It has been revealed that the Kickstarter for Lynn and the Spirits of Inao has been cancelled due to legality concerns. The legal reasons were that their project involved unpaid interns working for them.
Lynn and the Spirits of Inao was a 2D action platformer, inspired by the visual style of Studio Ghibli films. The title was being developed by Bloomylight Studio based in France.
In France, it is illegal to have an internship over 2 months remain unpaid. Those affected by this shared their experiences online. Some key points include that more than 20 interns worked on the project for roughly 3-6 months. Interns also received no acknowledgment of their involvement with the Kickstarter either.
This then caught the attention of the French National Video Games Syndicate (SNJV). Afterwards, Bloomylight Studio released an official statement on their cancellation.
The implications of this are multifaceted. Students may develop trust issues when it comes to looking for work experience in the games industry. This may lead to fewer students looking to study games in general. The SNJV has announced that they will continue to address these issues and have interns’ best interests going forward.
Prior to it’s cancellation, the Kickstarter had 1695 backers.
