Unfortunately for the Yogcast crew, Yogventures has become the prime example of how a Kickstarter can go horribly wrong. With the game all but lost, backers of the failed open-world title were given a Steam key for Nerd Kingdom’s TUG, another crowdfunded project with similarities to Yogventures. Now it turns out that the developer has run into some financial difficulties, with Nerd Kingdom recently cutting its team in half to save on costs.
In the spirit of keeping backers on the level, the developer posted the news to its Kickstarter page yesterday. The issue of cashflow didn’t exactly come out of nowhere — according to the update Nerd Kingdom had an investor lined up to keep things moving, but the deal fell through when said investor wanted complete ownership over the game.
As a result, the developer has had to make some adjustments to sustain itself:
With this, we are now on a path to growth to fully support a small team with no outside investor support. And this means we have to cut our team in half… its the hardest thing we have ever had to do, but it’s what we all collectively have agreed is the best move for us, and you, our community. We certainly have had people come and go from this project for many reasons, but this core group is all family… and its heartbreaking.
On the bright side, the post mentions that the game has had “consistent stable growth in sales” and recognition over the last four months.
It’s never good when a developer, especially an independent, has to cut employees loose, but it sounds like Nerd Kingdom is doing what it needs to now, rather than imploding later on down the track.
Letter to or community: The cost of staying independent [Kickstarter, via RPS]
Comments
2 responses to “TUG, Yogventures’ Consolation Game, Runs Into Funding Trouble”
“when said investor wanted complete ownership over the game” that sounds like something Lewis would do.
It had nothing to do with yogscast.
It’s probably worth noting that people who backed yogventures also got a steam key to Everquest Landmark.