Eurogamer: Yogscast Kickstarter-Funded Game Folds (Oh Boy..)
- Thread starter Wolves Evolve
- Start date
lmao fuck that. Reminds me of the minecraft situation. Not only is it ridiculous, but how can anyone trust what yogscast says if they're hoping for money on the back end when showing off a title.
The Yogscast aren't obliged because the game was made by Winterkewl (who no longer exist).
nephilimdj
Member
reddit discussion I read yesterday claimed one person, which is why I said 1 person. Still crazy either way because the game seems like it was dead after 1 year.
Tertullian
Member
I feel like Yogscast isn't getting enough shit for this. They endorse a game developed by incompetent amateurs, then when it fails to deliver, they're all "we're under no obligation to do anything." Screw you, assholes. You're the reason the project was funded in the first place. Your "celebrity endorsement" and lending of your IPs is the sole reason this was even a thing.
Scumbags.
Scumbags.
Because it might bite them in the ass in the end, when after a few high-profile debacles people chose to rather stop using Kickstarter. Of course, it's their business and they can run it however they want, but that doesn't mean I have to like. And I personally think that Kickstarter's customer service is without a doubt terrible.
I'm not even talking about legal assistance, though. Kickstarter could do a lot of things to prevent such things from happening in the first place or in order to take action before it's too late. They could require creators to submit their progress regularly for example and take action when it's apparent that a project is going to miss its goal terribly. It would be best for both the creator and the backers if a failing creator isn't trying to make things right until he's personally ruined and the backers left behind with nothing at all.
Diablohead
Member
Mental Atrophy
Banned
I once donated to a Kickstarter project thst I was certain would fail, just so that I could lord it over the creator for the rest of time. Cheapest, easiest moral superiority I've ever achieved, and it felt so good when it came to fruition. He can't even look at me now. I am sort of a terrible human, though.
I'm sorry but that sounds really stupid.
I am very curious how the original deal was put together and whether they ever actually misrepresented the product, because in *that* regard there's perhaps an argument for criticism.
I'm very surprised at the statement that Yogscast got half the funded money for licensing; I'd expect that to be a fixed value set before the start. Was it half by pure coincidence, or was the deal actually to give them half of what was generated by the Kickstarter? It seems counter to how I'd expect such a licensing deal to take place.
bigbaldwolf86
Banned
wtf is this
that would mean that the original goal was just enough to pay the Yogscast folks, a bit unlikely.
Well, it couldn't have been half by pure coincidence, since they more than doubled their initial goal. If Yogcast asked fpr $250.000 in the first place, nothing would have been left to develop the game.
Well, they don't have any obligation. You can take the money and run if you really want to. More likely it just won't be managed well, or the project becomes a victim of its own success. Why would this be surprising to anyone, especially given how many professionally-run projects fall apart?
cheststrongwell
my cake, fuck off
I've been following this game since it began. I almost bought in, but decided to wait and see. Glad I did.
It's a sunk cost now, and they certainly won't be paying any of their own money to complete the game.
True, but considering the high profile successes outweigh the high profile failures by quite a fair margin, I doubt Kickstarter are too worried about it.
Trouble is, those suggestions *don't* achieve the desired goal of spreading out the risk, which is counter to the fundamental point of crowdfunding. How do you solve that issue?
You can't really say "We'll spread the risk if you're successful, but if you screw up, you get all the risk on you" - that completely defeats the whole point of spreading risk!
(Besides which, I don't regard Kickstarter as competent to determine whether the vast gamut of projects are actually meeting their required targets)
plagiarize
Banned
Backer beware needs to be a thing. When you give money to a project, make sure the project looks like something that can be achieved. Do they have a working proof of concept that you can actually play? Have they shipped products before? Have they worked with a team or budget of this size before?
If not, give an amount of money you can afford to lose.
I've started development on a game. The last thing I'm doing is running right to kickstarter with it once I get a working prototype. I'm in the design stage, and the one thing I've made sure is that it isn't is overly ambitious. It's something that I know I can pull off.
Oh, we'll make some crazy ass thing just the four of us. How much money might we need to make it? Oh, who knows. Let's just ask for what sounds like a lot! Do we have a schedule? Anything like that?
So, yeah. Backer beware.
All the things I've kickstarted that are still in progress are clearly making progress: Catlateral Damage, which had a solid playable prototype), Carmageddon (a team that have shipped games. they've already delivered fun playable alpha versions of the game), and The Gallery (they've put out a demo and playable training module, the game seems to be progressing nicely). Everything else became a real thing, be they pieces of hardware, games, music albums.... whatever.
Give money to people who know what they're doing, but need it to finish their product. Don't give money to people who think with enough of it, that they can pull off something ambitious.
If not, give an amount of money you can afford to lose.
I've started development on a game. The last thing I'm doing is running right to kickstarter with it once I get a working prototype. I'm in the design stage, and the one thing I've made sure is that it isn't is overly ambitious. It's something that I know I can pull off.
Oh, we'll make some crazy ass thing just the four of us. How much money might we need to make it? Oh, who knows. Let's just ask for what sounds like a lot! Do we have a schedule? Anything like that?
So, yeah. Backer beware.
All the things I've kickstarted that are still in progress are clearly making progress: Catlateral Damage, which had a solid playable prototype), Carmageddon (a team that have shipped games. they've already delivered fun playable alpha versions of the game), and The Gallery (they've put out a demo and playable training module, the game seems to be progressing nicely). Everything else became a real thing, be they pieces of hardware, games, music albums.... whatever.
