Everquest creators' new RPG canceled. Studio Closed.

[Chaboo_Cleric]

LOL SMEDLEY FAILS AGAIN
Pixelmage Games is closing down shop and Hero's Song, the role-playing game it was working on, has been canceled, the studio's founder announced today.

John Smedley, the head of Pixelmage Games, said "it breaks my heart to have to do this," in steering his followers to the announcement, where Pixelmage vowed to offer "100 percent refunds to all of the people who bought Hero's Song."

Poor sales were given as the reason Pixelmage could not continue development. Hero's Song, proposed for Windows PC, began with a Kickstarter drive seeking $800,000. That Kickstarter was canceled after one week, with Smedley acknowledging mistakes made in the pitch to backers but pledging to continue.

Pixelmage then sought a more modest amount through Indiegogo, but still fell short of that goal in October, keeping about $94,000 of the $200,000 it sought. Hero's Song then launched on Steam Early Access about a month later.

Indiegogo donors are being asked to email Pixelmage Games with information about their donation level so they can be fully refunded. Steam customers are advised to get their money back through Steam's regular refund process.

"We knew going in that most startups don't make it, and as an indie game studio we hoped we would be the exception to that rule, but as it turned out we weren't," Pixelmage said in its statement. "We're sorry things worked out the way they did, but we feel strongly that we gave it our all and we're proud of how far we came with the game."

Smedley had been the president of Daybreak Game Company, which had been Sony Online Entertainment, the maker of Everquest and other MMOs until it was old to an investment firm in February 2015.

Smedley stepped down from his position there in July 2015, and Pixelmage was founded in October 2015. Bill Trost, the lead designer and co-creator of EverQuest, was recruited to the project.


source : http://www.polygon.com/2016/12/26/14...e-games-closes

[Sirken]

rip [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Phenyo]

Touch of death

[Swish]

Never heard of it, maybe that was the problem.

[Xaanka]

another kickstarter indiegogo video game project failed no surprise here

[Jimjam]

"we hoped to be the exception to the rule" -Excellent business plan! Very stage 3: ???

I have an accord with Swish. Perhaps if I had actually heard of it people (me) might have given it a try.

Better luck next time Smed (and his investors!)

[Amyas]

SMEDLEY was a asshole and ruined SWG

[Tankdan]

It had terrible marketing

I follow Smeds Twitch, and noticed he was broadcasting so I tuned in.. I saw 2 people working on some terrible game and had no clue wtf they were even doing.

[Daywolf]

Grr Smedley and what he did to SWG. One of the best mmo's ever made until he decided to turn the game into something entirely different with CU then NGE updates; turned it all into a stripped down casual co-op/solo theme park. One of the industry leaders in convincing everyone they needed to start making casual free to pay mmo's. The guy should have been a truck driver instead, stayed away from our games.

[nilzark]

When is Pantheon being released?