Successful Kickstarter Faces Collapse

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Successful Kickstarter Faces Collapse

The developers of Haunts: The Manse Macabre earned nearly $29,000 from a successful Kickstarter but may never actually deliver a game.

We get pretty excited about a lot of Kickstarter projects around here, so much so that now and then we forget to toss in the obligatory "buyer beware" warning that you are essentially throwing your money into a great black pit with no guarantee that anything is going to come out the other end. That's usually okay, since it's a pretty good bet that Arthur Bruno [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116809-Wasteland-2-Kickstarter-Ends-With-a-Bang] guy, though) or, possibly worse, do their best and discover that they just don't have what it takes to get the job done. But there are an awful lot of Kickstarters out there and not all of them have that kind of weight behind them.

Haunts: The Manse Macabre was intended to be a turn-based horror game that allows players to play as either the haunters or the hauntees. The pitch video was very well done, plentiful screenshots showed off a cool aesthetic and best of all, the studio, Mob Rules Games, claimed it had already spent $42,500 on development and needed just another $20,000 to get the job done. It ended up with $28,739 from 1214 backers. Simple enough.

But updates on the Kickstarter page stopped on September 11 and didn't restart until yesterday, with a message ominously entitled "Desperate Times." It revealed that "things haven't been going well," and more precisely that the programmers had abandoned the project to do other things and there was nobody left to work on it.

"Now it's just me and Austin. Austin has finished up the art content for the initial release of the game, but he's not a programmer," Mob Rules Games chief Rick Dakan revealed. "I'm not a programmer either. Although I know some small amount about how the level programming works, I'm not capable at this point of fixing the bugs I know about. This is further complicated by the fact that the game is written in the Go programming language, which is not widely used, limiting the pool of potential new programmers."

Dakan said he's not giving up on the project and offered to sign over his share of any future revenues to anyone who can get the game finished and shipped. And while he asked backers to hang in "for what looks to be a long road ahead," he also offered refunds, no questions asked, to any backer who wants one, although he noted that all the money raised through Kickstarter has been spent.

The good news for supporters is that Dakan isn't just walking away from the game, but at this point everything is up in the air. Haunts isn't even in beta state, there are no programmers and nobody ready to step into the breach with an obscure programming language; Dakan is literally asking his Kickstarter supporters if they have the connections or resources to take on the project and get it finished.

Kickstarter's Terms of Use [http://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq/kickstarter%20basics#Acco] "require creators to fulfill all rewards of their project or refund any backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill," but at the same time acknowledge that it has no way to ensure that this happens. The best it can do is "create a legal requirement for creators to follow through on their projects, and to give backers a recourse if they don't," but that recourse is strictly between the project creators and their backers. Legal action, in other words - but in the vast majority of cases, that's just not a practical option.

It'd be great for the sake of all involved if Mob Rules can pull this one out, but it doesn't look too promising. And if it doesn't, it would appear that all anyone is going to get out of it is Dakan's promise that the team did its best. "The attached video that Austin put together shows some of the gameplay from across a variety of different level, so you can see how close we are to finishing the game," he wrote. "All the systems are there, and when it works it's fun to play. You can see how we spent your money, and that we weren't just sitting around twiddling our thumbs, even if we have collapsed at the finish line."

Source: Kickstarter [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2066438441/haunts-the-manse-macabre/posts]


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Kapol

Watch the spinning tails...
May 2, 2010
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The sadest part of this that I can see is that they do seem to be trying their best. It just seems odd that all the programmers jumped ship. What happened to cause that?
 

jollybarracuda

New member
Oct 7, 2011
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Kapol said:
The sadest part of this that I can see is that they do seem to be trying their best. It just seems odd that all the programmers jumped ship. What happened to cause that?
I was thinking the same thing. If it was just one programmer than i'd understand this kind of thing happens, but for all the programmers to just leave a project that was almost done and already totally funded? It's like jumping off a life-raft. Something must have been going on that we aren't hearing. Maybe the programmers weren't getting their paychecks, who knows. Regardless, i hope the project picks back up again for the two remaining developers.
 

Rad Party God

Party like it's 2010!
Feb 23, 2010
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But they already have the money, don't they?, that was pretty much the reason for the crowd funding in the first place, to work on the project full time and get it done.

There's definitely something they're not telling us about all this ordeal.