Give money to people who know what they're doing, but need it to finish their product. Don't give money to people who think with enough of it, that they can pull off something ambitious.
Well all the money for their DLC went to charity.
You're not taking into account the fact that Kickstarter and Amazon fees reduced that >$500,000 sum. Not that I disagree with you - I suspect you're right, and it was indeed tied to the overall level of success for the funding drive - but it's mathematically feasible that they would still have had some money left over. A ridiculously low amount, but nevertheless...
(IOW: I accept that the licensing deal is dumb, but I'm curious *how* dumb it was)
Probably because they knew about an upcoming shitstorm.
EdwardTivrusky
Member
The only reason i bought it.
mugurumakensei
Member
Angel Investors are a thing. Kick starter is basically a way to do angel investing with the possibility of some physical reward.
No. They have a charity drive every year.
They got 550k Total. Amazon takes 5%, so thats just over 500k. Then they also got people buying into it later, so it probably reached 550k anyway.
or it is just not true ...
Jimmy Saville did marathons for charity.
Yes, that's on a completely different league. My point is charity donations don't nullify anything shitty you did.
It's pretty clear that the creators are required to refund the backers if they can't deliver the project. That said, the Kickstarter project was by Winterkewl Games LLC and not Yogscast, so I'm guessing Yogscast can argue that if you want your money back you'll have to get it from Winterkewl (even though we all know why people funded the project). And Winterkewl Games LLC probably has no money, so going after them would be futile.
Still, a shitty situation, and I hope there's a huge backlash against Yogscast because of this. They clearly didn't plan this at all.
Still, a shitty situation, and I hope there's a huge backlash against Yogscast because of this. They clearly didn't plan this at all.
Ban Puncher
Member
$570k
jacksepticeye
Member
Thats the risk with kickstarters
TitusGroan
Banned
Why the hell not? People backed this thing, and Yogscast have the means to make sure that their backers get the game they gave money for.
If they don't address it somehow, it's going to cause a massive stink over their entire operation. Putting their own money into the project at least keeps it on the rails, gives them a product to sell at the end of it, and doesn't piss off the most loyal members of their fanbase who gave money to them. The alternative is trying to ride out what has the potential to be a huge shitstorm, especially given all the recent scrutiny on gaming YouTube channels.
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
and that's why the only thing kickstarters get from me is well wishes and good lucks.
Herbspiceguy
Member
I was hoping to see some meltdowns and drama on the official forum.
What I find instead are people who are supportive and apologetic.
Confused Jackie Chan.jpg
Odd tidbit;
What I find instead are people who are supportive and apologetic.
Confused Jackie Chan.jpg
Odd tidbit;
It does feel rather shady that there can't be legal recourse when (apparently?) half of that Kickstarter money from backers went directly towards Yogscast (simply because their name was used and their endorsement was key to the project's promotion, even if they weren't developing the game themselves). Not to mention that Winterkewl was in close partnership with Yogscast, and all rights are owned by Yogscast.
It's not too likely that anyone will actually sue them though, because the cost of doing so would probably outweigh the gain. It's a fairly crappy situation.
I do feel sorry for the guy who has lost his marriage and almost his job over this though. :<
It's not too likely that anyone will actually sue them though, because the cost of doing so would probably outweigh the gain. It's a fairly crappy situation.
I do feel sorry for the guy who has lost his marriage and almost his job over this though. :<
When your ballpit is worse than tumblr-con's, then you know you fucked up.
$570k
Got a reference for the money going to Yogscast? That's a pretty big claim to post without backing up.
CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls
Banned
$570k
Well half of that 570k went to Yogscast because of name recognition, but still that shit looks like a tech demo, not an alpha or a beta.
The thing is, you can still get screwed over by the developers even if you consider the decision and take your time to see if they have a demo, gameplay videos, a proper schedule and realistic timeframe etc.
For example, I backed Confederate Express on Kickstarter for $10 - just yesterday, I got an email telling me that development on Confederate Express has been postponed because they'd been working on another project:
There was no mention of Knuckle Club at all when I backed Confederate Express, and yet here I am reading that the thing I backed has been postponed in favour of something else.
If they tie themselves too closely to the game and bankrupt developer they could get sued by the backers to try to get their money back. It sounds like they may already have a pretty significant connection to the project as is so I would target them if I was trying to get my money back.
So I had this idea for a game funded by Kickstarter...
"If you back our $10,000 tier, you'll get exclusive early access to the urinating minigame DLC!"
This shit writes itself.
Go on Peter Molneux style rants.
Post concept art & desire for $500k.
Leech from some scummy social buzz fad.
BAM Kickstarted! With no obligation.
The way it currently is it seems like there's no risk involved for the creator and I don't think that's a good way either. If the creator has no personal accountability he's more likely to mess up at some point, since he won't personally suffer from it financially.
However, I don't want to put the risk on any sole party. Like I said, I'd like to Kickstarter take action - or at least try to take action - before stuff like this happens. If a creator spent two thirds of his money and has next to nothing to show because he encountered one problem after the other and there's no reasonable hope for additional funding, then it'd be better for all involved parties to end the project sooner rather than later, so that at least the last third of the money could be refunded to the backers. It would also help prevent backers from feeling scammed as much, when there's a third party who can confirm that the creator didn't just pocket the money while doing nothing.
8 X 11 Printer Paper
Member
Another failure Kickstarter to dampen my day.
