10 Crowdfunded Video Games That Never Saw The Light Of Day
2. Hiveswap
Goal: $700,000 – Raised:
$2,485,506
Another successful kickstarter, ruined by mismanagement and incompetence, Hiveswap was crowdfunded back in 2012, and is still technically in development. Based on the popular internet series, Homestuck, the game was original scheduled for release last year, but was delayed following numerous setbacks, including a change in development team.
Since then, further delays have pushed the release back even further, with rumours of mismanagement and a possible cancellation running rampant online. In the game, players are expected to take on the role of Joey Claire – a young girl transported to an alien planet, forced to fend for herself against a mysterious, sinister threat of cosmic proportions.
The game itself is planned to take place predominately within a 2D environment, despite being original advertised as an entirely 3D experience.
The almost immediate success of Hiveswap/Homestuck is staggering, somehow raising the majority of its funds in the first twenty-four hours of its campaign. As a result, its inevitable failure will be unprecedented, further rubbishing the reputation of crowdfunding as a viable source of alternate funding. After all, while Hiveswap/Homestuck is still theoretically in development, and could still be released at some point, there haven’t been any updates on the project since December 2015, which is worrying to say the least.