Comments: It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this today, because the news I bring are not good. As of today, we have cancelled the development of “Deathfire: Ruins of Nethermore!”
I know that very many of you will be very disappointed, and I want you to know that I am every bit as disappointed as you are. Perhaps even more so, because we had invested one entire year of work, sweat, effort, hope and money into this project. It has become a dream project of sorts, the kind of game you really want to make, because you know that in the end it would have all the hallmarks of becoming a classic genre title. But alas, it was not supposed to be!
It is not a decision we have made lightly, and the fact that we tried to fight for the survival of the project tooth and nail is, I think, evidence of that. However, the way the project has shaped up and the way things have developed, we feel that we can no longer safely guarantee the completion of the game, and it would be entirely unethical to take your money and spend it without any real hope of ever completing the game.
Despite the fact that we are within reach of the $50,000 mark we had outlined to get started on the development of Chapter 1, the notion behind this has always been to see if we can rally enough support outside of Kickstarter to generate a steady flow of backers who could help us raise the necessary funds over time. This attempt was not a Kickstarter-like campaign, and it was never so much about reaching the actual amount of $50,000 in a fixed amount of time, as it was to see how support shaped up and whether the project had the ability to generate a sustainable flow of income that would guarantee its safety.
As our data show, the continuous stream of backing is simply not strong enough to support the development. While we had fairly good initial momentum and a number of high-prized backers that brought the amount to a good level very quickly, for a project to sustain itself over the long term, we were mostly looking at how many low-tiered backers would join us. It shows us the general level of interest and visibility, as well as the potential to get these backers to increase their pledges over time as they see more of the game and get more excited about it. They are the lifeblood of an ongoing project and this level of backers has been low and very unsteady, telling us that very quickly we would eat up the $50,000 we raised as base funding, without any hope of replenishing the funds at the level that is required in order to guarantee and to pay for the actual development. This puts the entire project in serious jeopardy from the very beginning, turning it into a huge and dangerous gamble!
In addition, there have been several changes going on behind the scenes that also affect our ability to develop and complete the project within a reasonable amount of time—even under the best of circumstances, and without proper and steady funding there is simply no way for us to remedy that situation. Therefore, we have to acknowledge the fact that we are simply in no position at this time to create “Deathfire: Ruins of Nethermore.”
We might have been able to cobble together *something* but it would not have been what we had set out to do and what we had promised. If Chapter 1 would have a reduced feature set it would have been a disappointment for fans. As opposed to adding momentum, it would have turned people away from the project and would have given us a bad reputation. It would, essentially, have turned us into frauds, which is absolutely unacceptable, of course.
It is therefore in everyone’s best interest to terminate the project before any real damage is done. We will refund all your pledges over the next few days. Please keep in mind that this is a manual process that is actually rather tedious, and with over 1,000 pledges and the holidays, this may take a few days to complete, so please bear with us.
Before we do that, however, we would like to take a moment to celebrate our fans!
In a world of hopelessly vitriolic message boards and web site comment sections filled with unqualified hatred, it has truly been a fresh breeze to watch the “Deathfire” community spring to life. The outpour of support from our fans has been astonishing and often helped us forget the struggle we were going through.
We met some great new people and made some new friends along the way, fans all, who approached us with ideas, suggestions and comments, fans who went out of their way to help us promote the project. If we could thank each and everyone one of you individually and in person, we would. We may never be able to properly express our gratitude to everyone who supported us, but we want you to know, that in our book, you are the greatest fans we could ever have asked for!
Thank you for the great ride. It was fun and exciting, and we could not have done it without you!
Have a Merry Christmas!
The Deathfire Team
Of course it’s a disappointment but I appreciate your honesty in this matter.
I purchased the new Realms of Arkania remake when it was released on Steam in July and it was in horrible, horrible condition. Completely unplayable, even after multiple patches. Then the developers came to the forum and admitted they knew it was unfinished but released anyway. I was shocked. I told them I thought they should have cancelled the project once they realized they couldn’t create the game at the standard they planned within the given time frame. Obviously they disagreed.
