone in the media spotlight is really weird. My parents probably shouldn't have let my drunk aunt name me. Or at the very least she could have named me something more interesting than the most common name for the year I was born.

OT: This smells really fishy. I'm not a fan or false publicity stunts.

Captcha: fashion victim; What the hell are you implying captcha? My fuzzy slippers are acceptable attire for my own couch! You're more judgmental than my dad.
 

rapidoud

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Aariana said:
I'm sorry, but am I the only one who thinks this is a jackass move? Here's the way I'm seeing it. They just barely started a kickstarter, and when they didn't raise the 1.1 million in a few hours/days/what have you, he decided to lay off a bunch of people, without even seeing the kickstarter through. It's like he has forecasted their failure already, even though there is almost 30 days left for the damn thing to succeed.

"What became obvious by day 4, is that the campaign was going so poorly, there was no way it was going to happen," he said.
He basically gave up in four days. My boyfriend and I were about to support this game, but if GPG themselves don't have faith that their product will secure the necessary funding, then why should I waste my time with it?
Excuse me? Have you READ any of the news?

He laid off all the employees so they could RECEIVE THEIR SEVERANCE PAY BEFORE GPG GOES BANKRUPT. Jesus Christ.

He didn't want to gamble all the employees' livelihoods on the game succeeding, as if it didn't then pretty much 'oh good luck you're out of a job and we're bankrupt where you may not have work for the next 6 months as your family starves, toodles!' Now everyone gets severance pay and has time to look for a job instead of a sudden cutoff if wildman doesn't do well.

albino boo said:
If he wants people to put their money in, then open up the books. Publish the company accounts on the kichstarter page and let people judge for themselves. That is what every other potential investor gets, why shouldn't those get on kickstarter get the same?
Can you even read GPFS kid? What the hell does a business's sinking ship financial situation (of which only kickstarter can save) have to do with whether the game is worthy of being backed or not?

If GPG is a public company you can go look up the damn reports yourself, otherwise they don't owe you a thing.
 

Albino Boo

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rapidoud said:
albino boo said:
If he wants people to put their money in, then open up the books. Publish the company accounts on the kichstarter page and let people judge for themselves. That is what every other potential investor gets, why shouldn't those get on kickstarter get the same?
Can you even read GPFS kid? What the hell does a business's sinking ship financial situation (of which only kickstarter can save) have to do with whether the game is worthy of being backed or not?

If GPG is a public company you can go look up the damn reports yourself, otherwise they don't owe you a thing.
Kick starter is an investment not a sale. People as a rule do not put their money into a company that is going bankrupt. Every other method of investing in an LLC allows you to look at the books, why should investing via kick starter be different?
 

MetalMagpie

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albino boo said:
If he wants people to put their money in, then open up the books. Publish the company accounts on the kichstarter page and let people judge for themselves. That is what every other potential investor gets, why shouldn't those get on kickstarter get the same?
Kickstarter isn't really an investment system. It's somewhere between a donation and a slightly shaky pre-order.

An investor owns part of the company they invest in. Kickstarter backers do not get shares in return for their money.
 

Albino Boo

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MetalMagpie said:
albino boo said:
If he wants people to put their money in, then open up the books. Publish the company accounts on the kichstarter page and let people judge for themselves. That is what every other potential investor gets, why shouldn't those get on kickstarter get the same?
Kickstarter isn't really an investment system. It's somewhere between a donation and a slightly shaky pre-order.

An investor owns part of the company they invest in. Kickstarter backers do not get shares in return for their money.
What ever you decide to call it, fundamentally it does not matter how good the game is, if you can't produce it. We only have gas powered games word for that they can make the game. The company may have no debts in which case they can make the game or they could owe $2 million. If it is the latter case the creditors are more than likely sitting waiting to if the kickstarter works before moving in to collect. If you a running a failing business its not unreasonable to ask to see some evidence that you can do what you say. Otherwise you are just buying a pig in poke.