The Kickstarter campaign for John Romero and Adrian Carmack’s latest game is currently on pause. The reason for the cancellation is to give the developers time to create a gameplay demo for backers of a second Kickstarter campaign.
Back to the drawing board
The original Kickstarter campaign showed only artwork for the game, as opposed to any in-game footage. After much feedback from the community, Night Work Games made the decision to cancel the campaign until a demo was developed and ready to show.
In the announcement on the Kickstarter page, Romero stated that creating a demo will take longer than the time left on the campaign. Once the demo is ready, a second Kickstarter campaign will start. At the end of the announcement, Romero thanks all of the backers for their support.
He continues by saying:
We will, of course, honor backer achievements in the next campaign (and an extra something for those of you who continue to support us in the next campaign).
As to what the “extra something” is…it currently remains a mystery.
The right decision
As disappointing as the cancellation might be, there is no mistaking that it is the correct decision to make. Despite the campaign’s incredible start — having received over $100,000 in its first day — things began to slow down. In the following three days, only a further $30,000 was funded before cancellation.
If that rate continued, there would be no possible way it would achieve its $700,000 goal within time. Without a gameplay trailer or at least some form of gameplay footage, it is hard to convince people to back your project.
Once Romero and Carmack return with the gameplay demo and a second Kickstarter campaign, depending on how it looks, it could make the funds start rolling in — potentially even to the degree of getting far more than they would ever have with the first campaign.
The names alone aren’t enough
It is clear that the developers jumped into the Kickstarter campaign hoping that their names and reputations of their success would suffice to get the funding they needed. This idea is something which quickly backfired as the community began looking for gameplay footage.
They indeed may be the lead designer and artist of incredible games like DOOM, DOOM 2 and QUAKE, but that alone is not enough to convince fans to invest in an idea. Of course, there is also the issue that was Romero’s last FPS, Daikatana, which received a panning from critics.
It is back to the drawing board for the developers, yet I can only see good things coming of it. They will take the feedback that they received from the fans and hopefully come back with a smashing announcement and second campaign.
What are your thoughts on the cancellation of the Kickstarter campaign? Do you think it is the right decision? Let me know in the comments below.