I think that ultimately a person’s individual reputation and a development group’s reputation is worth more than one project. If someone is going to put their name on a project then it should be up to their standards. It’s hard to walk away from a project when you’ve already invested so much in it but sometimes that’s the better, if more difficult, choice.
I respect and understand your decision even if it’s sad to hear. I’ll continue to keep an eye out for your future projects.
Thank you for the time and effort yourself and others that you worked with spent on Deathfire.
I’m so saddened by this news. Please tell me there’s a plan C… or perhaps a new less ambitious game that G3 can create? As long as it’s a turn-based cRPG I’m behind you
Wow, Guido…
Now I’m sad and kind of mad at the world.
When you first announced Deathfire on your blog, something sparked and I just knew this was going to be a great game. Somehow I became emotionally invested in the project, despite my lack of any past history with any of its spiritual predecessors due to my younger age. But it just felt right, like that initial inspiration for the game just caught on to me.
Now this comes as a total shock. While the Kickstarter failing was more something I slowly started to accept during the latter part of the campaign, this time I just thought it was really going to happen, then suddenly this email came.
I’m really sad to see your project die, Guido. Deathfire may be gone, but you’ve gained a fan personally.
Also to the rest of the team: thank you and good luck with whatever you decide to do next.
Depressing. So much junk made these days and I can’t find traditional CRPGs to spend money on. Whenever you’re ready to try again Guido, you’ll have my support.
That’s sad. But as others have said, I will keep an eye for any future project, and will support it the best I can.
Wirklich schade, das Deathfire erst mal vom Tisch ist, aber ich hoffe, das es irgendwann einmal einen neuen Versuch geben wird.
Danke das ihr so ehrlich seid, und das Geld eurer Fans nicht aufs Spiel setzt.
Es ist so schade …
Wenn du es noch mal mit einem neuen Projekt versuchst Guido, dann sag einfach Bescheid. Ich werde wieder dabei sein und versuchen euch zu unterstützen, wo immer ich nur kann.
Nochmals danke an das ganze Team für seinen Einsatz.
Gruß,
Thomas
I really wanted to thank you for what you’ve done here. I know you attempted to make the best game you could and I know it must be dissapointing for you that it didn’t work out (twice). However, I really respect that you’re honest that the game can’t be made with the funds provided. I am also sad that people didn’t fund what I’m sure would have been a great game. Happy holiday and all the best for the future.
Das ist wirklich schade, aber ich finde es gut, dass ihr das Spiel nicht auf Teufel komm raus mit allen Risiken für die zahlenden Fans entwickeln wollt. Vielleicht ergibt sich in Zukunft ja noch eine Möglichkeit für euch doch noch daran weiterzuarbeiten. Ich drücke die Daumen und wünsche euch viel Glück für die nächsten Projekte.
Schöne Weihnachten und einen guten Rutsch!
It is sad indeed, but as others had said, I understand and appreciate your honesty. Perhaps at some point it can be revisited, I believe that it may very well succeed, but so many factors come into play – exposure, timing, other projects competing for attention and funding at the same time.
I wish you happy holidays and a brighter future in whatever project you may undertake.
This is sad but give that the original K-starter raised 200K I hope that you won’t totally give up on relaunching on there at some point in the future, perhaps with a scaled down goal like this latest one had.
I wouldn’t take this website campaign as an indicator of your support. Your hard-core fans had no problem with it but many others are leery of just donating money to a website like this. I’m 100% positive that a Kistarter campaign for “episode 1″ would attract far more support than this one has.
That’s sad really. I have high hopes for this project. But thanks for your honesty Guido.
May I suggest that you consider doing another kickstarter campaign sometime in the new year? As shown by how far we got both times, it is clear that this is something people still want but this might simply not be the best time of the year for it with so many holidays around the corner. I know that I for one, will continue to back and support this project in future attempts.
Hallo deathfire team,
das Ende des Projekts ist wirklich schade, aber Respekt für Euren ehrlichen Umgang mit Euren Fans.
