It was inevitable that, sooner or later, we would see a game funded through Kickstarter fail to see the light of day. It’s a fate suffered by countless games funded through the traditional, publisher-backed model, and there’s no reason games made possible through successful crowd-funding campaigns would be any different. If anything, Kickstarter games are more likely to fall apart prior to completion because most of the independent developers turning to fans for money do not have the deep pockets of a big publisher capable of keeping a project alive through adversity. Late last week, the developer of Haunts: The Manse Macabre delivered some alarming news to its Kickstarter backers, immediately causing some to assume it would become the first Kickstarter game project to die before being released.
Mob Rules Games, the indie developer behind this turn-based horror game, was seeking $25,000 through Kickstarter earlier this year. On July 6, it was fully funded, having received a total of $28,739 in pledges. Updates from the developers were delivered over the next months, including an outline of the anticipated budget and schedule on August 8. Things then went quiet following September 11, with an update not being posted until last week, on October 18. This one made it clear the lack of updates was due to problems being encountered in development and that the exact future of the project was now uncertain.
