When I saw Mineral Cities’ latest update I expected its backers to be baying for blood. Just looking at the fact the game was funded in 2013 and has only had 8 updates since then, is shady enough for me, the actual update is the kicker though. The backers have been strung along all these years and the latest update reveals that the game has not been worked for some time. On top of that the actual game Mineral Cities game that backers backed is on indefinite hiatus and instead the mechanics will be incorporated into a new game. I was simply astounded by how well the backers took this news, so I decided to dig a little deeper.
It seems that backers were expecting a release in August 2013 and then February 2014, but they never came. The developer was always very good at responding to comments made by backers, but this game always seemed like it was at the end of the rainbow and just out of reach. It was never even greenlit, the developer always said he never had time to work on it. That is an explanation that simply wouldn’t wash with me after all this time, but again backers seem to be taking it very well. It seems that the developer has been offering refunds to anyone who is displeased, so it is entirely possible that there was already a mass exodus from the project, but the people who are still backing seem very positive.
There isn’t all that much information on this new game. All we know is we will learn more in August. I’m just baffled by how chilled the backers are about this, I’ve seen far worse for far less in my time on Kickstarter. Is the trick to appeasing backers simply answering comments? Check out their campaign page and tell me what you think because I am genuinely amazed at the civility on this Kickstarter, but perhaps I have missed something? Let me know!