Eine Bitte haber ich aber an Euch: Gebt auf Eurer Seite eine Paypal-Adresse an, auf die man die Backerzahlung transferieren kann, um Euch zumindest ein wenig für den Aufwand der vergangenen Monate zu entschädigen. So kommt zwar nur ein kleiner Beitrag zusammen, aber vielleicht kann damit ein Teil der Kosten des alten oder eines neuen Projekts gedeckt werden. Meine 20 USD würde ich “stehen lassen”.
Viel Erfolg für Euer nächstes Projekt und eine erholsame Weihnachtszeit
Christian
Hi Guido and all the team behind Deathfire,
Despite my incredible sadness in hearing this news, I really appreciate your honesty and decision.
What makes me feel more sad is that some other projects who gained so much more money don’t have the same appeal and I really don’t feel to reinvest my money in some other “masterpieces”. I really hope you guys will keep working on some really good and new ideas and I will keep an eye on your future projects.
All the best and a merry Christmas, hoping to hear you back again next year
A farewell for now
Ronny
Sad, Sad news… Only a few days/weeks in this project but it looked so inspiring… The refund of my paypal pledge was so unexecpected, I could not believe it…
As I read above, I hope for any kind of plan C…
Wish you the best for this new year…
Very sad to hear your decision.
However, I also thank you for your honesty.
I sincerely think this was a very bad moment to launch a kickstarter as there are a whole bunch of old school RPGs which were backed but not yet released.
Every RPG fan I know who backed projects before, told me they will wait for at least one, or two of their backed projects to be released.
A year ago I’m almost certain you could get the 390,000 $ funding. Maybe you should wait a few month and relaunch your campaign based upon your chapter system (2 chapters, first done with 200.000 $).
Thorvalla was to expensive to develop and so was Deathfire.
But I hope G3 will come up with a 3rd project in the future that will be cheapier to develop.
I feel I can’t express how much this saddens me. I was really hoping for a deep CRPG but it seems it wasn’t meant to be.
I hope whatever you will undertake in the future will be met with more success.
I just wish more people would see the potential in the games you want to make.
Best of luck with whatever project you will work on in the future.
Heads up maybe they continue work silent in the back with only few people and come up with a new start in 6th months on kickstarter, with more videos and stuff, who knows lets think positive.
Thx for everything Deathfire Team, merry chrismas, i will keep an eye for future projects on u.
Sad. I think there are not enough good RPG´s being developed currently, so i am sad to see the project cancelled. I appreciate your work on the earlier titles.
But i totally agree. Its better to cancel the project than to develop something half-baked, rushed and very much behind your vision. Better to honestly cancel than to ruin your reputation.
[…] The Deathfire Team: Thanks you for all your support […]
I’m so sorry I couldn’t donate after the kickstarter, it was just a bad time with health insurance and Christmas draining my account. I’m sorry to see this project end before it began. Thank you for sharing your vision with us even if we couldn’t help bring it to reality.
I was one of your Kickstarter supporter but hesitated to fund your second approach. Why?
Because you normally cannot do a great game with just 50.000$. This is not how it works (at least for me). 18 months development time, a team of at least 10 people, a rented office, computers, and much more. If you want my money I need to understand how this all works (to be honest I even don’t have a lot of money).
Now I really like your project and you have a track record for doing great games therefore I wish you (and your team) all the best that you finally succeed in doing the game you ever wanted to do.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for the whole Deathfire – Ruins of Nethermore team and all its supporters.
[…] Henkel auf der offiziellen Webseite des Spiels verrät, habe man es sich mit der Entscheidung nicht leicht gemacht, da man ein ganzes […]
I’m really sorry to hear the news about Deathfire’s cancellation. I hope you’ll try again, with either this or another game. Sometimes the timing just isn’t right. Please keep us all posted on your future plans!
I also applaud your difficult decision. Deathfire is an ambitious game, and if it can’t be done properly, it’s good to say so.
Refunding the money must have been difficult. I imagine the Paypal fees for reversing the charges were pretty steep. I appreciate that you you did the right thing, even though it consumed even more funds from G3 studios!
I’ll definitely back you on your next effort.