On a side note, this is why I don't trust crowd funding anymore, yeah, lots of amazing sounding projects, promising the sun and the stars, but until I see the finished product, I'm not buying on their promises anymore (although Shadowrun Online does look neat indeed).
 

TeletubbiesGolfGun

New member
Sep 7, 2012
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in b4

"CALLED IT! :OIAJSF:OSJDF:LSKJDF:LSKDJFSDF NEVA TRUST DEE KICKSTARTTT! ALL A SCAM!" people

everyone knows it's a damn risk before you toss in your money, get the fuck over it, you're not leagues ahead in intelligence.

OT: it really sucks they fell just short, hopefully they can find a few people to at least get it out there and playable for the people who wanted the game.

curious as to why the team broke/abandoned ship there. still, glad to see the guy taking it "like a man" (don't quote me calling me sexist) and showing us what's there and promising refunds.
 

lolobar

New member
May 24, 2010
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jollybarracuda said:
... Maybe the programmers weren't getting their paychecks, who knows ...
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. I'm guessing the funds from kickstarter were ending and the developers weren't getting paid anymore. If that's the case, then the saddest part is that the developers were in it only for the money.

I don't know, if i was in the developers' position I would have stayed just to finish the game and honor all their kickstarter supporters. Even if i wasn't getting paid. I wouldn't forget that their previous paychecks came from the supporters.

Sad... really sad.
 

Fasckira

Dice Tart
Oct 22, 2009
1,678
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lolobar said:
jollybarracuda said:
... Maybe the programmers weren't getting their paychecks, who knows ...
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. I'm guessing the funds from kickstarter were ending and the developers weren't getting paid anymore. If that's the case, then the saddest part is that the developers were in it only for the money.

I don't know, if i was in the developers' position I would have stayed just to finish the game and honor all their kickstarter supporters. Even if i wasn't getting paid. I wouldn't forget that their previous paychecks came from the supporters.

Sad... really sad.
In the world we live in today not many people can afford to work for free. I wouldnt say its sad at all if they had walked out due to lack of payment! They weren't a bunch of bedroom coders bashing a mod together, they were formed as an actual team and if the money isn't coming in then theres no reason for them to stick around.

What I dont understand is how can all the money be spent if it was in the final stages but not have anything they can push out the door? As many have already piped in I cant help but feel theres more to this story than whats being revealed.

On a side note, I cant really see the appeal of this game. Looks a bit dull but the music is kind of cool!
 

IndieForever

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Jul 4, 2011
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We're talking about the response from the backers on an earlier thread and what investors in general think what they're getting from Kickstarter:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.391569-Kickstarter-game-in-financial-trouble-gamers-dont-rip-devs-apart

The programmers jumped because the project took longer than expected to come to fruition and they had full time job offers to go to with no other income coming in as the KS funds were exhausted.

The above thread is more about the reaction from the investors than the failure of a single Kickstarter game. As an Indie studio owner myself I'm finding the comments interesting.
 

Louzerman102

New member
Mar 12, 2011
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Fasckira said:
lolobar said:
jollybarracuda said:
... Maybe the programmers weren't getting their paychecks, who knows ...
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. I'm guessing the funds from kickstarter were ending and the developers weren't getting paid anymore. If that's the case, then the saddest part is that the developers were in it only for the money.

I don't know, if i was in the developers' position I would have stayed just to finish the game and honor all their kickstarter supporters. Even if i wasn't getting paid. I wouldn't forget that their previous paychecks came from the supporters.

Sad... really sad.
In the world we live in today not many people can afford to work for free. I wouldnt say its sad at all if they had walked out due to lack of payment! They weren't a bunch of bedroom coders bashing a mod together, they were formed as an actual team and if the money isn't coming in then theres no reason for them to stick around.

What I dont understand is how can all the money be spent if it was in the final stages but not have anything they can push out the door? As many have already piped in I cant help but feel theres more to this story than whats being revealed.

On a side note, I cant really see the appeal of this game. Looks a bit dull but the music is kind of cool!
I feel somewhat guilty for mentioning this but forbes ran this article yesterday and got a interview/response from Rick Daken the guy who organized this project. In the response Deken clarified that it was known by the team that the lead programmer had X number of months before he had to leave because he had another job lined up. The whole mess their in now is because the game has taken longer than expected to complete.

Edit: I said IGN the first time. whoops.
 

