10 Ridiculous Excuses For Failed Video Games
9. Clang: It Was TOO Realistic
If there’s one type of video game that’s sure to be a riot of fun if done well, yet super difficult for developers to pull off, it’s a motion-controlled sword fighting title. It’s been attempted, and to some success, certainly (Ubisoft’s Wii FPS Red Steel and its sequel implemented sword-wielding sections that worked admirably well), but the controls have to be absolutely rock solid here.
In 2012, Neal Stephenson brought Clang to Kickstarter, a game that promised to present a more realistic yet fun take on video game sword fighting (which, Stephenson griped, often missed the mark and wasn’t representative of the real thing). Sadly, this commitment to realism proved to be the project’s downfall.
After raising more than $500,000, Clang’s creator announced that all the money was gone and more was needed. A year later, another announcement: Clang was cancelled. Why? Because they nailed the realism but forgot to throw in the ‘fun’ part. As Stephenson put it,
“The prototype was technically innovative, but it wasn’t very fun to play… I probably focused too much on historical accuracy and not enough on making it sufficiently fun to attract additional investment.”
As you can imagine, the whole situation was less than a PR picnic.