Crimson_Dragoon

Biologist Supreme
Jul 29, 2009
795
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Kapol said:
The sadest part of this that I can see is that they do seem to be trying their best. It just seems odd that all the programmers jumped ship. What happened to cause that?
From what I remember from the email (I backed the game), it seems like there were only 2 programmers in the first place, and both ended up leaving for better jobs and wouldn't have any spare time to work on it.
 

MetalMagpie

New member
Jun 13, 2011
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Kapol said:
The sadest part of this that I can see is that they do seem to be trying their best. It just seems odd that all the programmers jumped ship. What happened to cause that?
jollybarracuda said:
I was thinking the same thing. If it was just one programmer than i'd understand this kind of thing happens, but for all the programmers to just leave a project that was almost done and already totally funded? It's like jumping off a life-raft. Something must have been going on that we aren't hearing. Maybe the programmers weren't getting their paychecks, who knows. Regardless, i hope the project picks back up again for the two remaining developers.
TeletubbiesGolfGun said:
curious as to why the team broke/abandoned ship there
The BBC article [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20003916] implies that there were only actually two programmers on the project. The lead programmer was only contracted to work on Haunts for one year, so at the end of that time he went back to working for Google. The other guy appears to have just decided he no longer wants to do it. (From other sources, apparently he was also starting a new job.)

Edit: Thinking about it, if the Kickstarter money has run out then it's entirely understandable that they both moved to other jobs! Rent, bills, food, etc.
 

MetalMagpie

New member
Jun 13, 2011
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lolobar said:
jollybarracuda said:
... Maybe the programmers weren't getting their paychecks, who knows ...
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too. I'm guessing the funds from kickstarter were ending and the developers weren't getting paid anymore. If that's the case, then the saddest part is that the developers were in it only for the money.

I don't know, if i was in the developers' position I would have stayed just to finish the game and honor all their kickstarter supporters. Even if i wasn't getting paid. I wouldn't forget that their previous paychecks came from the supporters.

Sad... really sad.
According to the BBC [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20003916], the lead programmer was only contracted to work on the game for 12 months before he returned to Google. It's unfortunate that his time ran out before the game was finished, but that's just the way it goes sometimes.

The other guy seems to have left to start a new job. Which is fair enough if the Kickstarter money had run out. Speaking as a programmer, some of us have rent to pay, food to buy, etc.
 

DrunkOnEstus

In the name of Harman...
May 11, 2012
1,712
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Andy Chalk said:
Successful Kickstarter Faces Collapse

Kickstarter's Terms of Use [http://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq/kickstarter%20basics#Acco] "require creators to fulfill all rewards of their project or refund any backer whose reward they do not or cannot fulfill," but at the same time acknowledge that it has no way to ensure that this happens. The best it can do is "create a legal requirement for creators to follow through on their projects, and to give backers a recourse if they don't," but that recourse is strictly between the project creators and their backers. Legal action, in other words - but in the vast majority of cases, that's just not a practical option.
I'm curious about this quote specifically. Does the "rewards" mentioned in this quote refer to the tiered rewards that scale to the pledges, or is the thing being funded referred to as a "reward" for the purposes of this statement?
 

Shakura Jolithion

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Nov 9, 2009
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Instead of making this some kind of cautionary tale, I think it should be an example of how to do right by your donors if your project falls through. I wonder if they could just release the code to a dedicated fan base and hope for the best, or if they can get some more money/an investor and get the game finished.
 

gardian06

New member
Jun 18, 2012
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Shakura Jolithion said:
Instead of making this some kind of cautionary tale, I think it should be an example of how to do right by your donors if your project falls through. I wonder if they could just release the code to a dedicated fan base and hope for the best, or if they can get some more money/an investor and get the game finished.
the problem with that is this was intended for retail, so as soon as you release the code that option is out the window. then you have the consideration that we are talking about a programming language that is "rare" I mean as a programmer myself what I know of Go is that it is just as if not more rare then FORTRAN and that is almost dead. so its not so much finding someone that can fund it. it's finding someone who can do the work.

not to mention if they are in the level building/bug hunting stage that means that anyone who does come onto the project will have to learn everything that is there pretty intimately, and if they are using the term beta correctly then that means that it might be in a state that you can't just trial, and error the thing to work, and instead you have to be able to figure out the ingenious workarounds of the framework/language. I mean this guy Daken seems like he is willing to fund it himself the rest of the way, but they need a programmer who knows the language, and can learn there code quickly.